Questions by Keystroke: An Analysis of Chat Transcripts at Albert S. Cook Library

Abstract

To remain relevant in the increasingly digital 21st century, librarians need to engage with users at point of need. Chat reference provides such an opportunity. To understand the types of questions users ask via chat reference, transcripts logged over the course of an entire semester were analyzed and categorized by type. Frequency of the different types of questions was calculated to determine if the number and proportion of question types changed over the course of the semester. This data gives librarians a better understanding of chat reference users and allows librarians to anticipate user needs.