Re: Ask a Live Librarian Online

[Tom Williams <twilliam@bbl.usouthal.edu>]

We've been offering "live chat" for a couple of years now.  The vast
majority of our chat users are affiliated students and faculty, most
especially distance education students.  When they request a specific
article that we subscribe to electronically, we usually link them
automatically to the article and let them print/download or whatever.  
However, there is nothing to stop us, based on my interpretation of our
license, to simply send them the article directly to their email.  Again,
these are our own students, faculty, etc. who are "authorized users" as
defined by our licenses.

It is different when someone logs in to chat and is not affiliated with
our institution and thus not an authorized user.  We offer them the same
Reference and other services available on chat but they are unable to link
directly to the article nor can we send them the article by email.  We
can, however, print the article and send/fax it to them or scan it for
Ariel transmission.

However, someone made the point that these "unaffiliated" users coming in
to the Online Chat line should be considered "walk in users."  I'm not
sure if our publishers/vendors would buy into this but it's a nice
thought.  Given that we are all becoming very much libraries without
walls, can a case be made for this?  Perhaps this is a topic for further
discussion.

Tom Williams

Mary Seligman wrote:

> Good morning:
>
> I'm assuming that to remotely access the electronic resources, a patron
> would need to have a user name and password issued by the university.  As
> long as that criterion is met, there would be no violation of the license
> agreement.  A walk-in patron would not have remote access authorization.
> If I understand this situation, the 'walk-in' user would be viewing
> documents via a librarian.  I think it's likely a violation of the intent
> of the license to limit off campus use to authorized users.
>
> Mary Seligman
> Acquisitions Librarian
> Adelphi University
> Garden City, NY 11530
>
> > > > liblicen@pantheon.yale.edu 03/24/05 09:26PM >>>
> From: Albert Joy <albert.joy@uvm.edu>
>
> At the University of Vermont, the Reference Department has begun a pilot
> project called: "Ask a Live Librarian Online".
>
> One of the functions of this online chat service is that the librarian
> and user can co-browse web sites. So, we can search together and both see
> what is happening.  Virtually all of our electronic resource licenses
> allow walkin-users, physically present in the library, to search, etc.
> our licensed resources.  In this case, the user connecting with the
> librarian, is not physically in the library.
>
> Therefore, my immediate reaction was to tell the reference librarian in
> charge of the project, that there appears to be a licensing problem with
> the new service.  She answered:
>
> "However;  a pretty good argument can be made for this not really being
> any different than a patron coming into the building. They don't have
> independent access and can only view materials as long as we are their
> escorts.'
>
> Have other libraries started similar projects?  If so, have you thought
> about this licensing issue?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Albert Joy
> University of Vermont