"Even with Google, accurate information is still sometimes hard to find," said Jim Scheppke, state librarian of Oregon. "We developed L-net so that every Oregonian would be able to tap the expertise of some of our best, most knowledgeable librarians in finding the best source of authoritative information."
Currently, 18 libraries from across the state -- including university, public and school libraries -- are participating. The state has also contracted with Librarians by Request, a librarian staffing service from Tutor.com to help provide coverage throughout the night. The librarians hold MLS or MLIS degrees.
Caleb Tucker-Raymond
Through e-mail and L-net's online chat Government Technology interviewed Caleb Tucker-Raymond, statewide digital reference project coordinator, about the service.
Why did your library decide to do the chat service? How does it fit into the services a library provides?
Chat reference is an extension of the traditional reference services that libraries have provided throughout this century. The impetus for this particular service came from the Oregon Library Association's Vision 2010 task force.
What if someone from another state uses this service by putting in an Oregon ZIP code?
As far as I know, it hasn't been a major problem. People from out of state use our e-mail service because sometimes only an Oregon library can answer a question, especially if it's a question about one of our newspapers. We try to answer questions about Oregon as best as we can. If the person called long-distance, the library would certainly try to help -- same on the Internet."
Why do you limit your service to only Oregon?
We are funded through the Oregon State Library and staffed by librarians in Oregon. The funding comes from the Library Services and Technology Act, a federal grant program that gives funds to each state for library technology. So we are using funds for Oregon to provide service for Oregonians. We are also using volunteered staff time from Oregon libraries, and staff time is a pretty precious commodity these days. I don't think we would have the resources to market a national service.
So limiting to Oregonians ensures the best use of our funds and resources. But as you noticed before, anyone can enter an Oregon ZIP code, and it hasn't been a problem. Several libraries in Oregon that are near the Washington, California or Idaho borders have agreements to serve out-of-state patrons. From what I can tell, the out-of-state questions are usually genealogical research. If you were a high school student from Maryland asking for help on Lewis and Clark, I would probably refer you to your local library.
How much time and money would it require for another library system to install a similar chat capability?
Systems and licenses vary, depending on what features you want and the number of participants in your collaborative service. Some libraries can get away with using AOL Instant Messenger, and some are using an open-source based Java program called RAKIM.
A typical system with lots of bells and whistles will cost $10,000-$30,000. We're constantly rethinking what we need the software to actually do. We're lucky that grant funding allows us to be flexible, try things out and learn, at least in the beginning.
Are you in competition with other search services like Google?
That's a good question. Google is a fantastic resource. And as librarians we expect that we can work it a little better than the average person. I think that most people, if they're looking for something general, they'll try Google on their own before coming here. So part of what we're providing is a little more in-depth search expertise and human knowledge to help you get at the heart of the question and the heart of the answer.
What age group most uses the chat service?
Surprisingly, we get as many questions from elementary and high school students as we do from working professionals. Questions from students tend to be more about homework help. Questions from adults tend to be more of the kind we see at the regular library reference desk every day, where people are looking for everything from government statistics to newspaper articles to information on how to prune their perennials.
What's the most popular chat subject?
Generally, the librarian is facilitating the acquisition of information and knowledge for the patron. That can be anything from tricks and tips on the Internet to telling the patron more about what the library has to offer.
What do people most want to know about government and government services?
So far, people most want legal information, which we usually end up referring to a law librarian who can at least say "this is the current law." Having the Oregon Revised Statutes online is a big plus.
Are people asking questions that the state, cities and counties already answer on their Web sites?
We've really marketed it only as a general library information service, so I think people coming to us are thinking "I'll go to the library," then they find us. If they're thinking "I need government information" (or anything else), they don't necessarily think of us as often, which is something we're trying to change, to create awareness of the expertise and resources the library has.
So, we get a few government information questions, and if they're easy the answer is usually in an FAQ, and if they're not, we aren't always qualified to give the best answer.
One question was, "how much of Oregon's fish hatcheries budget comes from fishing permit fees?" We could find the report, make sure it was current, and get it for the person, but someone from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife would be better at interpreting it and finding the exact answer in that question.
What was most surprising to you when you launched the chat service?
I think that as much as we try to call it an extension of our traditional services, it's learning a new set of tools and attitudes. On top of that, we need to be actively marketing this service, which is a first for many libraries.
Are there any problems with the chat feature that are being looked at?
Oregon is a diverse state. We really wanted a product that would work as well in rural schools, big public libraries, community colleges.
Libraries are known to the public as archives -- has that role changed as more and more content goes online in digital format? Are you dealing more with current online information rather than archived material?
I think a lot of us think of public libraries as a building with books, and if you are lucky, in your community there is someone who reads stories to children, and if you are really lucky, there are a host of programs for adults as well. Big public libraries have some archival material, but mostly they are full of things that the community wants to read and know.
Research libraries are a little different, they don't have story time, but they do have lots of books, journals and technical reports. They have information that isn't true anymore, and they keep it on purpose, so someone can research it later.
Almost every library has librarians who are experts at finding information inside of that building, and they are also usually experts at finding information outside of it.
The Internet, including digital libraries and government sites, is a little more like an encyclopedia, but not quite. An encyclopedia contains all of the information that is true, right now. An encyclopedia that says there is nothing smaller than an atom should only be kept in a research library.
The Internet can be scary, it is neither like a library nor like an encyclopedia. A site can be updated and the information that was on it yesterday can be lost forever. A site can be not updated and the information on it can go out of date without warning. And a site can be published by just about anyone, which most librarians believe is fantastic, but it does tend to confound the problem of finding authoritative and reliable information.
The good news is that we are putting a lot of effort into digital libraries and information repositories, making them usable and accessible. Dspace at MIT has made it easy for academic institutions to publish and archive their research. Then there's the census -- I don't like to remember how I looked up population demographics before we had the U.S. Census Web site.
What kind of innovation and change do you think libraries need to achieve in order to remain relevant in the digital age?
I feel strongly that the library's place as a building with books is still important and is going to be important. Public libraries are publicly funded, and citizens need to see and touch the library, visit it, in order to support it. It should be a community center, open to everyone, provoking discussion and growth. It is a safe indoor public space to gain and exchange knowledge.
A library Web site is not going to support a community on its own (not yet anyway), but part of what we can do with that Web site and services like L-net is bring people inside.
The digital library's place is also going to get more and more important, partly because so much is published online and online only, and partly because of the capability to re-publish public documents in a digital format.
To stay relevant, we need to do both of these things equally well and integrate them. And people need to know that we do them, so when they think of information, they think of us.
I think the Library of Congress is doing a great job of that integration. The American Memory project gives digital access to thousands of primary documents without the risk of damaging them, and without the need for most of us to travel to Washington, D.C.
100 years from now, what do you think libraries will look like?
I'm going to pretend you only asked about 10 years from now, because that's about as far as I can venture without dreaming (though "Oregon is for dreamers" is our new state motto).
We are going to see a strengthening of the library as a public place and a place for books. We are going to see more services and collections offered online, and to achieve that we are going to have more corporate partnerships.
