A worldwide library cooperative
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
24 Hour Reference Goes Global:
A Cooperative Approach to providing a Multilingual Reference Service
Susan McGlameryGlobal Product ManagerOCLC Cooperative [email protected]
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Languages other than English at home
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Speaks a language other than English at home (U.S.):
18% of the U.S. population over 5 years old (47 million people) (US Census 2000)
In 1990: 14% of the population (31.8 million people)
Percentage of people who speak a language other than English grew 38% in the 1980s and 47% in the 1990s.
Of the total population, 8.1 percent reported speaking English not very well or not at all.
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Are libraries keeping up?
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Survey: QP and 24/7 libraries
65 responses
73.6% say population speaking languages other than English has increased
How many visit the library?
60% say 5% or less
20% don’t know
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
93.5% provide materials in other languages
Books -- fiction 78.2%
Books -- non fiction 80%
Magazines 58.2%
Newspapers 50.9%
Databases 38.2%
CD's 52.7%
Videos or DVD's 72.7%
Other (please specify) 20%
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Languages of the materials:
Chinese 47.3%
French 60%
German 49.1%
Japanese 41.8%
Korean 41.8%
Russian 45.5%
Spanish 96.4%
Vietnamese 29.1%
Other (please specify) 32.7%
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Bilingual Staff: 34 of 59 say YES
Chinese 25.8%
French 41.9%
German 25.8%
Japanese 6.5%
Korean 9.7%
Russian 29%
Spanish 83.9%
Vietnamese 12.9%
Other 25.8%
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
24/7 Reference Cooperative
Fail safe coverage After hours and as back up
Separate cooperatives for academic and public libraries
Quality control
Subject experts (24/7 and Global Reference Network)
http://www.questionpoint.org/community/ TransitionTaskForce/FAQ_247.htm
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Leveraging a global cooperative
24/7 Reference acquired by OCLC (8/04)
QuestionPoint: libraries in 20 countries, serving patrons in 24 languages Global Reference Network
WebJunction: Spanish Outreach
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Language Issues
Software interface
Unicode compliant
QuestionPoint Librarian interface translated into 8 languages
Librarians needed to staff
Cultural issues
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Current Patron Interfaces
Chinese
Dutch
English
French
German
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Portuguese
Slovenian
Spanish
Turkish
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
24/7 Reference – Spanish language
U.S. bilingual librarians
Participants: California, Florida, Maryland, soon Wisconsin
Available approximately 50 hours per week live, otherwise by email
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
LAPL - English
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
LAPL - Spanish
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Spanish language interface
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Scripts in Spanish
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
If no Librarians are available live…
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
24/7 Reference – next steps
Survey: Ability to offer reference help in other languages is more important than the delivery method used and the hours of service
Looking for partners to extend service
French, Chinese
Combination of chat and email reference
A worldwide library cooperative
OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Questions and Discussion
Susan McGlamery