 ‘ASK A LIBRARIAN’: A VIRTUAL REFERENCE

SERVICE
 ‘Ask a Librarian’: A Virtual Reference Service Virtual
reference service also known as digital reference
service is defined by Reference and User's
Services Association (RUSA) as “reference
service initiated electronically, often in real time,
where patrons employ computers or other
Internet technology to communicate with
reference staff, without being physically present.”

 Virtual reference services are rendered in two

modes namely, ‘asynchronous mode’ in which a user
can ask a question through e-mail or web form
and get responded from the librarian at a later
time, and in ‘synchronous mode’ wherein a
direct communication happens between a user and
a reference librarian in real-time with the support of
web applications such as Instant Messaging (IM),
chat service, short messaging system (SMS), and
Voice-over-IP (VoIP), video conferencing etc.

 ‘Ask a Librarian’ is a free online service through which

library users can chat live with a librarian or
designated library staff for any immediate
information and assistance in using it. It is
provided by the trained information professionals
 who can guide them to get the answers for their
queries in a few minutes of time. In large
libraries this is done by collaboration of different
professionals form the different departments or
participating libraries to provide this service to
their users. ‘Ask a Librarian’ is administered by
the Chief Librarian or a designated team leader
constituted for the service. ‘Ask a Librarian’ can be a
voluntary or also a funded service.

 ‘Ask a Librarian’ will be a tremendous resource for

students, scholars and anyone with a research need.
It makes expert librarians available to the users
who shall ask a question and within minutes a
professional librarian is helping. For library users, it
would be a great feeling to be connected with
the skilled and helpful person and know they
are not lost amid a millions of search results.

 When a question has been asked by the user and

chat button is pressed, question enters a queue
for the on-duty librarian. Librarian answers
questions in the order he/she receive them. Number
of librarians available for live chat at ‘Ask a
Librarian’ desk the on-duty shall depend on the
expected traffic during the working hours. When
the librarian accepts a user’s question, user will be
 able to chat one-on-one with that librarian.
Depending on the requirement and subject
specialty, the librarian may screen-share these
resources with a user which allows the librarian to co-
navigate resources on user’s computer.
Suppose, the librarian cannot answer a users’
queries during the session may suggest other
sources for users to give a try to access in the
online environment or ask for users’ contact
information so that they can follow up. At the end of
the session, users shall have an option to view and
print his/her transcript or e-mail the session to them
for later use. The transcript will have links to all of
the resources visited during the session.

 5.2 Goals of ‘Ask a Librarian’ Service)

 a)Empowering the users with requisite information.

 .b) Enriching the academic experience of

students, scholars and faculty

 .c) Supporting the implementation of appropriate

learning commons which emphasize the learning and
user-centric services
 .d) Developing communication processes
comprising information professionals and
computer/IT personnel.

 .e) Focusing on implementation of “best”

practices to promote and integrate socially
adaptable information usage.

 .f) Enhancing the virtual learning environment

for the students and scholars.

 g) Strengthen the liaison librarianship and coordinate

with the faculty.

 h) Implementing strategies and tools to

integrate and improve knowledge discovery.

 Assessing communication strengths and weaknesses

which can be helpful in recommending changes for
improvement.

 j) Engage in research and development

projects that explore the feasibility of adopting new
and emerging technologies.7
 k) Embracing innovation while balancing priorities
of information services.

 l) Promoting a culture of assessment and planning.

 m) Coordinating ICT systems, services and support

within and across libraries.

 .n) Learning from the user experiences and feedback.