"Measuring Instruction at the Virtual Reference Desk," by Stephanie J. Graves & Christina M. Desai of Southern Illinois University Carbondale

“Measuring Instruction at the Virtual Reference Desk,” by
Stephanie J. Graves & Christina M. Desai of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

 This poster discusses instruction as a goal for good
reference practice in Virtual Reference (VR). 
Assessment is crucial to maintaining consistency of service. Librarians
need to adapt assessment strategies when changing or adding new programs.

 The authors outline and compare the methodologies used to
evaluate three types of VR products:

•  a home-grown software
•  a commercial chat service with co-browse capability
•  a free web-based instant messaging tool.

Consistency of service can be hard to measure since these
mediums differ in how and how much statistical and evaluative information can
be collected.

This is one of four winning posters in the 2007 MARS
Management of Electronic Resources and Services (MERS) Committee virtual poster
session on the evaluation of virtual reference services.