E-valuating E-reference: Transforming digital reference through research and evaluation

This panel presents three different approaches, methods of analysis and data collection techniques to evaluate several digital reference formats. Radford and Connaway evaluate criteria important for perceptions of success across different generations of digital reference users, non-users, and librarians. They compare Baby Boomer vs. Millennial generations through 497 in-depth online surveys. Both content delivery and interpersonal communication were found to be important to successful chat encounters. Pomerantz presents a project to evaluate the Slam the Boards effort on Yahoo! Answers (YA) which is the largest web-based community answer board. The volume of questions and answers on YA is massive with librarian-provided answers comprising a small amount. Studies of YA users are required to determine if questioners find value in having questions answered by librarians. New practices, metrics, and organizational partnerships must be developed to make future quality evaluation possible. Mon discusses the use of new technologies in digital reference education and practice, and explores information behavior at the Internet Public Library (IPL). The IPL is building an online learning community site to support teaching, learning and research in digital reference. This paper reports the result of research that informs the implementation of digital technologies within the learning community site.