Service Equality in Virtual Reference
| dc.contributor.author | Shachaf, Pnina | |
| dc.contributor.author | Oltmann, Shannon M. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Horowitz, Sarah M. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2007-12-07T00:00:01Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2010-06-18T23:26:23Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2008 | en_US |
| dc.date.submitted | 2007-12-07 | en_US |
| dc.identifier.citation | Service Equality in Virtual Reference 2008, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10150/105494 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Research is divided about the potential of e-service to bridge communication gaps, particularly to diverse user groups. According to the existing body of literature, eservice may either increase or decrease the quality of service received. This study analyzes the level of service received by different genders and ethnic groups when academic and public librarians answer 676 online reference queries. Quality of e-service was evaluated along three dimensions: timely response, reliability, and courtesy. This study found no significant differences among different user groups along any of these dimensions, supporting the argument that the virtual environment facilitates equitable service and may overcome some challenges of diverse user groups. | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | en_US |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.subject | Virtual reference | en_US |
| dc.subject | Quality of service | en_US |
| dc.subject | Reference Services | en_US |
| dc.title | Service Equality in Virtual Reference | en_US |
| dc.type | Journal Article (Paginated) | en_US |
| dc.identifier.journal | Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology | en_US |
| refterms.dateFOA | 2018-08-15T22:39:54Z | |
| html.description.abstract | Research is divided about the potential of e-service to bridge communication gaps, particularly to diverse user groups. According to the existing body of literature, eservice may either increase or decrease the quality of service received. This study analyzes the level of service received by different genders and ethnic groups when academic and public librarians answer 676 online reference queries. Quality of e-service was evaluated along three dimensions: timely response, reliability, and courtesy. This study found no significant differences among different user groups along any of these dimensions, supporting the argument that the virtual environment facilitates equitable service and may overcome some challenges of diverse user groups. |
