This document discusses the experience of a digital reference librarian working through an online question and answer service. It notes that the librarian may be working from home to assist patrons from other libraries when their library is closed. The librarian has to be prepared to help patrons with a variety of technical issues as well as research questions since they are relying entirely on digital resources and systems instead of physical materials. It also considers some of the limitations of digital information and how certain types of assignments, like those requiring local primary sources or full-length biographies, may still be difficult for patrons without access to print collections.

1. Nicolette Warisse Sosulski, MLIS
Business Librarian, Portage District Library
QuestionPoint Staff
Librarian, Public, Academic, Business, and
Spanish Queues
Image from
http://domesticicingblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/day-23-steampunk-robot-librarian.htmlkmage

2. “WE HAVE MET THE FUTURE AND SHE IS US”
The Sunday night or early morning Questionpoint Backup
Librarian exists in a uniquely obligate digital environment.
• The librarian is usually at home.
• She is working with a patron from a different library.
• The patron’s library building is closed.
• The paper is due tomorrow. Or in an hour
• The patron may or may not know where their library card is, if s/he
has one. If s/he does, it may be expired. Or a student registration
problem.
NOT A PRINT BOOK TO BE HAD

3. “…my mom has this job that is
like she is a research librarian
and the library is like facebook
and everybody in the world is
her friend and they ask her
questions.“
--my kid

5. HOW DOES NON-DIGITAL IMPACT THE TRANSACTION?
Bricks and Mortar/Print
•
Library must be open to acquire information.
•
Patron can take info home if s/he has card or ID corresponding
to a person who has card.
•
Patron can use info in-house if s/he does not have card or has
fees outstanding.
•
Patron can correct or update registration or pay fines in-house.
•
Information artifact is operational regardless of power or data
connection.

6. HOW DOES OBLIGATE DIGITAL IMPACT THE
TRANSACTION?
• Physical library can be closed.
• Obligate digital opens the door for collaborative 24/7 reference.
Are some questions really local? Is all reference?
Image from
http://thelifeguardlibrarian.tumblr.com/post/11639210435/theyre-taking-our-jobs

7. HOW DOES OBLIGATE DIGITAL IMPACT THE TRANSACTION?
Patron
• must have current card/student registration
• cannot correct/update registration/pay fines
• must have a computer that is relatively recent
• should be able to understand an explanation of
her security settings/browsers/firewalls
• should be on a computer where she is allowed
to change settings—own computer, rather than
a work computer or friend’s computer

8. HOW DOES OBLIGATE DIGITAL, ESPECIALLY
COLLABORATIVE, REFERENCE IMPACT THE TRANSACTION?
Librarian
• must be quick to assess library site, library sources
• Must be prepared to teach a database she has never seen
• Must be prepared to troubleshoot a patron technical setup, library
technical setup and database connection that she has never seen
• Must be prepared to explain this to a patron who does not
understand it and is freaking out
• Must expect even broader variety of questions nonrelated to central
scope of work because she is the only thing open at 3:00 a.m.
• Must be ready clarify to patron if she has obstacles because the
patron cannot see them.

9. HOW DOES OBLIGATE DIGITAL IMPACT THE
TRANSACTION?
• Proxy or VPN must work
• Catalog must work
• Database connections must work
• Patron-side connections must work
• Overdrive must work

10. WE ARE EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES…

11. http://futurefire.net/2009.17/fiction/overdue.htm

12. SOME TASKS JUST MAY NOT WORK YET IN A
PURELY DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT: QUOTE
VERIFICATION

13. SOME ASSIGNMENTS JUST MAY NOT WORK YET IN A
PURELY DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT: THE GRADE SCHOOL
OR MIDDLE SCHOOL BIOGRAPHY REPORT.
Print
If they need the childhood
years they need a book
length biography. Their
library has to have it.
Non-Print
If they need the childhood years they need a
book length biography that is public domain or
has been published by an e-book vendor and
their library has to subscribe to that service and
have bought that title and the patron has to
have the ability to download the software if
necessary by having a relatively recent
operating system. The patron needs a more
recent operating system to get the source than
to start the chat transaction.
Databases and online encyclopedias and most
websites cover the adult years only.

14. SOME ASSIGNMENTS JUST MAY NOT WORK YET IN A
PURELY DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT: LOTS OF PRIMARY
SOURCES FOR OFFBEAT TOPICS
Print
Letters, maps, and
graphics of flyers and
broadsides may be in
print parts of the history
collection with which
your e-collection has not
caught up.
Non-Print
In the public library, non-fiction may
not be as well-represented as fiction
in the choices for e-book
acquisition, or insufficient funds may
not have occurred for retrospective
collection building to occur.

15. MONIES MAY NOT BE SUFFICIENT YET IN A PURELY
DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT:
What is your ratio of cost, print to digital? In Overdrive
the e-book can be up to 5 times as much. In ereference, one company told me to expect at least a 10
percent increase over print. Many are higher.

16. TO THINK ABOUT—FOR YOUR PATRONS AND THOSE
SERVING PEOPLE WHO ARE YOUR REGULAR PATRONS
OR WHO MIGHT BE USING YOUR LIBRARY
AUTHENTICATION/LOGGING IN
•
Do you know which browsers work best with your site and your resources?
• Safari sometimes hates Flash when it comes to authentication, or authentication
hates Safari.
• Everything sometimes hates Chrome when it comes to authentication.
• Do half of your resources work best with VPN and half with proxy?
• Explorer and Firefox vary by which week which works better with which site.

17. TO THINK ABOUT—FOR YOUR PATRONS AND THOSE
SERVING PEOPLE WHO ARE YOUR REGULAR PATRONS
OR WHO MIGHT BE USING YOUR LIBRARY
AUTHENTICATION/LOGGING IN
•
Can you post what your PIN convention is, last 4 of phone, day and month of
birth, year of birth, whatever? People forget their PINs. A LOT.
•
Is your MY ACCOUNT page only accessible through the catalog and not the main
page? Does it also say Place Holds/Renew?
•
What hour of the day or week do you do system refreshes? Can you please post that?

18. TO THINK ABOUT—FOR YOUR PATRONS AND THOSE
SERVING PEOPLE WHO ARE YOUR REGULAR PATRONS
OR WHO MIGHT BE USING YOUR LIBRARY
FINDING STUFF
•
In the attempt to give patrons information on how to find things at other libraries, is
your first catalog result from WorldCat not your own holdings, so that they spend 45
minutes trying to open an e-book from another library to which they do not have
access?
•
Where are the e-books? Where is the homework help?

19. TO THINK ABOUT—FOR YOUR PATRONS AND THOSE
SERVING PEOPLE WHO ARE YOUR REGULAR PATRONS
OR WHO MIGHT BE USING YOUR LIBRARY
FINDING STUFF
•
Do you have a journal finder page listed, even if you do have authentication set up
through Google Scholar? Sometimes that link goes down.
•
In the attempt to make patrons only have to log in once, have you set up universal
authentication and in doing so hidden all your holdings and lists of databases and
journals behind a firewall so that people who might want to visit your library for
research purposes cannot see what you have, both print and electronic? I see this
with both public and academic libraries.

20. TO THINK ABOUT—FOR YOUR PATRONS AND THOSE
SERVING PEOPLE WHO ARE YOUR REGULAR PATRONS
OR WHO MIGHT BE USING YOUR LIBRARY
DEVICES:
Are those providing reference service in the digital environment aware of how the
downloading of items on the same device the person may be communicating through
may or may not work well?
Have the people providing reference seen the e-reference and e-download processes on
a number of devices from the patron side? Can you make that possible?

21. TO THINK ABOUT—FOR YOUR PATRONS AND THOSE SERVING
PEOPLE WHO ARE YOUR REGULAR PATRONS OR WHO MIGHT BE
USING YOUR LIBRARY
Can the cooperative librarians
have a login if we promise not
to tell anybody?
Please, please, please?

22. Image taken from
http://www.hcpl.net/category/tags/robots