The Unopened Door: Virtual Reference and the Caribbean Academic Library

Abstract

The Internet is the research tool of first choice among today's library users. Libraries are responding by introducing a number of Internet-based reference services to meet the needs of these techno-literate users. Focusing on an academic library in the Caribbean, this article discusses the issues that privilege traditional over virtual reference and examines issues such as student information research skills, the physical format of the collection, levels of staffing, and the role of culture.

KEYWORDS:

• virtual reference
• Caribbean
• academic libraries
• information research skills
• student preferences
• face-to-face reference

Notes

1. In this article, “Caribbean” is used to refer to the English-speaking countries strictly from the Bahamas in the north to Guyana on the northern tip of the South American continent.

2. The UWI serves the countries of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, The British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts/Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and The Republic of Trinidad, and Tobago.