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Chat: from the desk of a subject librarian

Off‐campus students at La Trobe University are a growing group who do not always receive assistance through information literacy classes, or at their time of need. Previous efforts by the subject librarian to answer e‐mail queries from off‐campus nursing students have sometimes been less than satisfactory for both the student and the librarian, requiring that a telephone call be made in order to conduct a reference interview. A chat reference service was offered to off‐campus nursing students as an alternative method of contacting the subject librarian or the library. There was a trial in March and April 2002 using LivePerson, and involving three health sciences librarians. The trial would determine: if chat increased the number of students who sought/received help; if a reference interview can be conducted properly during a chat; and the infrastructure required to continue a chat service, particularly whether using subject librarians removes the need to roster staff on the service.