Interpreting Library Chat Reference Service Transactions

Author First name, Last name, Institution

Judith Mavodza, Zayed University

ORCID Identifiers

0000-0001-7739-7841

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Reference Librarian

Publication Date

4-3-2019

Abstract

©, Published with license by Taylor & Francis. © Judith Mavodza. ©, © Judith Mavodza. This paper discusses live chat instances as patron participatory learning interactions in a medium-sized non-Western university library. Widespread and popular in the regional commercial sector, it is not so in local academic libraries whose library websites were visited. Rather, chat is used primarily as a service for general university enquiries. For this paper, library live chat scripts covering a five-year period from February 2013 to February 2018 were examined, a literature review done, and insights derived from those scripts. Findings contribute towards context-specific understanding of university student library use habits.

ISSN

0276-3877

Publisher

Routledge

Volume

60

Issue

2

First Page

122

Last Page

133

Disciplines

Library and Information Science

Keywords

Live chat reference, READ scale, technology acceptance

Scopus ID

85061240780

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

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