Code of Conduct: The North Carolina Library Association (NCLA) values everyone’s attendance at our events. We strive to provide a welcoming, safe, and supportive environment where participants may learn, network and share information with colleagues in an atmosphere of mutual respect. To that end, we request that attendees abide by the ALA Statement of Appropriate Conduct at our biennial conference and other association sponsored events. If you experience or witness something that you feel is in violation of this code of conduct, please contact Mike Crumpton at 919-271-6812 or Lorrie Russell at 336-307-0930. If you wish to report something anonymously, please use this form.
Have you seen a decline in reference questions at your service desk? Are staff skeptical about the desk’s value? The Research & Instructional Services team at East Carolina University noticed a drop in the number of questions being asked at our research desk, particularly in reference questions. Anecdotally, the questions didn’t seem as challenging as they once were, and we weren’t convinced the desk was “worth it.” Of course, anecdotes ≠ data! We opted to study our desk and phone transactions to better understand the questions asked and whether our existing staffing model aligned with the evidence. During two weeks in the fall and spring semesters, we collected the questions, answers, degree of teaching involved, how challenging we found the question, and time involved. We coded responses for difficulty using the READ scale and by content of the question to better understand what patrons were asking us. The results gave us new insight into this traditional service offering, particularly in the wake of a new student center next door to the library. This poster will present study findings, how we’ve changed our staffing model, and what we’ve done to refresh and renew our reference practice at the desk.
“I’m thinking of opening a business; who are my competitors? How should I maximize my advertising budget and create a marketing plan? What are other businesses in my industry doing? I need market research data."
Do business-related questions like these fill you with dread?
You already have all the tools you need to answer these, and many more, business-related questions! This session is a crash course in supporting the entrepreneurs and small businesses in your community using free and NC LIVE resources. We will cover some background on the U.S. Census, SimplyAnalytics for psychographic and demographic research, ReferenceUSA for business prospects and competitive analysis, ABI/Inform for industry information, and more! Whether you work in a public library serving the business community, or in an academic library working with students and faculty, or are an entrepreneur yourself, attending this session will help you become familiar with essential free and NC LIVE business resources. This session is perfect for non-business experts who want to be better-equipped to help (and even impress!) these important, but sometimes under-served, library customers.
The study explores the length of time online chat (often dubbed “Ask a Librarian” or virtual reference) academic library patrons will wait before leaving without interacting with a library employee. The study investigators* reviewed 400 randomly selected transcripts from three institutions (Agnes Scott College (ASC), University of Georgia (UGA), and Western Carolina University (WCU)) to correlate wait time with patron engagement. The findings establish the ideal wait time on library chat service points is ninety seconds or fewer. Furthermore, the study indicates establishing a goal time for initial greeting within the first ninety seconds leads to a substantial decrease in the number of “missed” questions. *Study contributors are Sarah Steiner (WCU), Casey Long (ASC), and Amber Prentiss (UGA).
