Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2018
Journal
The Reference Librarian
URL with Digital Object Identifier
http://doi.org/10.1080/02763877.2018.1515688
Abstract
This study investigated the types of questions asked in an academic online reference chat service to ascertain the level of library staff expertise needed to answer the questions. The transcripts from a large academic library were analyzed to determine both the type of questions asked, and the complexity of the reference questions asked. The data showed that 75% of the questions asked were non-reference, 17% of the questions asked were ready-reference, and 8.6% of the questions asked were in-depth or complex reference questions. Library staff with the capacity to answer both circulation and general reference questions would have the optimum level of expertise needed for staffing the types of questions asked through chat reference.
Notes
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in The Reference Librarian on September 10, 2018, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02763877.2018.1515688