Starting and Operating Live Virtual Reference Services: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians (review)

Virtual Reference service is fast becoming a must-have for academic libraries of all sizes, as users increasingly look to the online environment first to answer their research needs. With many issues to consider and choices to make in establishing a service from scratch, libraries need a start-up guide that helps simplify the entire process. Meola and Stormont, co-creators of Temple University's TalkNow virtual reference software <http://library.temple.edu/ref/talknow1.htm>, have produced a timely, accessible, and thorough work in this area.

This guide focuses specifically on the components necessary to create real-time (or chat) reference services. It is divided into three main parts: "Understanding the Essentials . . . ," "Preparing for . . . ," and "Implementing and Incorporating . . . " live virtual reference service. The first part establishes a very useful and important organizational conceit that runs throughout the book—the authors' five models of live virtual reference. The models—Basic, Homegrown, Advanced, Collaborative, and Corporate Call Center—provide five basic options available to libraries when establishing their own service. The choice determines how libraries will construct their service, including staffing, training, and choice of software. Each of these models is accompanied by useful, real-library examples and screen shots.

The second part, on preparation, includes a nine-step planning process, and uses the five models to describe different staffing approaches. Staffing is a vital concern when establishing a new virtual reference service, and this section does a good job of explaining the different options for who staffs the service, when it is staffed, and from what location it is staffed. Another useful feature from this section is an extensive checklist of features and considerations for purchasing new software.

The last part includes a variety of useful topics: training, marketing, and evaluation for virtual reference service (all subdivided by the five-model concept). Worthy of note in the training section is a list of core reference skills that are particular to chat—basically, examples of the proper communication skills unique to the chat environment—as well as the areas of traditional reference service (such as the reference interview) that should not be overlooked when preparing staff for the online reference environment.

Overall, Meola and Stormont have succeeded in creating an accessible work that does an excellent job of conceptualizing and presenting the components of successful live virtual reference services, in a form that appears easy to understand and implement. What makes this guide especially valuable is that it does a thorough job of summarizing the current state of the field and presents a fairly complete overview of the possible options for librarians. After reading this work, librarians should have little difficulty in developing concrete plans for implementing an appropriate model of service in their own institutions.

The authors' previous experience in implementing e-mail reference services is reflected in the clear and direct organization of the book, although some sections could have had more depth. The evaluation section, for example, tends to be a bit broad and would be bolstered by the inclusion of more examples of evaluation worksheets and specific details to consider. In general, more information on the maintenance of live digital services would help complete this work. In this area, a possible supplement could be AskA Starter Kit: How to Build and Maintain Digital Reference Services (ERIC, 1998) by R. David Lankes and Abby S. Kasowitz. While aimed primarily at institutions producing digital reference services for the K-12 community, the Kit provides additional details and examples for subjects, such as training and evaluation, and used with Meola and Stormont, ensures that planning for live reference covers all the bases.

The volume's greatest success comes from taking what can...