VRS and
Instruction: A Question Analysis ^
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^ This analysis is an excerpt from
the manuscript, Virtual Reference Service
and Instruction: an assessment, submitted to The Reference Librarian, 2004 by Lesley M. Moyo,
Head, Gateway Library,
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Findings
Instruction in
Types of questions:
Although the McClure et al. (2002)
reference question typology was not applied when sampling questions for
inclusion in the survey, it was clear in the end that questions that
incorporated the highest rate of instruction fell largely into two categories,
the instructional and research and subject categories as described by McClure
et. al:
1. An instructional question is one in
which the user asks for assistance in using electronic resources that may be
available to them, and that may provide the answer to another reference
question. Examples of instructional questions include requests for information
on how to construct a search statement in an online periodical database, how to
search the online catalog (OPAC), how to request books and other materials from
the catalog, how to limit searches by domain in a particular search engine, and
how to use Boolean Logic.
2. A research [or Subject Request]
question is one that requests a variety of information on a particular topic.
The research [or Subject Request] question will most likely have many
components to the answer (i.e., articles from journals, book citations, essays,
statistics, raw data) and the answer may consist of responses sent in many
formats (emailing of full-text articles or citations, pushing websites,
documents or spreadsheets, image files, video clips, etc.).
Even though questions that
incorporated the highest rate of instructive elements fell in the above two
categories, other questions outside these two categories drew responses that
incorporated instruction. For instance, a patron who asked a bibliographic
question to verify a citation, not only received the information they
requested, but was also taught how to conduct a search that yields the
information they required in order to verify the citation.
Instruction Integration Rate:
Of the 405 transcripts analyzed in
this study, 349 (86%) contained at least one instructional element. 267 (66%)
contained more than one instructional element. 32 (8%) questions contained as
many as five instructional elements. The highest number of instructional
elements incorporated in a single VRS transaction was five.
The most prevalent instructional
element was “Guiding patrons in navigating the library’s web resources” and was
present in 316 (78%) of the transcripts. “Providing search tips and tricks” was
the next most prevalent, occurring in 267 (66%) of the transcripts, and
“Recommending specific databases to be used, and explaining the reason for the
selection” occurring in 109 (27%) of the transcripts. “Helping patrons
understand the components of bibliographic citations/records” was the least
prevalent element in the instructive sessions, followed by “Helping patrons
understand search results”.
Question Typology and Instruction Integration:
Based on the McClure et al. question
typology, out of the 349 questions that contained at least one instructional
element, 183 fell into the Instructional category, and 122 into the Research or
Subject Request category. 44 questions fell into other categories, but the
patron still received instruction as part of the response.