Google Meet a Librarian: Leveraging Technologies to Design Resilient Reference Services

The COVID-19 pandemic compelled college and university communities to adapt to rapidly evolving learning environments. As safety protocols shuttered most campus buildings, limited staff presence, and reduced existing campus services to prevent the transmission of COVID-19, students, educators, and librarians virtualized courses and knowledge co-creation spaces using a wide variety of online learning and video conferencing tools to stay connected. Now, even with the return of on-campus life, long self-isolation periods due to pandemic-related illnesses, robust distance-learning programs, and a demonstrated need for adaptive online services make it imperative that virtual library services provide sustainable, essential support for student learning that meets a variety of student circumstances. At Boise State University’s Albertsons Library, the pause of onsite operations upended traditional reference channels (i.e. in-office chat service, telephone, and face-to-face interaction at a dedicated reference desk) and significantly impacted student and faculty engagement with library reference services. In response to these changes in information-seeking behavior, we envisioned a new, virtual approach to provide reference services and meet our students where they are. In this session, librarians from Albertsons Library will explain how they applied Blue Turf Thinking [https://www.boisestate.edu/about/innovation/] to leverage existing online tools and meet the demand for virtual reference services in a COVID-changed world. We discuss the evaluation process for selecting the most appropriate tool to provide a familiar, yet innovative, virtual reference service that is purposefully aligned with our university’s strategic plan to improve educational access and student success.