The Birth Cries of Digital Reference

Abstract

An Introduction to this Special Issue the May 1999 issue of American Libraries, David Tyckoson wrote, In practice, e-mail reference service is far from adequate. Despite all of our publicity and promotion, patrons simply do not use it.(1) While it would be hyperbole to say that this statement alone led to this special issue on digital reference, it would hold a grain of truth. This comparison will illustrate. The AskERIC service of the National Library of Education averages more than one thousand reference inquiries per week to trained librarians and education information specialists; in operation since 1992, this service has seen a sustained 20 percent annual growth since its inception. This increase stands in sharp contrast to the reported 10 percent decline in face-to-face reference transactions occurring at our public and academic libraries.(2) The National Library of Education is not alone in the growing use of digital reference. The Library of Congress has seen similar growth in its digital reference services. Morris County Library in New Jersey and the Internet Public Library have paved the way in providing reference resources and services on the Internet in a public library setting. The National Museum of American Art Desk and the American Association of School Librarians' KidsConnect service have demonstrated the power of serving special populations at a distance. These library-based services answer more than one hundred thousand reference inquiries a year. This figure represents only a portion of the inquiries received by so-called services and other digital reference services currently struggling with an overwhelming demand. This demand has led to the emergence of several concerns, including: * how to manage the overwhelming use of digital reference services; * how digital reference changes library practice, such as the reference interview; and * software and customer service operations that provide real-time service. These concerns are considered in this special issue of & User Services Quarterly. Taken as a whole, the articles in this issue demonstrate that e-mail reference and, more broadly, digital reference, are not only adequate but are important factors to be considered in the larger reference context. These papers are based on papers solicited for or presented at the Virtual Desk First Annual Conference, Reference in the New Millennium: Evolving Roles for the Information Professional, held October 14-15, 1999. Nearly 250 participants gathered at Harvard from across the globe to take part in presentations and workshops about how to reinvent reference in the age of the Internet. the first article in this issue, Quality Standards for Digital Consortia, Kasowitz et al. demonstrate that digital reference has gone beyond an e-mail address read at a reference desk. The authors explore the creation of a digital reference consortium of AskA services and libraries. This consortium was formed not to encourage patron use, but rather as a way to survive overwhelming use and success. One of the outcomes is a set of standards that can serve as a model for digital reference consortia and cooperation in general. Bernie Sloan's statistic that only one reference question in one thousand is received from the Internet reminds me of the makers of horsedrawn carriages in 1900.(3) As these craftsmen looked at the number of automobiles on the road, they concluded that horse power would remain the predominant form of transportation for the foreseeable future. Certainly one or two automobiles amongst the horses could not portend a new way of getting from one place to another. Just as our society and institutions had to adjust to cars, so must we, the libraries and librarians, adjust to the new paradigm of networked information and services. Unlike those carriage makers, librarians see the future. …