My Info QuestA collaborative text message reference service

Lori BellSeptember 14, 2010

Reasons we started project

Cellphone access higher than broadband Internet via computer

Number of text messages sent has increased more than 250 percent over last two years

In June 2008, more than 75 billion text messages sent compared to 18 billion in December 2006

2nd quarter 2008 – typical mobile subscriber sends or receives 357 text messages a month compared to sending or receiving 204 phone calls

The Library Landscape

Several vendors – Altarama and TextaLibrarian

A few libraries offering the service – no collaborative services

Service not offered very many hours

Why collaborate?

Offer service more hoursShared expertiseShared coverageLess cost/shared costShared development timeShared promotionShared risk

Project timeline

March and April – online informational meetings

April – ongoing – Libraries sign up for service

April – ongoing – development of project website – http://www.myinfoquest.info

July 20, 2009 – soft launch of programSeptember 2009 – larger launch of

program

Participants & Expectations

Over 60 libraries and individuals from all over the US

Agree to staff the reference desk two hours per week

Agree to attend online advisory monthly meetings

Agree to promote the serviceAttend training sessionsParticipate in google discussion group

Infoquest participants

Subcommittees

Advisory committeePolicies and proceduresPR & website/ 2.0 tools usedEvaluation committeeBest practices workgroupTraining committee

Vendor contributions

Altarama donated 6 months of free use of software

Peoplewhere donated 6 months of free use of scheduling software

With proceeds from the Handheld Librarian conference held in July, we can pay both vendors through December 2010

Hours of service

Monday –Thursday 8 am central – 10 pm central

Saturday 9 am central – 6 pm centralSunday 2-4 pm centralOur goal is a 24/7 service

How the service works

Patrons text a question to Infoquest number, including home library’s 3 letter library code

The question comes to the Altarama SMS software and is forwarded to a shared gmail account manned by participating librarians

They answer the question and send the answer back via gmail – it goes through Altarama to the patron’s phone

Guidelines

Try to answer questions in 10 minutes or less

Try to answer questions within 2 text messages (360 characters)

No legal or medical reference questionsNo questions that require in depth researchNo personal information about anyone

other than public figuresNo tax advice

Sample questions

Who are Michael Jackson’s brothers?What was Brad Pitt’s character’s name in

Legends of the Fall?How much is a hectar?When was the last time the Yankees and

the Dodgers played one another in the World Series?

When did the Civil War start?

Best practices

“Silly” questions – assume that all are serious and respond accordingly

Citing sources – whenever possible cite one source

Should urls be included when space is limited? Whenever possible, include these and use tiny urls

How can we prevent unanswered questions? We will look at patterns and why there might be unanswered questions

Best practices cont.

How should duplicate questions from one patron be handled? We should answer the question again.

Is it necessary to send messages like “let me check” ? If it appears the question may take longer than 10 minutes

Project Evaluation by San Jose State University SLIS/ Lili Luo

Identify the types of information needs that can be fulfilled by offering text

message reference servicesIdentify the issues and potential obstacles that need

to be addressedbefore implementing text message reference servicesIdentify the important features to consider when

choosing a vendor for textmessage reference servicesIdentify the cost and benefits of offering text message

reference services

Evaluation continued

User Perspective What types of individuals used the service? What types of questions did users ask (e.g., consumer health, job

search, or school-related)? When did users ask questions? What are users. perceptions of the service they received? Does offering this service reach out to individuals who have not

previously used library services? What outreach methods are most effective in promoting the service? What was the length of time for responding to users. questions

(transaction turnaround time)?

Evaluation continued

Library Perspective What are the core skill sets required in providing text message reference services? What are the obstacles, if any, in providing text message reference

services? What aspect(s) of the training was most helpful? What information was missing from the training that should have been included? Is there any difference in librarian satisfaction (or product satisfaction)

based on the type of library s/he works for? To what extent does the service performance uphold the professional guidelines established by the Reference and User Services Association?

Evaluation continued

Administrative Perspective What are the advantages and disadvantages to offering text

message reference services through a collaboration of libraries? What are the challenges when scheduling librarians to staff

the service? What service learning benefits did SLIS graduate students

realize through their involvement? How can successful service learning opportunities be created

for graduate students in a collaborative reference service? What is the level of cost-effectiveness of offering the service?

Evaluation continued

Measurements for Evaluation Statistics logged by the text messaging softwareTranscripts of questions/answers logged by the

software User surveys (published on the project Website;

distributed in participatinglibraries physically or electronically)Interviews or focus groups (electronically)

conducted among participatinglibrariansInterviews conducted with project administrators

Stats for first full month: August

282 transactions189 – ready reference – questions that request a

single, uncomplicated and straightforward answer49 – about local libraries – questions that inquire

about patrons’ local libraries ‘ resources, services, policies, etc.

16 – specific search questions – request answers in the form of giving the user a document, list of citations, etc.

14 – questions about Infoquest9 – Unclear questions5 – Inappropriate questions

Other statistics

Most questions in a day – 3589 questions answered in 5 minutes or less64 – answered in 6-10 minutes26 – 11-15 minutes9 – 16-20 minutes11 – 21-30 minutes15 – 31 minutes – 1 hour22 – 1-5 hours34 – more than 5 hours