[Libs-Or] reflections on 7 years of statewide virtual reference

[TUCKER-RAYMOND Caleb]

Hello,

Today mark's L-net's 7th anniversary. Woo!

I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone for making it all possible.
If you've linked to our website (www.oregonlibraries.net), told a patron
about the service, criticized the program, or ever asked or answered a
question on L-net, we couldn't have done it without you. 

L-net has answered over 118,000 questions since 2003, and demand grows
every year. This year we expect to answer around 35,000 questions by
live chat and e-mail.

Some things we've learned that I hope you won't mind me sharing are:

 - Patrons appreciate being able to reach the library in person, 
   by telephone, by e-mail, by live chat, by text messaging, or 
   any way they will choose to communicate in the future.

 - The typical L-net patron is in middle school, but this doesn't 
   mean that virtual reference is only for kids. Many libraries of 
   all types are seeing a lot of interest in chat and text-messaging 
   reference from their local communities. The L-net Local program   
   (www.oregonlibraries.net/local) lets you use L-net's software 
   to reach your community (for free), and there are other low-cost 
   options as well.

 - Collaboration really does work. Library staff can answer most 
   patrons' questions even when those patrons are users of other 
   libraries.

 - Learning new modes of communication has been challenging, but 
   Oregon libraries were up for it. There will be lots of new 
   challenges in the future and I have every confidence that we, 
   as a community of library professionals, are well prepared
   to meet them.

Again, thank you.

Caleb Tucker-Raymond

Oregon Statewide Reference Service Coordinator
Multnomah County Library
(503) 988-5438
calebt at multcolib.org
AIM/Y!: calebMCL
www.oregonlibraries.net