To determine the need and feasibility of 24/7 services for users, subcommittee members studied current hours of service and usage in the SUS Libraries to see where gaps in coverage exist. We discovered that while one library offered reference services from librarians and MLS students up through 1 a.m., reference services end at 9 p.m. at most of the libraries. Most libraries offer morning hours of service on Saturday and some Sunday hours. Only one library offers access via a toll free telephone line, which has been the most popular way for users to access the Reference & Referral Center (over 50%).

We also looked at the hours that email messages were posted across the SUS libraries, hours that users were accessing SUS library websites and statistics from existing chat reference services at UF, USF and the RRC. An examination of the pooled statistics indicated that there is heavy use of library services such as databases and email after 9 am., continuing to 1 a.m., where usage drops off dramatically and does not pick up again until around 8 a.m. in the morning. Friday and Saturday night statistics are very low. Daytime usage follows what we have observed at reference service points, with peaks at midday.

The Subcommittee does not see a demonstrated need for 24/7 services at this time, but does see a great need to extend hours from 9 p.m. as they are currently offered at most institutions. There are a variety of ways that this could be accomplished. We have listed the approaches in the order that we think are the most feasible.

1. Toll free numbers.
     We strongly recommend establishing an 800 number to enable distance learners and students, faculty and staff working at remote locations to access reference assistance at no cost to themselves. USF would be willing to host such a service, with funding assistance from the SUS. The cost of establishing a toll free number is affordable. We have estimated the cost at be at approximately $3,000.00 a year. Costs at the RRC were $20.00 a month for basic service, combined with the actual calls that ranged from $.05 to $.15 a minute. We recommend the following service hours be offered: 8 p.m. – 1 a.m., Monday through Friday, 6 – 10 p.m. Sunday (with Sunday hours being less necessary than coverage during the week.)

Chat or real-time reference assistance
We also strongly recommend establishing a shared chat reference service, with service hours of 8 p.m. – 1 a.m. Monday through Friday and 6-10 p.m. on Sunday. There are a variety of ways that we could do this, at different levels of cost ranging from hosting the service. We would like to stress that while we have the software and infrastructure (at UF) to offer a new chat reference service to SUS users, none of the institutions have the librarian hours needed to staff such a service. Our public services are stretched in offering baseline reference services, and there was a great deal of concern among the group about how we could extend reference services in the current budget situation. With these reservations in mind, the two approaches to providing chat reference service are summarized below.

Hosted at UF on the existing NetAgent server
UF is willing to host an SUS wide chat service on their server, using the NetAgent software. Licensing permits this, and would save the cost of purchasing expensive software. We could staff the service in three ways, the first being with part-time librarians at an estimated $10,000.00 a year, up to $20,000.00 a year, if benefits were offered. Another approach would be to hire MLS students to staff the service, funding tuition wavers and/or paying $9.00 an hour. But hiring a part-time person was held to be the best approach, to lend stability to the service. There is a very high turnover of MLS students. A combination of MLS students and a part-time librarian might be a good approach. UF has also offered to supervise and provide office space for the proposed service.

Outsourcing
Another way to extend reference hours to distance learners might be to outsource services to another academic library. While there is lots of talk about doing this in the academic community, the Subcommittee was unable to find locate sources for outsourcing the service. We contacted virtual reference services in Illinois (the Alliance Library System) and LSSI, but have not received any price quotes. The director of the service at North Carolina State University said that their service doesn’t operate that late, and suggested building a cooperative agreement with academic libraries in Australia.