Should Chat Reference Be Staffed by Librarians? An Assessment of Chat Reference at an Academic Library Using LibStats

Abstract

This study analyzes 1557 chat reference questions received at Grand Valley State University Libraries over four semesters to determine the quantity and nature of the questions. Results indicated that use of chat reference was low and that less than a quarter of chat questions required a librarian to answer. The cost of a librarian answering a chat question ranged from $37 to $439 per question. The findings suggest that assigning chat reference to trained reference assistants will not affect patron service and that it is not cost effective to use reference librarians to answer chat questions.

KEYWORDS:

• chat reference
• reference costs
• LibStats
• reference assessment
• digital reference
• virtual reference
• online reference
• academic libraries
• transcript analysis
• reference services analysis

Notes

1. Reference assistants were either full-time library employees or part-time student workers who were trained to respond to questions received at the reference desk and via chat reference. The number varied over the study period.

2. It is assumed that some chat reference transactions were not recorded, so this number represents the minimum number that occurred during the study period. Four recorded chats were thrown out of the sample. Two were spam and two were incomplete questions with no answers where no analysis was possible.

3. Average salary of GVSU librarians who answered chat questions in 2008 and 2009.