Lynn Silipigni Connaway and
Marie L. Radford
Association of College & Research Libraries
13th National Conference
Baltimore, MD
March 29-April 1, 2007

• Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D
.
– Consulting Research Scientist, OCLC Online
Computer Library Center, Inc.
– Email: connawal@oclc.org
– www.oclc.org/research/staff/connaway.htm
• Marie L. Radford, Ph.D.
– Associate Professor, Rutgers University, SCILS
– Email: mradford@scils.rutgers.edu
– www.scils.rutgers.edu/~mradford
• Grant Website (slides posted here): http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/synchronicity

Evaluating Virtual Reference Services from User, Non-
User, and Librarian Perspectives
$1,103,572 project funded by:
• Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS)
– $684,996 grant
• Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey &
OCLC, Online Computer Library Center
– $405,076 in kind contributions

Evaluating Virtual Reference Services from User, Non-
User, and Librarian Perspectives
2 Years (10/05-9/07)
I.
Focus group interviews
II.
Analysis of 1,000+ QuestionPoint live chat transcripts
III. 600 online surveys
IV. 300 telephone interviews

• Term coined in 1996 by Rushkoff
• Used here for 12-18 year olds
• Affinity for electronic communication
• Youngest members of “Millennial
Generation”

• Born 1979 – 1994
• AKA Net Generation, Generation Y, Digital
Generation, or Echo Boomers
• 13-28 year olds
• About 75 million people
• By 2010 will outnumber Baby Boomers
(born 1946-1964)

• May be most studied generation in history
• 4x amount of toys than Boomer parents 20 yrs. earlier
• Born digital , most can not remember life without computers
• Confident, hopeful, goal-oriented, civicminded, tech savvy
• Younger members most likely to display
Millennial characteristics

(Sweeney, 2006)
• Preferences & Characteristics
– More Choices & Selectivity
– Experiential & Exploratory Learners
– Flexibility & Convenience
– Personalization & Customization
– Impatient
– Less Attention to Spelling, Grammar
– Practical, Results Oriented
– Multi-taskers & Collaborators

• Implications for academic libraries?
– For traditional & virtual reference services?
– For the future?
• Research project designed to answer these questions through focus group interviews & transcript analysis.

• 8 in total
• 4 with non-users
– 3 with “Screenagers” (rural, suburban,
& urban)
– 1 with college students (graduate)
• 2 with VRS librarians
• 2 with VRS users (college students & adults)

33 Total Participants
• Location
13 (39%) Urban
12 (36%) Suburban
8 (24%) Rural
• Gender
15 (45%) Male
18 (55%) Female
• Age Range
12 – 18 years old
• Ethnicity
21 (64%) Caucasian
6 (18%) African- American
6 (18%) Hispanic/Latino
• Grade Level
31 (94%) HS
2 (6%) JHS (Grade 7)

• Hold Librarian Stereotypes
• Prefer Independent Information Seeking
– Google
– Web surfing
• Prefer Face-to-Face Interaction

• Have Privacy/Security Concerns
– Librarians as “psycho killers” ?
– Fear of cyber stalkers
• Factors Influencing Future VRS Use
– Recommendation of trusted librarian or friend
– Marketing
– Choice of librarian

• Random sample
– 7/04 to 11/06 (18 months)
– 479,673 QuestionPoint sessions total
– Avg. 33/mo. = 600 total, 492 examined so far
• 431 usable transcripts
– Excluding system tests & tech problems
• 191 of these highlighted today
– 65 identified as “Screenagers”
– 126 identified as primary/college/adult

Qualitative Analysis
• Development/refinement of category scheme
• Careful reading/analysis
• Identification of patterns
Time intensive, but reveals complexities!

• Relational Facilitators
– Interpersonal aspects of the chat conversation that have a positive impact on the librarian-client interaction and that enhance communication.
• Relational Barriers
– Interpersonal aspects of the chat conversation that have a negative impact on the librarian-client interaction and that impede communication.

Positive Example – Relational Facilitators
“Natural Resources of Washington”
Question Type: Ready Reference
Subject Type: Economics
Duration: 19 min., 21 sec.
Negative Example – Relational Barriers
“Bumper Cars”
Question Type: Subject
Subject Type: Physics
Duration: 39 min.

Screenagers (n=65) vs. Others (n=126)
• Higher numbers/avg. (per transcript) for:
Abrupt Endings 26 (.4%) vs. 37 (.29%)
Impatience 6 (.09%) vs. 2 (.02%)
Rude or Insulting 2 (.03%) vs. 0
(n=191 transcripts)

Screenagers (n=65) vs. Others (n=126)
• Lower numbers/averages (per occurrence)
Thanks 72 (1.1%) vs. 163 (1.3%)
Self Disclosure 41 (.63%) vs. 120 (.95%)
Seeking reassurance 39 (.6%) vs. 87 (.7%)
Agree to suggestion 39 (.6%) vs. 93 (.74%)
Closing Ritual 25 (.38%) vs. 69 (.55%)
Admit lack knowledge 10 (.15%) vs. 30 (.24%)
(n=191 transcripts)

Screenagers (n=65) vs. Others (n=126)
• Higher numbers/averages (per occurrence)
Polite expressions
Alternate spellings
51 (.78%) vs. 40 (.32%)
33 (.51%) vs. 19 (.15%)
Punctuation/repeat
Lower case
Slang
Enthusiasm
Self-correction
Alpha-numeric shortcuts
23 (.35%) vs. 28 (.22)
19 (.29%) vs. 24 (.19%)
9 (.14%) vs. 3 (.02%)
8 (.12%) vs. 9 (.07%)
7 (.11%) vs. 6 (.05%)
3 (.05%) vs. 0
(n=191 transcripts)

VRS is a natural for Screenagers (especially live chat reference)
• Do recommend/market your VRS services
• Do reassure that VRS is safe
• Do not throw wet blanket on their enthusiasm
• Do encourage, mentor, & learn from them
• Do use basic service excellence skills
• Do try new social software applications

• Complete Phase II
– Analysis of 1,000+ QuestionPoint transcripts
• Complete Phases III & IV
– Online Surveys (in progress)
– Telephone Surveys (coming soon, if interested in participating e-mail us: vrsgrant@rci.rutgers.edu
)

• This is one of the outcomes from the project
Seeking Synchronicity: Evaluating Virtual
Reference Services from User, Non-User, and
Librarian Perspectives .
• Funded by IMLS, Rutgers University, & OCLC
Online Computer Library Center, Inc.
• Special thanks to Jocelyn DeAngelis Williams,
Susanna Sabolsci-Boros, Patrick Confer, Julie
Strange, Vickie Kozo, & Timothy Dickey.
• Slides available at project web site : http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/synchronicity/

• Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D.
– Email: connawal@oclc.org
– www.oclc.org/research/staff/connaway.htm
• Marie L. Radford, Ph.D.
– Email: mradford@scils.rutgers.edu
– www.scils.rutgers.edu/~mradford