QuestionPoint - Week 1

Last quarter my LIS 521 Principles of Information Services class required that I participate in the librarian question queue for the Internet Public Library. It ended up being a good way to gain experience in reference services without the pressure of a live chat or face-to-face encounter. The service was provided via email with a 24 hour deadline from the time the question was “accepted” by the librarian. It was nice to have plenty of time to reseach the question and to compose a thorough, well-organized response. It is a service method that is complementary to my personality and writing skills.

This quarter one of my DFW learning objectives is to participate in the librarian question queue for QuestionPoint. I am looking forward to expanding my skills as a reference librarian, however I am a bit nervous about being in a live chat environment. Due to my lack of familiarity with resources and lack of experience, I am afraid I will be too slow. Fortunately, I will be observing Quill for the first few weeks before I start doing it on my own. Since I am a “how to” learner, this will be helpful.

After watching her for an hour, I must say I am quite impressed with Quill’s skills. She is fast, efficient, and helpful. The quality of her chat encounters was far superior to the service I received when I used QuestionPoint last quarter for my “secret patron” assignment in LIS 521. I look forward to learning from the master!