Students can text message librarians

By Raechel Van Iwaarden, December 2011
Staff Writer

Martina Rodriguez, a current student at Paradise Valley Community College, wanders through the Jo and Warren Buxton Library. She desperately tries finding a resource for an essay that is due in a few short hours. In a rush, she turns the corner and sees a poster that reads, “Text a Librarian.” Rodriguez follows the simple instructions and is quickly connected with a librarian and texts her question, “Where can I find a book about new medicine with reliable information I can use to cite from?” A response is sent to her phone via text within minutes.

Since the spring of 2011, Maricopa County Community College District has offered students texting as a resource to obtain information they need. To begin using the service, a student needs a cell phone.

Karen Docherty, virtual reference coordinator for MCCCD describes the program as a pilot, which means that it is currently experimental.

The MCCCD faculty is hopeful that student use of the quick and easy resource will increase. The program will be canceled if it is not utilized more by the end of the semester.

Docherty states that the program is a “way of reaching out to students,” who wouldn’t normally ask questions at the reference desk or use the chat rooms.

For PVCC students, the process begins by texting pvcclib to 66746. After this first step, students receive two text messages. The first is an automated response from the program recommending that students save the number to their contacts for future reference.

Secondly, a one-time advertising message is sent to the phone promoting the company who wrote the texting software for Text a Librarian. After students begin the process, the advertisement will never appear again. Next, students are free to text inquiries to the same number.

On average, a librarian will respond to a student’s question within 10 minutes, says Shelle W itten, co- chair of the Library Division for PVCC. The staff tries to answer every question in less than 160 characters to protect students who might be on tight budgets.

Program officials do not assume that every student has unlimited texting, so they want to make sure that every response will only charge a recipient one standard messaging fee when applicable, says Witten.

Text Librarian assistance can also be found on the PVCC website under the “library” link.

Witten, who shares shifts monitoring the system, says that the librarians’ and educators’ role is to help students “navigate the information maze.”

Witten understands that most of the younger students now use technology to communicate quickly and efficiently with others. Many faculty members at the District level are trying to mold that theory to their advantage by offering new ways for students to use resources.

Students are encouraged to use the program as often as they need.

Staff from each of the 10 colleges in MCCCD, plus the virtual reference coordinator, share shifts monitoring both the texting program and the chat rooms offered by the campuses. The staff is in charge of viewing questions, responding to inquiries and helping students with their challenges.

No question or inquiry has ever gone unanswered, says Docherty. Even if the question is deemed inappropriate, an automated response is sent to the student requesting that the question be rephrased appropriately and encouraging continued use of the texting program.

If a texting question seems to need a large response or it becomes a long conversation with a student , the staff member will recommend that the student try out the chat room , available for students who need details .
  
The program costs $6,500 to run every year for the District, says Docherty. This includes the cost of texting rates, software usage and staffing salaries.

Many librarians accept the program and its workload into their daily work responsibilities with no added benefits to their pockets, says Witten. Some librarians are hired to help with the 24-hour chat room .
  
Since the start of the program, only 235 questions have been texted between all 10 of the MCCCD colleges. So, when you average that out, the program is costing the District fewer than $14 a text if you count the responses in the calculations.
  
Therefore, the District is considering canceling this pilot program after January 2012.

Text a Librarian is available Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is unavailable on the weekends. However, the chat room is open 24 hours a day and is always monitored by a live librarian for any student needs.