Competition in the virtual reference market got really hot this past summer. Recent developments in virtual reference offerings suggest the market is much more dynamic than most people would have imagined a short time ago. With Google's acquisition of Meebo and its subsequent decision to shut down the chat widget service, many libraries scrambled…

The paper describes the theory and definition of the practice of librarianship, specifically addressing how Web 2.0 technologies (tools) such as synchronous messaging, collaborative reference service and streaming media, blogs, wikis, social networks, social bookmarking tools, tagging, RSS feeds, and mashups might intimate changes and how…

Library networks place a demand on the reference librarian to know the potential of all information resources within the network. (PF)

This second compilation of library network acronyms and initialisms cites 61 networks throughout the United States. Each annotated entry includes the network's acronym or initials, name, and address. A source of further information is cited in many entries, and an ED number is given for references available through the Educational Resources…

Ohio libraries are committed to development of a reference and information network. Duggan's twelve components are cited as useful in planning. A TWX experiment linking two union catalogs and the State Library is described. In a 172 day period (Feb.-Oct. 1969), 4502 requests (estimated as 44% or less of the current potential volume) entered the…

Since bibliographic services cannot be provided individually, it is this that offers the greatest potential for networking. This paper is concerned with the degree of success that libraries have in providing physical access to materials on the local level. Libraries do provide from their collections a large percent of items requested. If…

Describes an evaluation of Iowa's statewide teletype reference service operated primarily by library school students. (PF)

This article provides a brief glimpse of the National Lending Library at Boston Spa in Yorkshire which is the primary bibliographic resource center for science and technology in Great Britain. (Author)

Discussion of applications of teleconferencing, technology which allows information delivery and communication to take place through a television system, highlights three types of systems (videotext, teletext, fully interactive television); systems in use (CEEFAX, Oracle, Prestel, Telidon, Viewtron); public resistance; and telereference services…

Discussion of library reference services and the conflict between richness (complexity) of services and the reach (number of users that can be served) focuses on information technology that is used in electronic commerce and available on the Internet. Discusses changing roles of libraries and networked information environments. (Author/LRW)

A pilot project was conducted from May 1980 to November 1983 to test the application of iNet--a decentralized, packet-switched telecommunications network--to bibliographic data interchange in Canada. The principal components of the project were participation of the Bibliographic Common Interest Group (BCIP), a group of libraries with stand-alone,…

Describes the live virtual reference service, Q and A NJ (Question and Answer New Jersey), strategies used to meet the challenges of day-to-day management, scaled growth and quality control. Describes how it began; how long it took; how to manage a large project (constant communication; training and practice; transcript analysis and privacy;…

Explores the feasibility of a centralized, networked reference service in a library setting by comparing traditional reference services at the County of Los Angeles Public Library with a commercial inbound call center. Discusses costs and efficiency when librarians answer questions able to be handled by paraprofessionals. (Author/LRW)

Reference service is defined as the mediation by a librarian between the need structures of users and the structures of information resources. The general process by which reference librarians accomplish this is outlined as including the phases of question clarification, question translation, search strategy formulation, search execution, delivery…