Virtual Reference 2.0

What Does "Virtual Reference" Mean to You?

The ability to communicate online with your library patrons? Recently this and other things have come to be termed Library 2.0, and we've been doing it for years.

At Altarama we believe Virtual Reference is a whole lot more than just communicating with your library patrons - the ability to manage your reference service, no matter what communication methods you want to use with your patrons - in person, via web forms, by phone, by email, online, or even by SMS or VoIP or other communications methods yet to come. It even includes the two way type od communication embodied by Library 2.0 such as blogs and wiki's.

Altarama has created a collection of coordinated products and services designed to provide operational efficiencies for reference librarians. We provide the tools to enhance your ability to operate with your choice of information resources and to deliver reference services in new ways.

Of course all the components are web based to co-ordinate with the wealth of information resources available on the Internet and your Intranet, in order to empower you to extend that information to the widest audience. For Altarama, Virtual Reference is a concept that you can implement a component at a time. Start with the component of most importance to your library and add others as and when they become appropriate, with the confidence that all the products will work efficiently together.

Components of Virtual Reference

Think about the tasks involved in delivering your reference service. Wouldn't it be simpler if all the tools that you used worked together. Altarama's Virtual Reference components complement each other and cover the full range of your reference operations, for example:

• Managing Requests - RefTracker manages the traditional desk and phone operations of your library whilst adding a comprehensive ask-a-librarian interface to allow questions to be submitted and tracked via your web pages and responses sent via email. Importantly it ensures that the questions you receive are answered on time and according to library policy.
• Instant Messaging online assistance - For many libraries, Instant Messaging can be used to provide an online reference service that your clients will love! Click here for more information about using Instant Messaging in your library's reference service. See the RefTracker Contact Freedom functions for more details about how Instant Messaging can be used in conjunction with RefTracker to increase the ways in which you can contact your client, during the process of answering their question.
• Cobrowsing online assistance - You can use any online/chat cobrowsing product, with Altarama's products, whether the product be a commercially available cobrowsing product, or an open source product. Choose a cobrowsing product if you need to provide an open to the public online reference service where working together in an application is an essential feature of the service. No matter what cobrowsing product you use, you can hand off questions to RefTracker when they cannot be completed online and you can use the RefTracker knowledge base to find standard answers.
• VoIP/SMS texting - What communications methods would you like your clients to be able to use to access your library? Altarama offers the widest range with integration provided though RefTracker and specialist communications services provided through products like SMSreference.
• FAQ knowledge database - Questions handled through RefTracker can be used to create a knowledge database that can be searched by clients, providing instant responses and reducing the volume of repeat questions that have to be handled by staff. Staff can also use the answers and search strategies saved in the knowledge database to reduce the work required to respond to similar questions received.
• Citation tool - You can use any citation tool that you normally use, with Altarama's products to create bibliographies for the resources you recommend via your online, web/email or traditional reference service.
• Second level reference services - utilize the expertise of specialist libraries such as a specialist central team, or your National Library, by referring reference questions off to them. Gather the information in RefTracker to charge for these services, when and if appropriate.
• Statistics - No more totalling of tick sheets each month. Save time and frustration with RefTracker DeskStats, an electronic tick sheet. And DeskStats are integrated with RefTracker's comprehensive statistics about patron usage, staff workloads and the effectiveness of your information resources, ensuring that you can justify your reference staffing levels and your information resource purchases.
• Library Management System integration - Offer assistance to your clients wherever they need it with online and email/web assistance available from every ILMS patron interface screen. Quote ILMS OPAC search strings in your reference responses. Validate patron access rights and obtain contact information from your ILMS patron file (coming soon). These are just some of the ILMS integration options we can provide. Already we have a partnership with Dynix for RefTracker to operate as its reference management module.
• Integrate your information sources and search tools - Choose the information sources most relevant to your library. Manage their inclusion in your web pages - you can even integrate federated searching engines. Save the search strategies and use them as responses in RefTracker. module.
• Reference by Blog and other two way communication tools - Blog's, wiki's, picture libraries, and a many more two way communication products are now available and provide opportunities for libraries to interact with patrons in new ways, such as providing the opportunity for your community to directly contribute to your local history information. See our blog on Library 2.0 as an example of communication by blog.
• Schedule staff onto reference services with ease - Anyone tasked with creating schedules for library staff will say what a thankless task it is. Reduce the hours taken and simplify dealing with last minute changes by using ScheduleSource - a subscription service that pays for itself in significantly reduced time to create schedules and happier staff.
• And more. . . Tell us about your integration needs! Our experience with reference operations and our ability to develop to library standards means we will continue to lead the way in provision of tools that open new services and improve staff satisfaction for the reference function of libraries. Our blog on Personal Service vs Self Service describes how libraries can position themselves as an important community supplement to the Internet.

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