The author investigates issues faced by academic research libraries in providing virtual
reference services to unaffiliated users. These libraries generally welcome visitors who use …

Purpose This analysis of chat reference transcripts assesses differences in how librarians
and graduate assistants (GAs) incorporate teaching strategies in responding to chat …

Purpose–The purpose of this study is to examine the use of formality indicators in chat
reference interchanges within the context of politeness theory, with its corollaries of face …

While virtual reference services (VRS) are becoming more and more common in academic
libraries, implementing and maintaining well-used and effective VRS can be a challenge in …

The number of adult learners in institutions of higher education is increasing, and these
students' reasons for attending, ways of learning, challenges, and methods for overcoming …

Purpose–This paper seeks to create an empirical framework for SMS reference services so
that libraries may develop a greater understanding of how this service operates and how it …

The study analyzes how chat reference providers refer patrons to subject specialists in 467
interactions from two years at a university library. Qualitative analysis showed variation in …

Purpose–The purpose of the study is to identify the information needs of patrons in a large
Canadian academic library system by analyzing the types of questions asked through the …

As reference service environments continue to evolve, service providers and administrators
are encountering numerous challenges and opportunities. This article examines the …

This article provides an analysis of transcripts of chat reference transactions. The data
analyzed for this study were from 631 chat reference transcripts from the University of …