Chat reference service at Umeå University Library : A content analysis of transcripts

This study focuses on virtual services and more particularly on the usage of chat services to provide a formal evidence of the status of one particular chat reference service. It explores the efficiency of the chat service model at Umeå University Library for the period August 2015 to February 2016 and covers a total of 221 virtual chat transactions. It uses content analysis and a process model of chat-based reference to bring comprehension of the content for both inquiries and replies to understand the usage of this service and discern trends and discrepancies. The results show that September and February have the highest amount of questions due to the distribution of the academic year. Furthermore, the requests appeared to be spread evenly over the distinguished categories with a slightly lower number of research related questions which reflect the difficulty to perform a reference interview in the virtual context. The study uncovered that the types of inquiries affect the level of completeness and consequently questions requiring general knowledge of the library are more successfully answered than more specific questions. The referrals are connected to the knowledge area of the librarian answering the chat and remain internal. Those results can be easily improved through skill development programs but librarian evaporation remains a predominant issue that should be addressed. Despite the circumstantial attendance of the chat, the chat service appears to be a valid alternative to the information desk and the library management should improve the chat efficacy by involving more competences