Web-based (Moodle) course - Register to work -at-your-own-pace anytime
Week 1: Communications Competencies for Virtual Reference and Self-Assessment
Week 2: Practice Virtual Reference Interviewing as a User and Librarian
Week 3: Maintaining Virtual Reference Communications Skills and Knowledge
Virtual reference service requires all of the same professional communications skills and knowledge as face-to-face reference service. The challenge is to apply, practice, imagine, and understand how to communicate professionally within the technology context and using good reference skills and knowledge.
In this course participants will engage in learning activities, supported by readings as well as lecture and discussion to practice and expand the communications competencies required by effective virtual reference librarians.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, you will have:
- Ability and awareness of the need to continue learning technical, communications, and reference skills and knowledge
- Awareness and understanding of good reference interviewing skills and techniques
- Detailed functional knowledge of good reference interviewing skills and techniques
- Ability to empathize with virtual reference users during a virtual reference interview, and to understand something of the culture and social environment of the Internet
- Ability to explain library and research processes without using library jargon
- Awareness of the need to imagine and project a professional persona as part of library participation in the Internet community – ‘library space’ on the Web
- Ability to provide information without making value judgments, to maintain and project professional objectivity
- Ability to carefully and quickly read and respond to the text typed by a library user and displayed on a computer monitor - communicating to the user that you are ‘listening'
- Understanding of the need and the ability to ‘be there’ for the virtual reference user – avoiding 'silence'
- Understanding of when and how to teach or instruct during a virtual reference transaction
- Awareness of when and how to provide follow-up, referrals, or to request consultations with other professionals
- Ability to work with multiple users in a virtual reference only environment
- Ability to work with multiple users in a mixed virtual reference and face-to-face environment
- Detailed functional knowledge of typing quickly and fluently on a computer keyboard in order to communicate - typing fluency
Librarians and Library paraprofessionals who want to assess and improve their communications skills for virtual reference services or for those who are training librarians and library paraprofessionals in communications skills for virtual reference services.
Some basic reference service experience is assumed. Level of instruction is beginners or for those training beginners in providing virtual reference services.
Participants should know how to use e-mail and a current standard Web Browser Firefox, Netscape 7.0, Safari or IE 5.5 or higher is preferred.
Register anytime to work-at-your-own-pace with a Web teacher through e-mail, chat and Moodle. $125.Required and Recommended Course Material:
All of the required readings for the course will be available on-line or in the text:
- The Virtual Reference Handbook: Interview and Information Delivery Techniques for the Chat and E-Mail Environments by Kovacs, Diane K. Neal-Schuman Publishers (2007) published concurrently in the United Kingdom by Facet Publishers (2007) - http://www.neal-schuman.com/db/1/571.html or http://www.facetshop.co.uk/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=1&Product_Code=626-8&Category_Code=
Diane K. Kovacs is President of Kovacs Consulting - Internet & Web Training. She has more than 15 years of experience as a Web Teacher and Consultant. Diane has been designing and teaching Web-based MLA Approved CE Courses since 2001. She also designs and teaches Web-based courses for UIUC GSLIS LEEP, the ACRL, and other organizations.
The Virtual Reference Handbook: Interview and Information Delivery Techniques for the Chat and E-Mail Environments by Kovacs, Diane K. Neal-Schuman Publishers (2007) published concurrently in the United Kingdom by Facet Publishers (2007) The Kovacs Guide to Electronic Library Collection Development: Essential Core Subject Collections, Selection Criteria, and Guidelines by Kovacs, Diane K. & Robinson, Kara L. was published in 2004 by Neal-Schuman Publishers.
Genealogical Research on Web was published in 2002 . How to Find Medical Information on the Internet: A Print and Online Tutorial for the Health Care Professional and Consumer (2000) (Library Solutions Press) and Building Electronic Library Collections: The Essential Guide to Selection Criteria and Core Collections (Neal-Schuman) were both published in 2000.
Diane's first book The Internet Trainer's Guide , was published in 1995. The Internet Trainer's Total Solution Guide was published in 1997. She has also co-authored with her husband Michael Kovacs, Cybrarians Guide to Successful Internet Programs and Services which was published by Neal-Schuman in 1997.
Diane Kovacs is the 2000 recipient of the "Documents to the People" award from the Government Documents Roundtable of the American Library Association. She was also the recipient of the Apple Corporation Library's, Internet Citizen Award for 1992 and was the University of Illinois Graduate School of Library and Information Science Alumni Association's first recipient of the Leadership Award in 1996. Since 1990 she has been the editor-in-chief of the Directory of Scholarly and Professional Electronic Conferences.
Diane received an M.S. in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois in 1989 and an M.Ed. in Instructional Technology from Kent State University in 1993. She has a B.A. in Anthropology also from the University of Illinois, 1985.
