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24/7 Reference: Global partnerships

Susan McGlamery, QuestionPoint Programs, USA

 - best practices and data from a real-life international virtual reference cooperative (the only one of its kind in terms of number of libraries, etc)
 - statistics from the local, regional, state-wide and international level regarding utilization of virtual reference service, with comparisons by locality. What makes a service successful? Key indicators in a variety of locales are examined
 - case studies from the network of librarians participating in the Cooperative, as well as those who participate in the QuestionPoint Global Reference Network, provide a global perspective on how libraries use the latest technologies to serve their users.

Collaboration and cooperation has become the most frequently used method by which libraries can leverage scarce resources in order to meet an increasingly demanding user base. This book examines the role of cooperative reference in today’s information space by taking an in-depth look at the world’s largest collaborative reference service, the 24/7 Reference Cooperative. The book discusses how the Cooperative provides a 24 hour live chat reference service through the coordinated efforts of over 1,400 participating libraries in the US and UK. The Cooperative’s continued success, challenges, and role in a Web 2.0 world are explored.

ISBN 1 84334 555 2
ISBN-13: 978 1 84334 555 8
Q2 2011
200 pages  234 x 156mm  paperback  
Approx. £45.00 / US$75.00 / €55.00

Not yet published

About the author

Susan McGlamery is Director of QuestionPoint Programs, OCLC Online Computer Library Center, and is responsible for the management of the QuestionPoint librarian network, which consists of approximately 15,000 or so librarians in over 2,000 libraries. The author also manages the QP Global Reference Network, which encompasses the total QP librarian network, consisting of librarians in 23 countries providing service in 26 languages. In earlier positions, I was a reference librarian in academic and special libraries, as well as an adjunct instructor at the Graduate School of Library & Information Science at UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles). She has a MLS in Library Science from St. John’s University in NY.

Contents

Introduction; The role of cooperation in virtual reference services; Issues with virtual reference cooperation; The future – reference and the community.