Starting and Operating Live Virtual Reference Services: A How-to-Do-It Manual for Librarians by Marc Meola, Sam Stormont, Sam Stormont

Library Journal

In 1998, Meola, a humanities librarian at the College of New Jersey, and Stormont, the digital reference services coordinator and communications subject specialist at Temple University, Philadelphia, jointly created one of the first live virtual reference services in the country. Limiting the scope of their book to "real-time" chat reference services, Meola and Stormont contend that live virtual service is more than a fad and is used by many online merchants and an increasing number of libraries. Offering key steps for starting and running such an operation, the authors have divided their guide into three main sections: defining and introducing the essentials; preparing and planning; and, finally, implementing and incorporating live virtual reference. To help libraries find the right service for their needs, the authors offer five models: basic, homegrown, advanced, collaborative, and corporate. Supplementing the text are graphics, checklists, and examples from the authors' own service at Temple and other institutions. While a section on software evaluates features included in relevant products that range in price from free to expensive, this is not strictly a how-to technical manual. It is more importantly a guide for directing and facilitating the human resources needed to plan and run successfully a virtual reference service staffed by real librarians. It is the human contact aspects that attract many to the reference field, and it is this aspect, albeit with a degree of separation, that is the centerpiece of live virtual reference. The preparing and planning stage that the authors describe is intended to bring even the most reluctant reference librarian into the process. In the end it is up to the individual librarians to determine which level of this service is right for them and their clientele. The authors cite Anne Lipow speaking at a conference, which galvanizes the issues: "It is we who are remote from our users . We need to change how we do business in such a way as to get us back together." This book is highly recommended for all those who wish to start the process. For a broader treatment of such online reference services as e-mail or web forms, see Digital Reference for the New Millennium, edited by R. David Lankes (Professional Media, LJ 1/01).-Robert L. Battenfeld, Long Island Univ.-Southampton Coll. Lib., NY

Booknews

Meola (humanities librarian, College of New Jersy) and Stormont (digital references services coordinator, Temple U.), the creators of Temple U.'s real- time virtual reference desk, offer advice on how to incorporate virtual reference into educational library services. The define and describe virtual reference; introduce five models along with their philosophies and structures; describe the nine steps of the planning process; and cover training, marketing, and evaluating. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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