The Tele-Reference Model

Sandra Avila, Sarah Norris, Rebecca Murphey, Min Tong, Richard Harrison II

OAI: oai:igi-global.com:296904 • DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-8942-7.ch001

At the University of Central Florida Libraries, a new alternative to traditional reference service was adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic as a remote solution for safely staffing the Research and Information Desk (RAID) at the John C. Hitt Library. Due to the challenges of a partial library re-opening at the height of COVID-19 variant infection rates in Florida, a safe alternative to physically staffing RAID was conceived and coined “Tele-Reference.” Utilizing a Zoom institutional license and readily available work equipment with audio and video capabilities, the Tele-Reference service model was developed by our research and information services librarians. The implementation, challenges, assessment, and future directions of using Tele-Reference at the University of Central Florida Libraries, as well as possible applications at other institutions, are explored herein.

Library Science Library and Information Science Library Science Computer Science and Information Technology