Virtual Reference Services
Stephen D. Coffman,
Vice President
Public Library Operations/East
Library Systems and Services, LLC
ARL Reference Statistics
Reference Meets the Web
DOWN
42.1%
1997-2003
Commercial Reference Services
The Other Threat From the Web
In the electronic environment, a point-of-need reference service
needs to be built into the infrastructure of the Internet--ideally on
the browser, or as a constant source on specific sites--and must
be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.




.... When users click on the "live consultation" option, they are
asked to enter their question in an Ask Jeeves-type naturallanguage search engine, which returns some results from among
a collection of librarian-chosen web sites. If the searcher is
satisfied, the transaction ends there. If not, he clicks on a "Click To
Talk to a Librarian" button and there appears a live person (via,
say, CuSeeMe or Netmeeting interactive software) or a text box
(using, for example, MOO, Chat, or WOO technology) for real-time
chat.
"
The librarian, who has before her the client's failed search-engine
effort, negotiates the real question and either answers it directly or
does some follow-up work and gets back to the client via e-mail,
FAX, etc.
What Made VR So Appealing?
 Did offer a possible solution to a
decline that was worrying us
 We had the example of the
commercial reference services like
Webhelp that were using the
technology … proving so it seemed
that people loved it
 Automatically made anybody who
used it ‘waaaay cool’
Books, Articles and Conferences
Oh My!
Pretty Soon VR Was Everywhere
Growth of Libraries with Chat
1999




2004
Univ. North Texas
Cornell
Temple
SUNY Morrisonville
Total = 4 or 5








Questionpoint
Tutor/LSSI
24/7
Docutek
LivePerson
Groopz
Rakim
IM
Total = 3000+
1000
1000
1000
300?
60
How It Works
Co-Browsing Technology
Librarian’s Browser
Go to url:
Patron’s Browser
• URL pushing
• Two-way (librarian to patron and patron to librarian)
• Send page or escort mode ( can be toggled on and off)
• Form sharing (text in search boxes can be shared)
• Works with many computers
• Talk via chat
• Produces transcript of session including chat and pages shared
Unfortunately Our Patrons Were
Not As Enthusiastic As We Were
Joe Janes Global Census Nov 03
Median =
6 questions per
day
“Global Census of Digital Reference” Joseph Janes
Proceedings of VRD 2003
http://www.vrd2003.org/proceedings/presentation.cf
m?PID=162
UCLA
Down
77.6%
Digital Reference
Quarterly
Comparative
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Number of transactions
Sp
r
in
Su g 2
00
m
1
m
er
20
Fa 01
ll
20
W
01
in
te
r
Sp 200
2
rin
g
Su
20
m
02
m
er
20
Fa 02
ll
20
W
02
in
te
r
Sp 200
3
rin
g
Su
20
m
03
m
er
20
Fa 03
ll
20
W
03
in
te
r2
00
4
Number of open hours per week
Quarter
Santa Monica Public Library
Not Just Us
Profession Losing Interest
 Sales of VR off substantially
 Many vendors failed or been absorbed
 OCLC currently in the midst of
research on the ‘viability’ of VR
 Some services have quietly folded
their tents
 The major conference has been
discontinued
Legacy of VR
 Transcripts allowed us to track and
analyze the reference process as
never before
 Allowed libraries to collaborate on
reference in ways that would have
been impossible before
 Allowed librarians from different
institutions, subject specialties and
even continents to work together
Also Leaves Us With Some
Unresolved Questions?




Death of most commercial reference
Limited ‘success’ of Google Answers
Low use of email reference
Low use of chat
1. Do We Really Need VR?
 “Just need to market it better”
 “It’s all reference”, VR just another
method of contacting the library
 Assuming that patrons do want help
online, is chat and VR the best way to
give it to them?
2. If Not VR - What Is Reference
In the Age of Google?
 Books
 Help for those who choose not to use
Google
 Help when Google fails
 Help when you need more than
Google
3. What’s Most Cost Effective Way
of Providing It?
Traditional Reference Is Expensive
$54,525,849 Amount Illinois Public Libraries Spent on Books in
2002
$57,380,232
Amount Illinois Public Libraries Spend on
Reference Librarians in 2002
Median Hourly Wage Illinois Reference Librarian with Benefits =
$27.95
Median Reference Salary with Benefits = $58,136
987 FTE Reference Librarians @ $58,136 = $57,380,232
Illinois Public Library Statistics – 2002
Yet Few People Use It
Even Worse, Nationally
 National Statistics (NCES)
 20% or 1 in 5 patrons asks a question
 1.1 reference questions per capita
 6.8 items circulated per capita
 Illinois Public Library Statistics
 26.5% or 1 in 4 asks a question
 1.2 reference questions per capita
 7.9 items circulated per capita
Re-Examine
Staffing
5600 books
at Cornell avg
salary plus benefits
= $87,859.2
=
2341 books
In the rest of the
county avg salary
plus benefits =
= $36,738
Operating Costs
Average Hourly Cost of
Operations Library vs Bookstore
Name
Staff Costs
Staff
Other
Total
Staff
Cost Per
Hour
Staff
Cost Per
Circ
Staff
Cost Per
Visit
% Staff /
Budget
Materials
Cost
$1,072,858 7
25
32
$315.55
$2.43
$2.95
62%
$337,251
Staff Costs
Staff
Other
Total
Staff
Cost Per
Hour
Staff
Cost Per
Circ
Staff
Cost Per
Visit
% Staff /
Budget
Materials
Cost
$435,512 3
21
24
$167.50
$1.03
$1.40
69.5%
$48,000
$1,072,858 7
25
32
$315.55
$2.43
$2.95
62%
$337,251
$415,740 2
20
22
$84.09
$0.64
$0.90
12.8%
$3,250,000
$435,512 3
21
24
$167.50
$1.03
$1.40
69.5%
$48,000
20
22
$84.09
$0.64
$0.90
12.8%
$3,250,000
Prof /
mgmt
Operating Costs
Name
Orland Park PL, IL
Prof /
mgmt
72 hours
per week
Temecula PL, CA
Orland Park PL, IL
96 hours
per week
Borders, Orland Park, IL
Temecula PL, CA
$415,740 2
Borders, Orland Park, IL
So Are There More Cost
Effective Methods Than This?
Build Reference Into Our
Machines
Call Center
So How Much Could We Save?
Erlang C Formula
Where:
D (>O) = probability of delay;
A = total traffic volume of calls arriving (measured in erlangs);
n = number of customer service officers available; and
B = probability of loss (rejection) (Poisson distribution).
Where the relationship between D and B is described by:
What It Means: Answer 76% More
Questions with Same Staff
Table A
Table B
Erlang C Calculations for a
Erlang C Calculations for Existing
Networked Reference Service
Desk Reference Service
Number of Reference
Transactions / Hour
1620
Average Amount of Time Per
169
Transaction in seconds
Number of Reference
Transactions / Hour
Average Amount of Time Per
920
169
Transaction in seconds
Average Post Processing Time in
60
seconds
Average Post Processing Time in
60
seconds
Service Level Percentage ("x" in the
80
Service Level Percentage ("x" in the
formula "x percent of calls answered in
formula "x percent of calls answered in y
y seconds"
seconds"
Number of Seconds to answer ("y" in
20
"x percent of calls answered in y
Number of Seconds to answer ("y" in "x
NA
NA
percent of calls answered in y seconds")
seconds")
Number of Minutes in the Interval
60
Number of Minutes in the Interval Being
Being Measured
60
Measured
Number of Staff Required
Staff Occupancy Rate (%)
116
89
Number of Staff Available
Staff Occupancy Rate (%)
116
50
Average Speed of Answer in seconds
9
Average Speed of Answer in seconds
NA
(time average caller spends on hold)
(time average caller spends on hold)
Centralization = More Appropriate
Staffing
20 Librarians
For the Hard
Stuff
46 Paraprofessionals To
Answer the Easy Questions
Columbus Public Library
Call Center Project
Calls to 614 645-2ASK (2275)
Internal Job
Ad
Inside Sengkang
Sengkang Self-Service Library
Contracting Out
Make Better Use of Our Limited
Resources
Average Question Score
Average Question Price
Google Meets Ebay – comparison of performance and cost of
Cornell Reference Librarians vs Google Answers 2003.
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june03/kenney/06kenney.html
Research Library
As a complement to your local library
resources, Capella offers online
university research through a
cooperative arrangement with the
Sheridan Library System at Johns
Hopkins University. Services include
access to specialized library databases.
In addition, a research librarian is
available to help you acquire articles,
books and documents unavailable
through other sources.
Contracting for Everything