Approved-By:  Diane Kovacs <DKOVACS@KENTVM.BITNET>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.libref-l
Date:         Fri, 14 Aug 1992 14:21:53 EDT
From:         "Gary Klein (bear at heart)" <FAC2813@UOFT01.BITNET>
Subject: RE: E-mail Reference Requests

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Some things came to my mind when reading the call for assistance on this.

BIT OF BACKGROUND FIRST:  (yeah this is lenghty!)

     I am an active participant in a number of e-mail discussion groups which
have virtually nothing to do with libraries, YET because I have always put
my job title into my signature (sort of like a business card), I have received
e-mail requests for help from around the world.  Usually about 2 requests per
month.  Most of the requests come from students, who have above average amounts
of LIBRARY ANXIETY, or simply find it more comfortable to chat over e-mail
with a "known librarian" then having to find a knowledgable one in the caverns
of their local library.

     Secondly, being visible on the Gay & Lesbian discussion groups, people
have turned to me, instead of displaying their anxiety over a face-to-face
situation of asking for assistance on SEXUALITY research, and fearing rejection
because of the specific of the topic, BUT NOT FEARFUL of talking face-to-face
with a librarian on other non-sexual research topics.

     Third, is the presumption that THEIR library would never carry the types
of sexuality research materials that they really need, when in fact many times
their library has a comparable array of materials as I have here in Toledo
(INTERNET access to their own OPACs comes off as being magical to them).

     Fourth, is the type of request for help, where they simply never even
thought of their own library.  "IF IT IS COMPUTERIZED, it has to be better.
Asking for help VIA COMPUTER is better than asking for help in person."  The
requester does not have to worry about messages being lost.  Not to worry about
when the library is open, the message will be sitting in SOMEONE's in-basket.
No need to play telephone tag.  If a response is not received quickly enough,
simply re-direct a copy of the original message to someone else.  As a by-
product of using e-mail, the questioner can polish up the question before
transmitting it.  Stark contrast with the numerous phone calls at the
Ref Desk where the person hems & haws for and then states several times,
"I am not sure if this is the right department, but do you..."

     Fifth, is the fact that there is typically no out-of-pocket costs for a
patron using e-mail at an academic institution to use e-mail.  Some states
like Michigan have local phone numbers all across the state, ALL OF WHICH
plug into the same statewide network of academic computers.  Whether you
are temporarily in Ann Arbor or Grand Traverse, you are always a local phone
call away from YOUR campus e-mail system.  This will be attractive to commuter
students/faculty.

CYNICAL COMMENT #1  (policy, policy, who has a policy on...)
     Do librarians really need a separate policy or procedure for every type
of query that one might get?

     Libraries often have separate policies for patrons on roller blade,
patrons with bicycles, patrons who do not wear shoes.  What about a policy
for the shoeless patron who rides a unicycle?  Remember, a bicycle is not
the same thing!  It may not hold up in a court of law!


CYNICAL COMMENT #2  (the medium is the message/massage)
     YES I recognize that e-mail is not quite the same thing as taking a
message off an answering machine.  But how different is it really from when
you come back to your desk and find one of those "WHILE YOU WERE OUT" slips
addressed to you, which is unintelligible?

     At least, at most academic institutions, there is no out-of-pocket
expense involved when you have to ask the patron, "Can you clarify your
request for the Doo-Hickey Ratio?"  But phoning across the state to ask that
same question will probably cost bucks during daytime hours, and often put
you into that favorite game of TELEPHONE TAG.

     Do you also need to write a policy or procedure for responding to queries
which are FAXED?  How much of a difference is there between responding to
phone message, a fax message or an e-mail message?

     To me, the big problem is not the method of communicating, but the need
for some Reference Negotiations.


CYNICAL COMMENT #3  (Lydia Pinkham's Tonic to cure all sorts of maladies)
     If you can formulate some sort of template or other method of guaranteeing
reciept of complete & relevant information by the requester, OR securing feed-
back when a response is given to the requester, THEN YOU OUGHT TO PATENT IT.
Librarians all over the world are struggling with both sides of this problem.
Why should it be any different when the format of communication changes?

     Aside from suggesting that the person asking for help will have to come
into the library to get the underlying sources, what difference does it make
if the person is on-campus or off-campus?  If they are 1 mile away or 1,000
miles away?

     Whether the person is in front of you, on the phone, or on e-mail, how
does the patron get the book/journal article when someone has stolen the
volume from your library?

CYNICAL COMMENT #4  (the twelve step program, for twelve step addictions)
     How do you provide support to the librarians who (like myself) gradually
develop an addiction to e-mail?

     Maybe Daniel Lester can help us out on this!  When I chatted about this
with Martin Raish, he agreed that we could probably set up an e-mail list
dedicated to providing support & suggestions for e-mailaholics.  Let's
call it 12STEP-L.

"Librarian, leather bound"
      * * * *          Gary Klein,   Business Librarian,  Univ of Toledo
       *   *                     P.O.Box 12650 / Toledo OH 43606
        * *            WORK: 419-537-2629             HOME: 419-243-2740
         *             BITNET:   fac2813@uoft01        FAX: 419-537-2726
  B4 t+ w- g s+ k             INTERNET: fac2813@uoft01.utoledo.edu
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