designing virtual reference to help patrons get the best service possible

Strange Librarian Julie posted thoughtfully today about IM vs our current chat reference model, customer service, and what it all implies for building relationships with our patrons.

She writes,

Perhaps the way to make sure folks are getting the best service possible is to have IM as our internet point of contact (w/ in-site widgets for those who don't have an IM client already DLed), along with email for local librarians and have a national VR service without any local brands for that 24/7 access to research help.

Julie is approaching this problem partly from a service model perspective, and she implies that we would have people online from every library, whenever that library is open. That would be an incredible start.

A big reason our collaborative virtual reference service exists is that many of our patrons don't have a "local library", so besides that snag, I think she's right that our current model doesn't always best serve patrons who have "local" questions, and when patrons click on 'Chat with a librarian', they are sometimes expecting to chat with the librarian down the street who stamps the books.

I think that this is a usability problem. Usually, we talk about web usability, and the design of websites and how we can make it easier for patrons to use them. But usability applies to anything you use, and so the problem I see here is that "the library" is hard to use.

For example, when we say "Chat with a librarian", we are most often talking about reference service. If that's not clear to almost all of patrons, if they don't know how we define that service or even that it exists, then we have a usability problem.

Sure, we take all comers, but the evidence is strong that we don't always serve everyone equally well:

The person I talked to was from MD and did not answer my question, but simply directed me to the "Contact Us" page that I found the link to the live chat on. Not helpful in answering my question at all.

Quick answers. Found a website I didn't know about. Very helpful! thanks.

I originally contacted your chat line because I was not sure how to handle unauthorized use of my library card. I couln't call at the time, and used the chat to contact someone. The librarian was not real helpful and just told me that if it was him, he would call the library. I thought that that is what I was doing, but apparently I was using the wrong avenue to do it.

i chatted with misty.s she was very helpful. she gave me all the information i needed to know. and that too within a short span of time. this service is really great.

I really wanted to get my question answered in real time, but the librarian didn't have access to databases/was busy -- so my expectations weren't met.

Steve from Multnomah County promptly helped me find a creative solution to access the information I needed. Great service. Keep it up.

Do you see the theme? Patrons are satisfied when they have reference questions, but not when they have questions that required access to circulation records, minute policies or local library databases.

There are a few gray areas - most librarians can tell you, yes, Mary Blotter and the Gruesome Inkspot is available at your library, or no, it's not, by looking in the catalog, and some patrons are satisfied because someone listened to their problem and is making sure it gets to the right person. Patrons are still satisfied over 80% of the time, by the way.

Sometimes, it's tempting to say, big deal, 80% is great, we'll never please everyone. But 20% is still pretty significant and I think there are things we can do about it:

First, help patrons choose the right service.

• John Kupersmith at the University of California Berkeley has a handy list of Library Terms that Users Understand. When we link to virtual reference services, we should take advantage of this research.
• Instead of "Chat live with a librarian", we could have separate links, "Ask a question about my library account" and "Ask a research question". We could link to a directory of Oregon libraries (oregonlibraries.net!) to help people get the right phone number or e-mail address to use.
• We currently tell patrons how many Oregon librarians are online when they click on the link to Chat with us. It could be more helpful if we told us which libraries they are from, or even their screen names.
• With the alternative online chat system we're testing out next week, it's possible to let a patron choose the person they want to talk to.

Second, promote the idea of reference, not just our virtual reference services. In 2002, the National Center for Education Statistics published results of a study ranking library usage by states, per-capita. Oregon ranked 2nd in circulation, 3rd in Interlibrary loans, 4th in library visits and 20th in reference questions. If "books" are the brand of libraries globally, Oregon libraries are worldwide leaders of that movement.

Here's what we can do:

• Slam the boards - Bill Pardue from Arlington Heights Memorial Library in Illinois is promoting the idea that as many librarians as possible log on to Yahoo! Answers, the Wikipedia Reference Desk and other Q+A sites on September 10, 2007, and show and tell the world what great reference service libraries provide.

  Read more and get involved at answerboards.wetpaint.com/page/Slam+the+Boards!.

• I've bandied about the idea with the marketing team about starting a weekly or bi-monthly column about reference service aimed at patrons. Librarians would write short summaries of reference sources on a topic, related to their own expertise or to a current event.

  I tried this once before, but ran out of steam trying to come up with ideas myself. The week I posted about newspapers available online in Oregon libraries, we got extra questions just on that topic.

  The L-net web page might look something like this mockup, and of course we'll need authors.

I know I don't have all the answers - what are your ideas for designing better services, helping patrons choose the right ones and telling them about reference?