RUL Virtual Reference Services
2007-2008
Report
|
Summary
Statistics |
|
|
Ask
a Librarian (email) Queries |
10475 |
|
Meebo
(chat) Reference Questions |
2090 |
|
Total |
12565 |
In FY 2007/2008, 10,475 queries were received via Ask a Librarian, the Rutgers email reference service. This is about a 1.0 percent increase over the number received in FY 2006/2007. This is a minimal, but rather surprising increase—it was anticipated that the launch of the Meebo chat reference service in the Spring would have a negative impact on the use of the email service.
|
Ask a Librarian FY 2007/2008 |
|||
|
|
General
Queries |
PIN
Requests |
TOTALS |
|
Queries
Received |
4182 |
6293 |
10475 |
|
Answers
Sent |
4184[1] |
6162 |
10346 |
As usual, Rutgers undergraduates were the most frequent users of the Ask a Librarian service, accounting for 47.5 percent of the queries received during this period.
Rutgers Undergraduate Students 4975 queries 47.5 percent of total
Rutgers Graduate Students 2923 queries 27.9 percent of total
Rutgers Faculty/Staff[2] 1351 queries 12.9 percent of total
Other Rutgers Students/Faculty[3] 111 queries 1.0 percent of total
Rutgers Alumni submitted 436 queries (4.2 percent of total). Only 5.6 percent of the users submitting queries to Ask a Librarian during this year had no affiliation with Rutgers.
Response Rate
As recorded in the AskAL database, 97.6 percent of the queries submitted received a response.
Median response time for requests received improved somewhat for general queries and increased for PIN requests:
|
|
General Queries/Median
Response Time |
PIN Requests/Median Response
Time |
|
FY 2007/2008 |
10.8 hours |
22.1 hours |
|
FY 2006/2007 |
12.6 hours |
18.8 hours |
|
FY 2005/2006 |
17.3 hours |
20.8 hours |
The Ask a Librarian request form [http://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/rul/ask_a_lib/ask_a_lib_form.shtml] states that "A response will usually be sent within 24-48 hours, except on weekends and holidays."
When we exclude queries received over the weekend we see a significant difference in response times:
|
AAL Queries Received and
Answered on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday |
||
|
|
General Queries/Median
Response Time |
PIN Requests/Median
Response Time |
|
FY 2007/2008 |
4.5 hours |
14.2 hours |
|
FY 2006/2007 |
5.1 hours |
14.0 hours |
|
FY 2005/2006 |
7.6 hours |
15.2 hours |
During the 2007/2008 fiscal year, 18 librarians answered queries as part of the AAL Reference Team, and 29 access staff responded as part of the AAL Access Team. In addition, staff from Interlibrary Loan, Media, Document Delivery, and Systems monitored and responded to queries in their areas. Dave Kuzma from Special Collections responded to many queries forwarded to him from Ask a Librarian, as did others.
In the Spring of 2007 Public Services Council asked the Virtual Reference Task Force to look at options and make recommendations concerning the expansion of RUL virtual reference services to once again include chat reference.
As a result of the Task Force recommendations, in the Spring of 2008 the libraries began offering a chat reference service for 15 hours per week—Sundays through Thursdays 7 pm to 10 pm—using Meebo anonymous Instant Messaging. The pilot proved enormously successful—Despite the fact that there was no announcement or publicity, in the first 60 hours that the service was available librarians answered 568 questions!
As a result, after Spring Break the service was expanded to include 3:00 to5:00 pm, Mondays thru Thursdays. In the Summer of 2008 the service was available from Noon to 1 pm, and 3:00 to 5:00 pm, Mondays thru Thursdays.
Meebo Chat Reference 2008 |
|||
|
|
Spring 2008 |
Summer 2008[4] |
TOTAL |
|
Hours |
195 |
60 |
255 |
|
Questions |
1805 |
285 |
2090 |
During the 2007/2008 fiscal year, 21 Rutgers librarians and one SCILS student participated in the provision of Meebo reference services. During the Spring semester librarians would frequently find themselves dealing with four or five users simultaneously. The single-session record for the year belongs to Jeris Cassel, who on Sunday, May 4th (the day before the last day of classes) answered 48 questions between 7:00 and 10:00 p.m.
It was anticipated that even with limited hours the chat reference service would significantly impact the use of the Ask a Librarian email reference service. Surprisingly, at least during this first year that has not been the case. In fact, during the period that the Meebo service was available, the number of non-PIN queries submitted to Ask a Librarian rose 10.9 percent (Spring) and 13.5 percent (Summer).
Any number of variables—from new library services or procedures to the particular courses being offered in a specific semester—can affect reference statistics within a specific time frame. However it is tempting to speculate that some users are discovering Rutgers Reference services as a result of either using, or becoming aware of, the Meebo Reference service and are seeking out Ask a Librarian when Meebo is not available.
Natalie Borisovets
RUL Virtual Reference Services Coordinator
July 24, 2008