Convergence and Synergy: Social QA Meets Virtual Reference Services

摘要

This paper presents a preliminary analysis of onlineinformation services that examines the intersection of twoareas of research: Virtual Reference Services (VRS) andSocial Q&A (SQA). This project embraces the idea of asynergic collaboration within and between VRS and SQAto provide higher quality content to information seekers anda higher level of sustainability. Preliminary findings aredescribed that emanate from a grant-funded project: CyberSynergy: Seeking Sustainability through Collaborationbetween Virtual Reference and Social Q&A Sites, which isbeing supported by the Institute for Museum and LibraryServices (IMLS). Early stages of the grant project activitiesinclude VRS transcript analysis and interviews with onlineQ&A end users (students) and experts (universitylibrarians). Analysis reveals that VRS questions address abroad range of subjects, predominantly social sciences andtechnology. Largest numbers of question types areProcedural and Ready Reference. An analysis of accuracyfor the subset of Ready Reference questions was found tobe high, 90 percent correct, although only 75 percent werefound to be correct with citation cited. Interviews withinformation seekers and providers in both VRS and SQAenvironments revealed important differences in how expertsand end-users perceive online Q&A services, leaving cluesas to how it may be possible to start bridging these systems.