Serving the Need: Engaging in Virtual Video Reference with Students

Abstract

In March 2020, many academic librarians were abruptly forced into an online service environment due to the global COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Although some librarians had been providing synchronous video reference consultations prior to the pandemic, evidence of the practice in Library Science literature is scant. This paper presents scenarios sourced from anonymized student responses to a digital badge on the library's chat reference service to illustrate when a video consultation may be the appropriate modality to address an information need.

Assessing Demographics and Needs of Online Students before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons from Academic Libraries

“…Surveys are also another technique for assessing the needs of online students, and can provide similar findings to interviewing this population in terms of the importance of patrons being able to easily and efficiently access library services and resources (Harlow & Hill, 2020;Ismail, 2016;Kvenild & Bowles-Terry, 2011;Maddox & Stanfield, 2019;Skarl & Bosque, 2019;Sterling et al, 2017). Overall, the literature shows the need to continue assessing the research demands of virtual students, particularly to see if the COVID-19 global pandemic has influenced or changed how they interact and view the library and to build off the emerging research (Cole & Raish, 2020;Dempsey & Heil, 2021;Ezell, 2021;Nowicki, 2020;Oladipo & Okiki, 2020;Peuler & Coltrain, 2020;Wheeler & Kyprianou-Chavda, 2021;Ziegenfuss, 2020).…”