Term
Fall 12-13-2016
Capstone
Thesis
Degree Name
MAEd
Primary Advisor/Dissertation Chair
Trish Harvey
Secondary Advisor/Reader One
Suzanne Schriefer
Peer-Reviewer/Reader Two
Rochelle Murray
Abstract
This capstone addressed the research question: what are today’s best practices in online reference, and how can librarians at academic institutions improve the student experience in online reference transactions? It documents one librarian’s creation of best practices for a virtual reference service based on the guidelines and practices outlined by governing bodies, commercial entities, and other libraries. During the study the practices were implemented at a higher education institution and results about the effectiveness, clarity, and overall improvement of virtual reference transactions were gathered using a mixed-methods approach. The author used related research literature as a foundation for building best practices documentation and evaluation of the results. The author described the successes and difficulties in implementing the best practices and concluded: lack of student awareness of the best practices implemented impacted satisfaction results, staff benefitted from having basic competencies defined, and outlining basic skills and defining what those skills entailed provided a needed structure for online chat.
Research Methodology
Action Research
Keywords
Library Services, Higher Education, Best Practices
Recommended Citation
Stambaugh, Sara J., "Virtual Reference Best Practices and the College Student Experience" (2016). School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations. 4246.
https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_all/4246