Digital chat reference in health science libraries: challenges in initiating a new service.
Digital reference service adds a valuable new dimension to health science reference services, but the road to implementation can present questions that require carefully considered decisions. This article incorporates suggestions from the published literature, provides tips from interviews with practicing academic health science librarians, and reports on data from students' exploration of academic health science library Web sites' digital reference services. The goal of this study is to provide guidelines to plan new services, assess user needs, and select software, and to showcase potential benefits of collaboration and proactive and user-friendly marketing. In addition, tips for successful operation and evaluation of services are discussed.
Dee
Cheryl R
CR
South Florida School of Library and Information Science, Tampa, FL 33620, USA. cdee@cas.usf.edu
Newhouse
Joshua D
JD
D003195:Computer Communication Networks; D034742:Electronic Mail; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval; D020407:Internet; D007993:Libraries, Medical / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007999:Library Services / Q000639:trends*; D040541:Marketing; D016730:Program Development; D012984:Software; D013337:Students, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014584:User-Computer Interface