Another DE-related session at ALA:
Management Tools for Digital Reference
Sponsored by the RUSA MARS Management of Electronic Reference Services (MERS) Committee
The Peabody Orlando Hotel, Florida Ballroom I
Sunday, June 27, 1:30-3:30 PM
As digital reference services are integrated into the fabric of libraries, what are librarians doing to manage those services? In allocating resources to support this additional service, and in evaluating these services, what tools are librarians using to manage the process, to build supporting resources, and to gather data about the services? Please join us to hear four perspectives on these issues and to hear an update on NISO’s Question and Answer Transaction Protocol (QATP).
Laura Probst (Penn State University) will provide an overview of the tools used in management of digital reference services, what librarians need, what is available in the marketplace, and needs for future development.
Andrew Breidenbaugh (Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library) will discuss justifying digital reference services in the context of their local government budgeting process and will describe their efforts to gather data demonstrating the effectiveness of their digital reference program.
Alice Kawakami (University of California at Los Angeles) will discuss promoting digital reference services and the challenges of building a centralized service on a decentralized campus and will consider internal management issues, including data collection, user assessment, training and scheduling.
Ruth Vondracek (Oregon State University) will consider digital reference services from the perspective of an academic library administrator and as chair of the Oregon L-Net advisory committee. Topics to be discussed
include: what data is useful for administrators in assessing how to allocate resources, how to balance the local service needs against statewide needs, and how to determine the cost and benefits for university administrators.
Donna Dinberg (Library and Archives Canada) will present an update on NISO’s Question and Answer Transaction Protocol (QATP), which has recently been released for a one-year trial use period.