Life as a Live Reference Librarian
I constantly try to stay on top of new (or just new to me) reference materials made available on the Internet, and monitor many listservs and other current awareness resources. Some of my favourite tools for learning about new online reference resources include Gary Price's Virtual Acquisition Shelf & News Desk, The Scout Report, ResearchBuzz, New This Week from the LII, and various listservs such as Dig_Ref. The other virtual librarians that I work with (remotely) are my greatest source of help -- seeing which sources they have used to answer particular questions never fails to introduce me to something new.
This brings us to another difference between live and traditional reference -- the fact that the librarians are working independently, often from home, and so don't have the benefit of being able to ask the librarian next to them on the desk for input or assistance. In order to compensate for this the librarians I work with make use of real time chat software so that we can discuss reference questions and ask each other for help, even during a reference transaction itself if we need to. I find this chat amongst the live librarians to be invaluable while doing my job. Just like asking your colleague in a traditional setting for help/input on a particular question at the traditional reference desk, the live chat sessions with my virtual colleagues serve the same function, and work very well.
The question of whether working remotely and alone will, over time, be difficult (in terms of stress, burnout, and who knows what else) is yet to be answered. I have been working as a live reference librarian for only a few months so can't speak to the effects of this quite yet. I don't personally anticipate problems in this regard, but who knows? As more librarians begin to do live reference work from a setting remote from the library, and for prolonged periods, I guess we'll discover more about the particular effects of this type of work.
Communication With Patrons: The Reference Interview
This is another major difference between traditional reference interactions and live online reference interactions -- live reference librarians don't have the benefit of face-to-face communication with patrons.
Just like in the traditional environment, however, I find that sometimes the patron has articulated very clearly what he/she needs, and other times has not. The reference interview process itself seems
Latest Articles