ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ February 2002 / 99 C o l l e g e & R e s e a r c h L i b r a r i e s news Managing reference e-mail in an archival setting Tools for the increasing number of reference queries by Mary Margaret Bell G iven the special challenges in perform­ing archival reference and the changes in user expectations engendered by emerg­ ing technologies, what technological and information solutions may be used to ac­ knowledge and respond to reference ques­ tions in the archives? More time is generally needed to an­ swer archival reference questions than li­ brary reference questions. According to a 1985 article by business archivist Cynthia Swank, inquiries to her archives required anywhere from ten minutes to fifty hours to answer.1 Another issue for archivists addressing questions from remote researchers is the necessity, as Mary Jo Pugh noted, to bal­ ance their requests with those o f research­ ers who have com e to the archives’ re­ search room s.2 While archivists are weighing these time constraints, as well as the arrangement and description of new or backlogged accessions, many researchers believe that new technol­ ogy should allow them to immediately find the information they seek or greatly expedite responses from repositories or libraries. Ar­ chivists need to address the interests of many researchers who are seeking historical infor­ mation but have never used an archive. Back in G o p h er d a ys The University Archives and Records Cen­ ter at the University o f Louisville (UL) went online in the early 1990s with the estab­ lishment o f a gopher site; a Web site was launched in 1995.3 In gopher days, the archives provided basic information about its holdings, hours, and operations. Early text file versions o f archival finding aids were also posted on the gopher. The current Web site has expanded to provide considerable information on the University Archives’ holdings, access to the university’s online catalog, additional find­ ing aids, and links to other sites o f interest to historical researchers. At the time o f the gopher’s creation, the university was using the IBM mainframe e-mail and calendaring system, known as P ro fe s s io n a l O ffic e System , and later OfficeVision. The University Archives e s­ tablished a service account to receive ref­ erence e-mail. This could be accessed by all employees at any time, but to ensure that mail was processed, the duty o f check­ ing it regularly becam e the responsibility of one or two employees. The mail checker weeds out spam or misdirected mail and forwards research inquiries to the reference archivist o f the day. About the author Mary Margaret Bell is associate archivist at the University o f Louisville, e-mail: marymargaret.bell@louisville.edu mailto:marymargaret.bell@louisville.edu 100 / C&RL News ■ February 2002 Supplying consistent, general an sw ers to freq u en tly asked questions, although not personalized, quickly a ssists users in finding the inform ation th ey seek. To account for time needed to respond, we began a practice o f notifying senders that their queries had b een received, that a fuller response was being researched, and that the specific response would be sent w h en c o m p le te d . W ithin th e PROFS/ OfficeVision system, this took the form of a stored message that the mail checker sent manually to each message as it was exam ­ ined. This provided an efficient and more consistent means o f acknow ledgm ent, but the notices w ere dispatched only during the repository’s hours o f operation. N ew w a y s to m a n a g e q u e stio n s In 1997, the university changed its e-mail software to Novell’s GroupWise product, which has an easy-to-use automatic reply feature. (O ther popular e-mail programs, such as Microsoft Outlook and Eudora, also incorp o rate autom atic reply fu n ction s.) With a condition established to prevent message looping, mail sent to the archives’ address now receives an autom atic a c ­ know ledgment at any time o f day, without user intervention. This feature also allows us to send notices that the repository is closed over holiday breaks, or similar mes­ sages. Response indicates users generally ap­ preciate the acknow ledgment. Complaints about delays have b een reduced, and o c ­ casionally users write to thank us for re­ plying so promptly. As Web browsers improved in function­ ality, w e created a reference question form to assist researchers in providing basic in­ form ation and to structure the resulting e- mail message for staff review.4 Links to the e-mail address alone are maintained for any users who may have brow sers unable to process forms. The form also provides in­ formation that allows the staff to ask where the inquirers reside, so we may recommend an onsite exam ination o f materials or tai­ lor the response for som eone unable to visit the repository. A JavaScript attached to the form requires senders to com plete all the fields, but it does not prevent inac­ curate information from being entered. To b a la n c e our lim ited staffin g re ­ sources, w e have sought other ways to manage queries by providing resources such as an FAQ on our Web site.5 People new to archival research sometimes do not recognize the unique nature o f many ar­ chives’ holdings and expect more resources to be duplicated, as in general library co l­ lections. The University Archives FAQ gives a basic description o f the nature o f archi­ val and primary sources. It also describes our collecting focus and how that focus relates to the holdings o f other regional repositories in Louisville and Kentucky. We direct individuals seeking transcripts to the registrar’s office and refer questions on such popular topics as the history o f old baseball bats and medical school history to appropriate libraries or other institutions. The FAQ is posted to provide answers to visitors immediately, if they choose to read it; its alternative use is as a ready reference source cited in response to individual ques­ tions. Supplying consistent, general answers to frequently asked questions, although not personalized, quickly assists users in finding the information they seek. The University Archives also uses stored responses to help users with common ques­ tions. Such messages allow rapid replies to users sending questions answered by the FAQ or other areas of the Web site. GroupWise and other popular software packages permit user-activated rules— instructions run by com­ mand rather than automatically. Thus the mail checker may highlight a query about base­ ball bats and run a rule that sends the appro­ priate stored response (which is also included in the FAQ). O ther software applications applicable to assisting e-mail responses are macro utilities, w here b oilerp late te xt may b e stored and inserted into m essages with a text or keyboard shortcut. These utilities, frequently em ployed in library settings to support technical services, w ork across C&RL News ■ Feb ruary 2002 / 101 many applications and may be used for frequent phrases, URLs, or similar infor­ mation regularly dispatched. An ongoing challenge facing remote re­ searchers and archives are queries requir­ ing m ore research than can be handled in an archival repository’s allotment for ref­ eren ce work. Many repositories have ad­ dressed this issue over the years by identi­ fying local researchers who may b e hired by the hour to exam ine materials in-depth. The University Archives now m akes its list o f local researchers available on its Web site and refers to the list in its FAQ to help distant researchers locate such individuals. C o n clu sio n Despite limited staffing, using the described tools helps m eet the ever-increasing q u e­ ries from larger numbers o f new users. Re­ searchers receive assurance that their e- mail did not disappear into cyberspace and that a m ore com plete response is to com e. We can spend the appropriate amount o f tim e p ro v id in g th e an sw e r re q u e ste d , knowing the user has b een advised. Those need ing answ ers to basic q uestions get quick answers. The exam ples used here relate to archi­ val reference, but such tools and strate­ gies may b e used to help answer reference e-mail in many library and information set­ tings. Notes 1. Cynthia G. Sw ank, “Life in the Fast Lane: R e feren ce in a B u sin ess A rch iv es,” T h e R e f e r e n c e L i b r a r i a n 13 (F all 1 9 8 5 ): 82. 2. Mary Jo Pugh, P rov id in g R efe ren c e Ser­ vices f o r A rchives a n d M anuscripts (Chicago, IL: The Society of American Archivists, 1992), p. 49. 3. http://www.louisville.edu/library/uarc. 4. http://www. louisville. edu/library/uarc/ archvref.html. 5. http ://www. louisville.edu/library/uarc/ faq.html. ■ A Revolution in Online Access to Bioscience Research Journals • an innovative collaboration am ong scientific societies, academ e and the co m m ercial sector • an unprecedented p ublic-private p artne rship whose m em bers are co m m itte d to p ro vid ing low-cost, h ig h ly fu nctio na l electronic access to jo u rn a ls in the biosciences • N e a rly 50 pee r-re view e d bioscience jo u rn a ls, with a dd itional jo u rn a ls to be added V isit the BioOne exhibit at these upcoming conferences: Info T od ay N ew Y ork C ity May 1 4 -1 6 Special Libraries Association Los A n geles June 8 -1 3 A LA Annual Atlanta June 1 3 -1 9 http://www.louisville.edu/library/uarc http://www