Chat Reference Gets Marketing, Evaluation Tools.

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Author: Kenney, Brian

Two new publications for chat reference providers are sure signs that the service is growing up. VIRTUAL REFERENCE SERVICES: MARKETING GUIDELINES WILL HELP LIBRARIANS PLAN THE SERVICE, WHILE STATISTICS, MEASURES AND QUALITY STANDARDS FOR ASSESSING DIGITAL LIBRARY SERVICES is meant to improve the quality of digital reference services.

The marketing guidelines are the result of a joint project of the King County Library System (KCLS), WA, and the University of Washington. Both libraries have chat reference services in place; KCLS implemented eAnswer in September 2000. "But as time went on, we became acutely aware of the need for marketing guidelines to direct the service," says Barbara Pitney, KCLS reference service coordinator. The State Library of Washington funded the project. Seattle's Girvin Strategic Branding & Design was hired to work with the libraries, the firm having recently completed rebranding KCLS. "We wanted to go beyond just fliers and posters," Pitney says. "We needed a strong foundation to build from."

The comprehensive guidelines extend from defining goals and objectives, identifying users, and creating a service description to branding, logo design, staffing considerations, and marketing. According to Pitney, the guidelines are adaptable to any library service, beyond virtual reference. Pitney says that KCLS will now go back to the beginning and use the guidelines to create a virtual reference service: "Then we'll take our existing service and compare it with what we've written." A key decision will be whether to create a separate brand for eAnswer or to continue it as a subbrand of KCLS. Pitney plans to begin marketing eAnswer in 2004. The marketing guidelines are freely available through the Washington State Library's Virtual Reference Project (wlo.statelib.wa.gov/services/vrs/index.cfm).

The Information Institutes at Syracuse University, NY, and Florida State, Tallahassee, together produced Statistics, Measures and Quality Standards for Assessing Digital Library Services. The manual includes 35 measures, all field-tested with virtual reference projects. The book--authored by Charles McClure, R. David Lankes, and others--contains a discussion of developing quality standards, assessment methods, and example tools. The publication can be ordered for $25 at quartz.syr.edu/quality.

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By Brian Kenney