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| Virtual Reference |
The primary goals of Middleton Virtual Reference Services are to support the curriculum and research needs of the faculty, students and staff of Louisiana State University and to educate remote users to retrieve and utilize information in an increasingly digital environment. The following services are available through the Middleton Virtual Reference Services:
1. Ask a Librarian - This service allows researchers to electronically ask questions they might ask at the reference desk. Replies are sent to users via e-mail within 24 hours, excluding weekends and holidays.
2. Middleton FAQ - This service provides quick answers to frequently asked questions.
3. Real Time Reference - This service is designed for users to ask questions and get answers in a real time online environment from library staff using chat room technology.
Real Time Reference
This service is a way for users to ask questions about library research and resources in real-time.
Reference staff will be scheduled to monitor this service Monday - Thursday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Hours may vary during intersession and holidays.
This service will be open to any user, but will be restricted to only Louisiana State University faculty, students and staff if the volume becomes too heavy.
This service will answer all types of reference questions in the queue they are received.
There is no set amount of time to spend with a user on a question. However, reference staff should remember questions that require extensive research, consultation and/or instruction are best answered through one-on-one consultation.
This service does not provide any legal, medical or financial advice.
In-depth reference questions may require reference staff to email a response to user.
When responding to questions, reference staff should use their first names and institutions, e.g. "Hello. I am Lori from Louisiana State University. How may I help you?"
Reference staff will not tolerate inappropriate behavior. As with traditional reference service, such behavior is handled at the discretion of the reference staff member. A warning message may be sent or the session may be terminated.
A log of each chat session will be kept and a transcript of the session will be sent to the user and to a library account.
The transcripts sent to the library account will not contain any identifying information and will be used for assessment and evaluation purposes.
Statistics will be kept of all reference transactions.
A survey will be available at the end of each chat session for users to complete on the service and give any other comments regarding the real time reference service.
Virtual Reference Etiquette Policy
1. Patrons are expected to act in a respectful manner. No obscene or derogatory remarks or postings will be tolerated.
2. No solicitation of goods, services or "spam" will be allowed from the patron to the librarian through the virtual reference service. Only services that will aid the patron in their research will be offered from the librarian.
3. Patrons should not impersonate Louisiana State University faculty, students or staff. This service is currently available to everyone, and the affiliations are just monitored for evaluation purposes only.
4. Refrain from typing in all capital letters. It is hard to read, and can be interpreted as yelling and/or rude.
5. Patrons should not give personal information such as credit card numbers or social security numbers over an insecure Internet connection. [Note: credit card numbers will never be asked for, but a social security number may be requested if a student is having trouble connecting to the databases from off campus.]
These rules have been compiled to aid the usefulness of the virtual reference service. Failure to comply with any of these rules could result in a warning, the end of the reference session and/or possible ban of that user.
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