...Paula R. Dempsey; Glenda M. Insua; Annie R. Armstrong; Holly Joy Hudson; Kristyn Caragher; Mariah McGregor Purpose This analysis of chat reference transcripts assesses differences in how librarians and graduate assistants (GAs) incorporate teaching strategies in responding to chat reference...

...Emy Nelson Decker; Karen Chapman Purpose This article details the implementation of a live online chat service which was suddenly necessitated by the worldwide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The approaches used to train chat operators during this time inform both current and future...

...Paula R. Dempsey Purpose The purpose of this study is to learn what factors liaison librarians in academic research libraries consider in determining whether to refer chat reference patrons to subject specialists. Design/methodology/approach Subject specialists were asked what policies guided...

...Sandy Hervieux; Nikki Tummon Purpose This study aims to evaluate the instances of information literacy instruction within the virtual reference system of a Canadian university library. Design/methodology/approach Coding and analysis of a sample of chat transcripts over the course of one...

...Margie Ruppel; Amy Vecchione Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discover how college students perceive text messaging reference (SMS), chat reference, and face‐to‐face reference services. Design/methodology/approach The authors administered surveys about chat, text messaging (SMS...