Fundamentals of Reference

69

thirteen

online reference service

Using electronic means to provide reference assistance

has become part of the lives of most reference

librarians. Answering questions by e-mail, chat, instant

messaging (IM), and text messaging (SMS) is not so

different from answering questions face to face.

—Kay Ann Cassell and Uma Hiremath,

Reference and Information Services in the 21st Century

o

nCe upon a time the telephone was a new technology, and its introduc-
tion into reference services caused considerable discussion. When any
new form of technology or new type of service is introduced in a library the
discussion usually includes questions such as “How will the staff be trained?”
“Who will be eligible for this service?” “What are the limits of this service?”
“Who will provide this service?” Online reference service, like reference ser-
vice by telephone, extends reference service beyond the walls of the library’s
building. What is online reference service? Joan M. Reitz, who refers to it as
“digital reference,” defines it as

reference services requested and provided over the Internet, usually

via e-mail, instant messaging (“chat”), or Web-based submission

forms, usually answered by librarians in the reference department

of a library... Synonymous with chat reference, e-reference, online

reference and virtual reference.^1