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 includes the use of both synchronous (i.e., IM, videoconferencing) and asynchronous communication (i.e., texting and email).
[2] The earliest digital reference services were launched in the mid-1980s, primarily by academic and medical libraries, and provided by e-mail.
With the advent of the graphical World Wide Web, libraries quickly adopted webforms for question submission.
For example, before the widespread use of chat software, reference questions were often answered via phone, fax, email and audio conferencing.
[3] The rapid global proliferation of information technology (IT) often leaves libraries at a disadvantage in terms of keeping their services current.
[5] For instance, virtual reference may be used in conjunction with embedded Web 2.0 (online social media such as Facebook, YouTube, blogs, del.icio.us, Flickr, etc.)
[6] As technological innovations continue, libraries will be watching to find new, more personalized ways of interacting with remote reference users.
[7][8] Webforms are created for digital reference services in order to help the patron be more productive in asking their question.
On the other side the reference interview is different because the conversation does not float away but instead is in print on the screen for the librarian to review if needed to better understand the patron.
In addition, to provide effective reference service through IM, it is important to meet higher level of information literacy standards.
In this instance the staff member may document the inquiring patron’s email address and will the user a response.
Co-browsing, or cooperative browsing, is a virtual reference function that involves interactive control of a user’s web browser.
Resources were collated and lines of communication opened between libraries across the UK, paving the way for services all over the world to follow suit.
The definition formulated by the American Library Association's (ALA) 2004 MARS Digital Reference Guidelines Ad Hoc Committee contains three components: In January 2011 QuestionPoint and the ALA were in talks about offering a National Ask A Librarian service across the whole United States.