Abstract
This article reports the benefits, challenges, and effective methods of assessing the quality of virtual references services at an academic library.
Highlights
In 2006, when the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) had to renew its virtual reference management service contract with OCLC’s Question Point, the UIC Library had two options: either join a global reference cooperative for a substantially reduced cost, or renew a much more expensive individual account
The discussion at the time was extensive and the decision unanimous, but it raised a question that no one could answer with any certainty: was the Library’s virtual reference service good enough for such a cooperative, and, more importantly, good enough for UIC’s own users?
Assessment allows for informed decision-making about resource allocation, and provides information about ways to improve service. It helps determine what percentage of a budget should be allocated to the actual virtual reference service and training as opposed to the cost of the virtual reference software and the electronic resources that are used to answer questions
Summary
In 2006, when the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) had to renew its virtual reference management service contract with OCLC’s Question Point, the UIC Library had two options: either join a global reference cooperative for a substantially reduced cost, or renew a much more expensive individual account. Research on the kinds of questions that are best answered by digital reference has yielded no definitive findings about whether the type of library (special, academic, public, etc.) is significant when looking at quality, or whether librarians provide evidence of evaluation criteria and authority by identifying their resources. It is not clear if any of these distinctions makes a qualitative difference. The project has proved to be of an even more universal benefit by creating a template for use by other departments and sites who are interested in identifying strengths and weaknesses in their existing service
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