June 2007 Archives

"Virtual reference", the ability to assist patrons remotely with their research, is critical to our continued effectiveness and future employment. The attorneys simply aren't coming to the library in droves anymore, so we must assist them where they are working, in their offices, on the road, or at home.

But the virtual reference tools that were high profile a few years back, used mainly in public and academic libraries, are falling out of favor. I was initially interested in features such as co-browsing and IM-like conversations with patrons. But on analyzing the potential usefulness of VL apps in a law firm environment, I realized that we could conduct virtual reference using the tools we already had in-house, including the remote access utility that is used by technology and the libraries to connect to the desktop of anyone on the firm's network.

The more difficult task is to manage the process of routing, logging, assigning and responding to reference requests in an efficient manner. If you have a pool of reference librarians in different physical locations, blanket emails to the whole group via a common distribution list can quickly become unwieldy, causing duplicate effort and a general influx of unnecessary email. Separate inboxes can work, but it's not easy to keep your eye on a secondary inbox, especially since the Outlook notification features works only for the primary mailbox, not the secondary one, so requests can potentially languish. The solution, it seems to me, is some kind of email queuing system. I've been on the watch for some such thing for a while now, and haven't been able to find the right application.

The two products that I spotted at SLA aren't exactly email queuing systems, but they both handle reference desk requests submitted via a webform. The first one called "Ask ALA" was presented by the librarian at ALA (American Libraries Association) at an exhibit hall program called "Supercharge Your Reference Desk." She used the Sydney Plus' Information Manager to build the application. The system is set up to automatically route questions to the best person/department to handle the research, includes a knowledgebase to recycle comman answers, and also has a feature I especially like, the ability to respond to frequently asked questions with a template answer. See the PowerPoint for screenshots and more details.

I came across RefTracker in the exhibit hall. This application can be installed inhouse or the vendor (Altarama) can run it for you on their own servers. In addition to managing reference requests, the stats that are captured would be incredibly valuable. I definitely want to look at this program more closely. It seems powerful, effective and easy to use.

The downside to both these systems? Requests must be entered via a webform. While it can be hard to get patrons to abandon email for entering via the web, the librarians can also enter the information themselves regardless of how the request makes its way to the library. The bottomline is that we need to collect specific pieces of information, including the client-matter number, the request, the timeframe, that does require a more fielded solution than email allows, so perhaps this isn't really a downside, but rather, a training issue.

We've automated a wide variety of library functions. It's time to look an automating reference to provide the best possible service.

Do you need to explain RSS to a librarian, attorney, friend, relative or casual acquintance? Don't bother. Just direct them to this 4 minute video by Lee LeFever of Common Craft called RSS in Plain English. He tells you what you need to know to get started with RSS, no more, no less.

It's an interesting little production. He doesn't use PowerPoint or screen captures, instead, he taped his hand and web pages on paper, using a marker for emphasis. It reminds me a bit of the Scott Adams (Dilbert) presentation at SLA, which was, of course, very entertaining, and was also the first time in many years that I've seen anyone use an overhead projector. During the question and answer period someone asked Scott if this unconventional and, some would say, outdated, presentation medium was a negative statement on PowerPoint. I don't have his answer verbatim, but he said something to the effect that he thought is was more "live" to see him physically move and swtich the transparencies.

I'm still wondering where they found the projector....maybe Ebay?

[Spotted on Blog on the Side]

I've always suspected that my lazy streak is the basis for my technology skills. If I have the choice, I'd rather spend an hour figuring out how to automate a repetitive task, than spend an hour DOING the repetitive task. I guess I just like problem solving.

There are some good and valid reasons for being lazy. If you start a system that requires a great deal of labor and maintenance, there's an excellent chance that somewhere down the line, the system that you worked so hard on will be abandoned due to lack of staffing. I've worked in law firms long enough to see that happen a few times...and I hear stories...

So when it comes to KM I'll admit I like automated solutions whenever possible. Along those lines, if you're considering collecting expertise/experience information, you might want to consider some of the sources OTHER THAN YOUR ATTORNEYS, for such information like the ones discussed by on KM Space You may not get everything you want this way, but you certainly can collect some valuable information on the kind of work your attorneys do. If you have Recommind, as does MOFO, you're in good shape to leverage these data sources into a useful resource.

I'd also like to extend this kind of approach to work product. There are many third-party research services that collect documents that are public records, such as court filings and SEC documents. If you can search by law firm, and often you can, these services can provide you with a way to search an admittedly limited body of documents. It's not everything, not even close, but if you have no other internal way of finding these documents, it's a quick and easy way to go.

Law librarians frequently complain that attorneys are terrible at knowledge management because they're just not willing to share. That may be true, but I'm not so sure librarians are much better. We have to ask ourselves if WE are good at collecting and sharing our knowledge with other librarians and library staff.

What kind of things am I talking about? Knowledgebases, bookmark managers and email are all things that need to be managed and shared if we want to leverage the work we do. For more information, see my article in Law Librarians in the New Millennium, entitled "Putting Your Knowledge Where Your Mouse Is", in the March/April issue, p. 3.

SLA Conference Report - At the Exhibit Hall

There seems to be a common thread in my conversations with vendors in the exhibit area. Many are offering applications that require no IT support, mainly hosted solutions. This has been a trend for a while, but I'm encouraged to see even more such products out there.

Caspio is one hosted service that caught my eye. If you have a database that you want to post on your Intranet or web site, you upload the data, create a search form, and grab the code to embed in your pages. They host it all, and can also provide consulting services if you need help. I haven't played with it yet, but plan to.

By the way, Denver is a great conference town. Great shopping, restaurants, public transportation, and the weather has been perfect! Wish you were here!

Breaking news - You heard it here. Actually, you've heard it everywhere. Al Gore, the keynote speaker on Sunday, says he's not running for president. At least, not yet. I was hoping he'd announce right here at SLA. It would have put special libraries on the map! :-)