Chat Reference Service at the University of Hawaii at Manoa: Refining Data, Interfaces and Staffing Models

Abstract

During the shift to online reference service necessitated by the pandemic, UHM Hamilton Library relied on its chat reference service as a major point of contact with users. This poster will show the findings of a comprehensive analysis of chat interactions from August 2019 to April 2020. This covers the impact of both the pandemic and the refinement of the Chat interface in January 2020. Implications of the results on the library’s staffing and data-gathering models for Chat Reference going forward post-pandemic will be discussed.