Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the pandemic on the questions received via chat reference at a Canadian university library.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative analysis using coding of chat transcripts and a quantitative analysis of the length of chat interactions were used in this study.

Findings

The author determined that the types of questions received changed slightly during the pandemic due to the new library services offered. The complexity level of questions did not change significantly nor did the presence of instruction. The length of individual chat interactions and the total amount of time spent on chat increased, most likely due to the extended hours of the service and the number of patron questions present in one interaction.

Originality/value

This is the first study to investigate the potential impact of the pandemic on virtual reference services at a university library. The findings could lead to practical implications for libraries who need to close their in-person reference desk or need to respond to building closures.

中文翻译：

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图书馆开门了吗？大流行如何改变了虚拟参考服务的提供

目的

本文的目的是调查大流行对加拿大大学图书馆通过聊天参考收到的问题的影响。

设计/方法/方法

本研究使用了使用聊天记录编码的定性分析和聊天交互长度的定量分析。

发现

作者确定，由于提供了新的图书馆服务，在大流行期间收到的问题类型略有变化。问题的复杂程度没有显着变化，说明的存在也没有显着变化。个人聊天互动的长度和聊天花费的总时间增加，很可能是由于服务时间延长以及一次互动中出现的顾客问题数量。

原创性/价值

这是第一项调查大流行对大学图书馆虚拟参考服务的潜在影响的研究。这些发现可能会对需要关闭个人咨询台或需要对建筑物关闭做出反应的图书馆产生实际影响。