Making Chat Widgets Work for Online Reference

Linda BedwellReference & Instruction LibrarianDalhousie UniversityHalifax, Nova Scotia(lbedwell@dal.ca)

Internet Librarian 2009

Here a Widget, There a Widget

Novanet Live Help

• consists of 10 post-secondary institutions

•*serving 41,914 FTE students

•up until 2008, operated on a licensed VR platform

Making Chat Widgets Work L.Bedwell Internet Librarian 2009

* Source: AAU 2008-09 Preliminary Enrolments, plus NSCC self-reporting

image: http://www.oddessey2000.com/uploads/2009/August/frustrated.jpg

Winter 2008 Pilot Project•Chat widgets & IM, in tandem with VR software•Pidgin as our back-end•Open-source stats database

(UNLV)•Wiki

Making Chat Widgets Work L.Bedwell Internet Librarian 2009

Pilot Project Results - Winter 08 compared with Winter 07

• 44% increase in total questions

• 55% received by IM

Making Chat Widgets Work L.Bedwell Internet Librarian 2009

Pilot Project Results - Patron Preferences

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

f2f phone email IM Acct IM Widget

QP

Undergraduate

Graduate

Making Chat Widgets Work L.Bedwell Internet Librarian 2009

Source: Bedwell, L., Rodrigues, D., Duggan, L., & Orlov, S.. (2008). IM a Librarian: Extending Virtual Reference Services through Instant Messaging and Chat Widgets. Partnership : the Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research, 3(2), 1-17.

Post-trialStrategic & Ubiquitous Placement of Widgets

• Library contact pages

•Database “Ask a Librarian” links

•Subject guides

•OPAC

Making Chat Widgets Work L.Bedwell Internet Librarian 2009

Making Chat Widgets Work L.Bedwell Internet Librarian 2009

Results of Strategic and Ubiquitous Placement•Pandemonium! (unexpected busy-ness)•Technical issues▫OPAC widget status going “offline”

•Solutions▫Drop the IM accounts (no questions)▫Dynamic icon for OPAC

Making Chat Widgets Work L.Bedwell Internet Librarian 2009

Making Chat Widgets Work L.Bedwell Internet Librarian 2009

Live Help dynamic icon, 2008-09 – online image

Live Help static icon, prior to 2008

Live Help Icons

Live Help dynamic icon, 2008-09 – offline image

Comparison of Stats - Fall 2008 & Fall 2007

Total Sessions Total Service Hours Avg/Hour

Fall 2007 340 674 0.50

Fall 2008 1,885 722 2.61

Making Chat Widgets Work L.Bedwell Internet Librarian 2009

WOW!A five-fold increase!

More important than stats & graphs

•Appreciative students

•More faculty and students got the help they needed (extra 1,545 in Fall 08)

•Better library experience (student engagement)

• Improved scholastic achievement (immeasurable)

Making Chat Widgets Work L.Bedwell Internet Librarian 2009

Update•Winter 2009 – formally supported service•Fall 2009 – switch to LibraryH3lp•WorldCat Local integration • Increasing presence elsewhere▫online courses (BLS)▫ library home pages▫ link resolver results menu

Making Chat Widgets Work L.Bedwell Internet Librarian 2009

Looking Back, BCW (Before Chat Widgets)

•Onerous log-in forms

• Lacklustre response to VR

•OCLC, 2005 – only 2% of college students used online reference service as a primary source of help*

Making Chat Widgets Work L.Bedwell Internet Librarian 2009

* Source: College Students’ Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources, OCLC, 2005

Tips•Place chat widgets at point of need•Be aware of online environment of widget placement•Experiment. Share results. Share failures.•Refresh Meebo accounts by logging in to native

interface•Separate accounts for tracking purposes•Free is great, for-small-fee might be even better

Making Chat Widgets Work L.Bedwell Internet Librarian 2009

Thanks!Linda BedwellReference & Instruction LibrarianDalhousie UniversityHalifax, Nova Scotia(lbedwell@dal.ca)

Making Chat Widgets Work L.Bedwell Internet Librarian 2009