Distance Referencing

Connecting patrons and Reference Librarians together with desktop video conferencing seemed like a great idea. In fact, it's still a great idea. Imagine : a library patron is doing research at one of Rutgers University’s 17 libraries. They have a reference question but all the can find is the circulation desk staff. The patron asks the circulation desk manager if she can help her get reference information. The Circulation desk manager explains that the library has reference personnel during certain hours, but reference is an expensive service and they can’t justify the cost during slow times.

As I stated in my last blog, this scenario has occurred within the Rutgers libraries. I do not know how often this occurs . But, Rutgers is one of our nations oldest, and largest research universities. A University of Rutgers’ stature, should offer reference help in all locations at all times if possible. And it is possible, with recently improved communications technology.

Technology is currently being used to help patrons with reference questions. “Ask a Librarian”, is a web based service where the patron types in a question and a librarian or staff member replies. The problem is that email communications is in the middle of the scale as to media richness, A synchronized typed communications is not suitable for an ambiguous information exchange.
Media Richness
Rutgers Library school professor, Mare Radford, conducted extensive research on nonverbal communication and the reference desk. In her book,The Reference Encounter: Interpersonal Communication in the Academic Library she states that more than 60% of
the information transferred in a face to face meeting is derived through nonverbal communication.
One of the reasons that I chose Desk top video conferencing as a Distance Reference tool, is because of the vital importance of nonverbal communication . Effectiveness and understanding are more easily gauged with the feedback of facial expressions.
The main reason I believe that Marratech and other desktop video conference devices are perfect for Distance Reference is that they allow SVGA screen sharing. The patron must see the reference search path performed by the reference librarian to understand and perform future searches.

Related News
This past Thursday Oct 26, I presented my “Distance Reference”, idea to the Rutgers University’s Library council. The group consisted of approximately 24 tenured - faculty librarians. My presentation focused on the technical feasibility of the project.
Distance Reference

Distance Reference

I originally intended for this weeks’ blog, to discuss the different types of video conference devices available today. But, I am working on a project for the Rutger’ Libraries I want to share with my internet audience.
Distance Reference Work

Background/Need
This past summer, I attended a Rutgers Libraries departmental meeting where we discussed how to deal with the drastic budget cuts imposed by the NJ Governor’s office. The Rutgers Libraries lost eight percent of the operating budget forcing Library administration to let go most part time employees. The reduction in staff made it impossible to maintain the public service coverage schedules.
One woman who worked at a circulation desk was frustrated that her library’s patrons did not have access to a reference person at certain times of the week. She suggested that the libraries have a reference person answer reference questions by phone.
I thought she had a wonderful idea but, it required a much richer form of communication than the phone.
I proposed to set up work stations at two libraries. One station would be for a reference librarian the other for a patron at a distant library requiring assistance.
I knew that to make this work I had to choose a communications tool that filled specific requirements necessary for a reference person to effectively satisfy a patron’s question.
I researched and wrote a paper on the interaction between patrons and library reference personnel. One key element is screen sharing.
The reference person must be able to show the search path she has on her computer screen to the patron in real time with SVGA resolution..
To maximize communications, both parties must be able to see and hear each other clearly. Based on research by Mare Radford, non verbal communication can account for up to 80% of the information transferred in a face to face discussion.
Additionally, the software must be easy to use, reliable, firewall friendly, flexible with band width and compatible with other platforms.
Three desktop video conference products currently on the market, fulfill all the aforementioned requirements.

It was a toss up as to which of the three top products I was going to choose. I chose Marratech videoconference software because it was offered as a free download to NJ schools by a New Jersey organization (NJEDJ)and Verizon.
This screen shot is what the Library patron and reference person would view simultaneously. The reference person would perform a web search on the white board area while talking and seeing the patron’s reaction.
I will learn much more about desktop video-conference systems when I perform trials next week

Distant Electronic Audio and Video Communications

http://myhome.hanafos.com/~soonjp/vchx.html

Ever since the invention of the telephone , people have attempted to improve its quality, design, function and features. Quality video exchange is the one feature that has eluded innovators for over half a century.


Its logical to think that if a camera sends an image to a monitor via a wire then a camera/monitor –phone should be able to send an image and sound to another camera/ monitor phone.
Commercial systems were attempted in France and Germany during the 1930s but were not commercially feasible for the same reasons encountered decades later. Video carries a lot of signal information. Technically, moving video images requires more bandwidth than ordinary phone lines can accommodate.
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AT&T's 1956 Picturephone could send a still image every two seconds. At the 1964 New York Worlds Fair the public experienced picture calls between special exhibits at Disneyland and the New York World's Fair.
The public felt the picture phone was too bulky; too many confusing buttons, and the picture was too small.

Following a six-year trial, a commercial Picture phone service was attempted in Pittsburgh in 1970, Consumer adoption was slow and never reached critical mass. The Picture phone was still big, expensive and there was research that showed many people did not want to be seen by the person they were talking with.
A Jetsons episode illustrated this notion when the character Jane, had her hair in curlers and did not want to be seen by the caller on her videophone. She used a mask of herself, at her best, to talk with the caller. This is an important social barrier that will hinder acceptance well into the future.
The Picture phone experiment in the USA during the early 1970s had been a failure. But by the 1990s four new factors had come together to make widespread videoconferencing possible. These were: the growing use of the personal computer (PC) placed a screen on virtually every desktop; falling prices for image capture devices connected to PCs making digital photography and video affordable; use of the Internet provided a low-cost means of connecting voice, images and people in real time over unlimited networks; and last - but not least - international standards ratified in 1996 and 1998 ensuring the compatibility of all equipment.
In fact, the first PC-based videophones were demonstrated by IBM and PictureTel as early as 1991 but the system was expensive and the image quality was mediocre at best.

Next week’s blog: Videoconferencing: ISDN to IP.

1964-65 NY World's Fair Video-Phone

I was a young boy when my family and I visited the 1964-65 NY World's Fair. I have memories of the Ford, GM, Dupont, and other corporately sponsored exhibits. The Worlds Fair gave me a glimpse into the upcoming high-tech age. It was here that visitors would see for the first time, such things as the microwave oven, computers, animatronics, touch tone phones, and early Video phones.