Worldwide (English)

Researchers will do online presentation on importance of face-to-face reference skills in the virtual reference (VR) environment

DUBLIN, Ohio, USA, 4 April 2008—Lynn Silipigni Connaway (OCLC) and Marie L. Radford (Rutgers) will present results from their IMLS-funded Seeking Synchronicity project in an online session at 2 p.m. EDT on 16 April 2008.

In "Smiling Online: Applying face-to-face reference skills in a virtual environment," the researchers will explain:

• Why people use-or choose not to use-virtual reference services
• Ways to encourage non-users to try virtual reference
• How to communicate with users of different age groups
• How to boost accuracy and satisfaction with your virtual reference service
• How to handle impolite and impatient users

Register for the session at www.oclc.org/info/virtualreference

Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D. is Senior Research Scientist for OCLC, where she has worked since 2003 on a variety of research projects that directly involve libraries that use OCLC services. Previously, she was the vice president of Research and Library Systems for OCLC's NetLibrary division, and she has held several faculty positions at the University of Denver, the University of Missouri, Columbia and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Marie L. Radford, Ph.D. is Associate Professor and Library Consultant for the School of Communication, Information & Library Studies at Rutgers University. From 2002 to 2004 she was Acting Dean at Pratt Institute, School of Information and Library Science, as well as associate professor from 1996-2004

More information

Lynn Silipigni Connaway
www.oclc.org/research/staff/connaway.htm

Marie L. Radford
www.scils.rutgers.edu/~mradford/ 

Seeking Synchronicity project
www.oclc.org/research/projects/synchronicity

For more information:

Lynn Silipigni Connaway






Bob Bolander