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'''Digital reference''' (more commonly called '''virtual reference''') is a service by which a [[library]] reference service is conducted online, and the reference transaction is a [[computer-mediated communication]]. It is the remote, computer-mediated delivery of reference information provided by library professionals to users who cannot access or do not want face-to-face communication. Virtual reference service is most often an extension of a library's existing reference service program. The word "[[reference]]" in this context refers to the task of providing assistance to library users in finding information, answering questions, and otherwise fulfilling users’ information needs. Reference work often but not always involves using [[reference work]]s, such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc. This form of reference work expands reference services from the physical reference desk to a "virtual" reference desk where the patron could be writing from home, work or a variety of other locations.
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The earliest digital reference services were launched in the mid-1980s, primarily by academic and medical libraries, and provided by [[e-mail]]. These early-adopter libraries launched digital reference services for two main reasons: to extend the hours that questions could be submitted to the reference desk, and to explore the potential of campus-wide networks, which at that time was a new technology.
With the advent of the graphical [[World Wide Web]], [[Digital library
In the early- to mid-1990s, digital reference services began to appear that were not affiliated with any library. These digital reference services are often referred to as "AskA" services. An example of an AskA services is at the [[Internet Public Library]].
Providing remote-based services for patrons has been a steady practice of libraries over the years. For example, before the widespread use of chat software, reference questions were often answered via phone, fax, email and audio conferencing. Email is the oldest type of virtual reference service used by libraries.<ref name="Kern" /> Library services in America and the UK are just now gaining visibility in their use of virtual reference services using chat software. However, a survey in America revealed that by 2001 over 200 libraries were using chat reference services.<ref name="Chow">{{cite book |last=Chowdhury |first=G.G. |title=Librarianship: an introduction |place=London |publisher=Facet |year=2008|display-authors=etal}}</ref>
The rapid global proliferation of information technology (IT) often leaves libraries at a disadvantage in terms of keeping their services current. However, libraries are always striving to understand their user demographics in order to provide the best possible services.<ref name="Chow" /><ref name="Bro">{{cite book |last=Brophy |first=P. |title=The library in the twenty-first century |edition=2nd |place=London |publisher=Facet |year=2007}}</ref> Therefore, libraries continue to take notes from current [[cyberculture]] and are continually incorporating a diversified range of interactive technologies in their service repertoires. Virtual reference represents only one small part of a larger library mission to meet the needs of a new generation, sometimes referred to as the "Google Generation", of users who have grown up with the internet.<ref name="Row">{{cite journal |last=Rowlands |first=I. |title=The Google generation: the information behaviour of the researcher of the future |journal=
The range of cost-per-transaction of reference interactions has been found to be large, due to the differences in librarian salaries and infrastructural costs required by reference interviews.<ref>Murfin, Marjorie E. "Cost Analysis of Library Reference Services," Advances in Library Administration and Organization, 11, 1993, pp. 1–36.</ref><ref>Eakin, Lorraine, & Pomerantz, Jeffrey. "[https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/pla.0.0035 Virtual Reference, Real Money: Modeling Costs in Virtual Reference Services]," portal: Libraries and the Academy, 9, 2009, pp. 133-164.</ref>
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