Virtual Reference Presentation Brainstorming
Myself and some others have noticed a dearth of presentations on Virtual Reference over the past few years. I wonder why? Too much “nuts & bolts” or “how I dun it gud” presentations on the topic in previous years?
Would a more philosophical presentation/discussion raise interest?
Is virtual reference a brain-dead obvious service these days?
Here’s a list of possible themes/questions which I wonder about / think might be good for discussion points:
Themes:
Co-browsing — requirement/superfluous?
Typos — acceptable/omgwtfbbq no way?
Follow ups — email/chat/phone/f2f appointment?
Reference Knowledgebase — use chats to fill/make stuff up/guess what users might want or need?
Questions:
“What are the basic requirements for “Virtual Reference”?
IM?
Avatars?
Reference Blogging?
Meebo Widgets on every page?
Brainstorm with me!
Feel free to comment on Friendfeed if you prefer, though some new commentary on the blog would make me feel good, too 
I’ve got a couple:
- PROMOTING your new IM, including teaching the public how to utilize it (yes, I’m looking at YOU, public libraries)
- Internet v. software clients - Which one’s better? What works best for [insert library type here]?
Reference blogging that’s fun stuff. I like the whole idea of social networking reference. I did a little mini-experiment a while ago where I used my MySpace to answer reference questions. People really liked it. Librarians thought I was out of my mind.
Comment by Eva G. — August 31, 2008 @ 7:54 pm
Hi Aaron,
I’d be curious to know at which library conferences are you seeing this dearth? For myself and my colleagues around the country that run VR cooperatives, we seem to find plenty of venues to discuss this topic. The reason I ask about specific conferences, is that depending on who selects the presentations, that might influence that dearth (or plethora) of presenations on a particular topic. For example, several of my colleagues and I submitted proposals for the PLA conference in Minnesota, however, those proposals were not selected. Does that fact them reflect a bias against the topic? I don’t know but it’s something to think about. I’d be interested in discussing the conferences (or other venues) at which you’d like to see VR presentations. Thanks.
–Kris Johnson, AskColorado Coordinator–
Comment by Kris Johnson — October 9, 2008 @ 5:42 pm
Long story short, I was seeing a dearth because I was not looking in the right places. Pretty much right after I posted I saw the Reference Renaissance info (and wished I could go, but my Ruby Slippers failed). I’m currently fresh out of ideas for places to present on virtual reference. Some questions I’m interested in are those in the post - what’s the minimum requirement for a successful Reference transaction (online or off)? I don’t have data-backed opinions but am interested to hear from people who do.
Comment by AaronTheLibrarian — October 19, 2008 @ 10:11 pm