IF You BUILD IT, WILL THEY COME? PROMOTING DIGITAL REFERENCE AT UCLA

摘要

Real-time digital reference was established at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) over two years ago and today 40 librarians from eight different campus units offer this service 46 hours a week. How does the library market digital reference to its large and diverse community? Promotional strategies used by UCLA have included placing an established icon and tagline as live links throughout the library's Web pages, promotional give-aways like pens and zipper pulls for backpacks, a survey and drawing with prizes, use of campus media, and librarians talking about digital reference in various forums and patron interactions. Some have been more successful than others, but all of them and their processes are described below.