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Instant Messaging Transcripts

Pilot Project and Request for Collaborators

Heidi Senior

University of Portland

senior@up.edu

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Chronology

Spring 2007 IM service launched

Spring 2009 Meebo Notifier

Summer 2009 Widget locations expand

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Chronology

Spring 2007 IM service launched

Spring 2009 Meebo Notifier

Summer 2009 Widget locations expand

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Until October 2009: Transcripts copied & pasted into Word file

Since then: kept in Libstats

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Basic Statistics:

Date / Day of Week

Time of Day

Time to reference desk reply

Length of conversation

MeeboGuest or Personal Account?

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Basic Statistics:

Date / Day of Week

Time of Day

Time to reference desk reply

Length of conversation

MeeboGuest or Personal Account?

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FY 2009 Questions Received by Day of Week

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FY 2009 Questions Received by Day of Week

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Impact of Meebo Notifier in FY 2009:
Avg response lag prior to 3/26/09	1.95
Remainder of fiscal year:	1.80
FY 10, to 10/30/09	1.41
% of "Immediate" or 1-minute replies prior:	72%
Remainder:	82%
FY 10, to 10/30/09	86%

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Ryan, J., Daugherty, A. L., & Mauldin, E. C. (2006). Exploring the LSU libraries’ virtual reference transcripts:

An analysis. Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship, 7(3): n.p. Retrieved from

http://southernlibrarianship.icaap.org

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Ryan, J., Daugherty, A. L., & Mauldin, E. C. (2006). Exploring the LSU libraries’ virtual reference transcripts:

An analysis. Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship, 7(3): n.p. Retrieved from

http://southernlibrarianship.icaap.org

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Ryan, J., Daugherty, A. L., & Mauldin, E. C. (2006). Exploring the LSU libraries’ virtual reference transcripts:

An analysis. Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship, 7(3): n.p. Retrieved from

http://southernlibrarianship.icaap.org

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This slide is very busy, but if you start at the large blue wedge and work your way around clockwise, you’ll probably recognize the types of questions that the reference staff get at your institution. Number one is questions about citation formatting, followed by questions about the university – signaling that we are perceived as experts in all aspects of campus life.

These top categories indicate to me in which areas I want to be sure the reference student assistants are well versed, or at least that they know where to find the information.

As for other items in the chart – “RefWorks” is our citation management system, the “Graphics Lab” is where students can make posters, “Librarians” is my label for appointment requests, and ATLA is the American Theological Library Association database used by students in UP’s required religion classes.

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This slide is very busy, but if you start at the large blue wedge and work your way around clockwise, you’ll probably recognize the types of questions that the reference staff get at your institution. Number one is questions about citation formatting, followed by questions about the university – signaling that we are perceived as experts in all aspects of campus life.

These top categories indicate to me in which areas I want to be sure the reference student assistants are well versed, or at least that they know where to find the information.

As for other items in the chart – “RefWorks” is our citation management system, the “Graphics Lab” is where students can make posters, “Librarians” is my label for appointment requests, and ATLA is the American Theological Library Association database used by students in UP’s required religion classes.

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This slide is very busy, but if you start at the large blue wedge and work your way around clockwise, you’ll probably recognize the types of questions that the reference staff get at your institution. Number one is questions about citation formatting, followed by questions about the university – signaling that we are perceived as experts in all aspects of campus life.

These top categories indicate to me in which areas I want to be sure the reference student assistants are well versed, or at least that they know where to find the information.

As for other items in the chart – “RefWorks” is our citation management system, the “Graphics Lab” is where students can make posters, “Librarians” is my label for appointment requests, and ATLA is the American Theological Library Association database used by students in UP’s required religion classes.

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Next Steps

Use of “computer mediated communication” (Maness, 2008)
Evidence of effective reference behaviors (Ronan et al., 2006)

Maness, J. M. (2008). A linguistic analysis of chat reference conversations with 18-24 year-old college students. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 34(1), 31-38.

Ronan, J., Reakes, P., & Ochoa, M. (2006). Application of reference guidelines in chat reference interactions: A study of online reference skills. College & Undergraduate Libraries,

13(4), 3-23. doi:10. 10.1300/J106v13n04̱02

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Join me!

Heidi Senior, senior@up.edu