Virtual Reference Blog

Not much this month here, but visit my Virtual Reference blog and you can read the ramblings of a librarian implementing virtual reference (amidst all this bad press the service is getting). This is not your usual implementation. This one involves the integration of the library catalog. For example, if your patron retrieves zero results the page will display an icon inviting them to "Ask a Librarian" for assistance. Also, those who log in with their library card numbers will have their transcripts in the "My account" section. Anyone who logs into "My Account" will see a new tab along side their renewals and that will be "Virtual Reference". So nonusers will be exposed to it in their account pages as well as the home page and on all pages of the library catalog. Read more here.