{"title":"Does proactivity drive use? Understanding growth in chat reference services","authors":"David A. Hurley, Adrienne Warner","doi":"10.1080/15228959.2021.1896412","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Libraries that implement trigger-initiated proactive chat reference services see substantial increases in the number and complexity of reference transactions. However, it is not clear if this growth is a result of something inherent to proactivity, or other factors such as increased awareness of the service. To investigate this, we compare usage during periods with and without proactivity in databases in which our chat reference service is established. Steep and immediate increases when proactivity is enabled and sharp declines when it is disabled suggests that proactivity itself is driving the changes. We recommend human computer interaction (HCI) and user experience (UX) approaches to further understand chat reference service.","PeriodicalId":35381,"journal":{"name":"Public Services Quarterly","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Public Services Quarterly","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15228959.2021.1896412","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"Social Sciences","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Abstract Libraries that implement trigger-initiated proactive chat reference services see substantial increases in the number and complexity of reference transactions. However, it is not clear if this growth is a result of something inherent to proactivity, or other factors such as increased awareness of the service. To investigate this, we compare usage during periods with and without proactivity in databases in which our chat reference service is established. Steep and immediate increases when proactivity is enabled and sharp declines when it is disabled suggests that proactivity itself is driving the changes. We recommend human computer interaction (HCI) and user experience (UX) approaches to further understand chat reference service.
期刊介绍:
Public Services Quarterly covers a broad spectrum of public service issues in academic libraries, presenting practical strategies for implementing new initiatives and research-based insights into effective practices. The journal publishes research-based and theoretical articles as well as case studies that advance the understanding of public services, including reference and research assistance, information literacy instruction, access and delivery services, and other services to patrons. Articles may examine creative ways to use technology to assist students and faculty. Practice-based articles should be thoroughly grounded in the literature and should situate the work done in one library into the larger context of the situation.