Asknow!--Evaluating an Australian Collaborative Chat Reference Service: A Project Manager's Perspective‪.‬

The advent of the internet, innovative technology and the increased availability of electronic resources have impacted dramatically and globally on the provision of reference and information services. As the number of people 'living online' grows, and as face to face reference declines, libraries have responded by creating virtual reference services to assist all users, both onsite and remote, breaking down barriers to information access. Collaborative reference services--local, regional, national and international-have been established in many countries including the United States, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Canada and Australia. Chat or live reference is a significant feature of many of these collaborations. Key features of chat reference services include the ability to interact in real time with a patron, regardless of location, to answer reference questions, to use scripted messages, to 'push' websites and to 'co-browse'--that is, librarian and patron can simultaneously view the same website. At the end of the chat interaction, patrons who have provided an email address in initial connection to the service, receive a session transcript including links to the websites suggested. Operators are also able to help several patrons concurrently and some software also has the option of screen sharing where the screen of the user can be viewed by the librarian. An added advantage of the co-browsing and screen sharing features is the opportunity they offer a librarian to teach users to become more information literate and self sufficient.