Call us: development of a library telephone enquiry service.

Call us: development of a library telephone enquiry service. The authors detail the trial and piloting of a telephone enquiryservice (IES) at the Bundoora Campus Library at La Trobe University 1. u/r = unranked2.AsiaWeek is now discontinued. Student lifeDuring the 1970s and 1980s, La Trobe, along with Monash, was considered to have the most politically active student body of any university in Australia. inorder to attempt to resolve the balance between telephone andface-to-face enquiries at the library service desk. They investigatedvarious options throughout 2001 and 2002 and settled on a centralised Adj. 1. centralised - drawn toward a center or brought under the control of a central authority; "centralized control of emergency relief efforts"; "centralized government"centralized service model where telephone calls are redirected to a central number.This model was trialled and piloted in 2003 and 2004 before beingimplemented as a permanent feature of the library's service in2005. ********** With each new technology librarians have been able to expandservices. With the invention of the electric light bulb bulb,thickened, fleshy plant bud, usually formed under the surface of the soil, which carries the plant over from one blooming season to another. It may have many fleshy layers (as in the onion and hyacinth) or thin dry scales (as in some lilies)—both of which , library hourswere extended into the night. The telephone allowed librarians to servepatrons remotely Over time, these innovations created greater demand forservice (Barnello, 1996:8). ACHIEVING THE RIGHT BALANCE BETWEEN FACE-TO-FACE ENQUIRIES ANDTELEPHONE queries at library service desks can be challenging. If thisbalance is not achieved, there is the potential for time delays,frustrated frus��trate?tr.v. frus��trat��ed, frus��trat��ing, frus��trates1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: patrons and stressful situations for staff. Kern Kern,river, 155 mi (249 km) long, rising in the S Sierra Nevada Mts., E Calif., and flowing south, then southwest to a reservoir in the extreme southern part of the San Joaquin valley. The river has Isabella Dam as its chief facility. (2004:6)quotes a 1958 column in the Library Journal by Robert Roll whichexpressed concern that 'in-person patrons receive short shrift short shriftn.1. Summary, careless treatment; scant attention: These annoying memos will get short shrift from the boss.2. Quick work.3. a. dueto the interruptions of telephone patrons. Telephone patrons also haveto wait on hold while in-person patrons are assisted' (Roll 1958).To minimise occurrence of this situation, with its potential forinferior service, the Bundoora Campus Library at La Trobe Universityinvestigated various telephone service models throughout 2001 and 2002and settled on a centralised service model where telephone calls areredirected to a central number. This model was trialled and piloted in2003 and 2004 before being implemented as a permanent feature of thelibrary's service in 2003. The authors describe the experiences of the trial and pilot andwhat led to the implementation of the permanent service. Issues whichemerged are described, including the staffing model for the centralisedtelephone enquiry service (TES TES Times Educational Supplement (publication)TES The Elder Scrolls (series of computer games)TES Thermal Emission SpectrometerTES Teaching Every StudentTES Thermal Energy Storage ), the training model adopted, and how theservice continues, staffed by well-trained casual and continuing staffvolunteers from a number of departments within the Library includinglibrarians, library technicians and paraprofessional paraprofessional1. a person who is specially trained in a particular field or occupation to assist a veterinarian.2. allied animal health professional.3. pertaining to a paraprofessional. staff. Background The library at the Bundoora campus of La Trobe University servesthe academic community at both the Bundoora and City campuses. Table 1indicates the size of the community served. Library staff at the Bundoora campus of La Trobe University librarybegan investigating possible models for a centralised TES in 2001 byparticipating in a project organised by CAVAL Collaborative Solutions. Aworking group was established to explore the issues involved in settingup a Victorian academic libraries call centre to respond to queriesabout the reciprocal borrowing program. Participants included DeakinUniversity .*R1 refers to Academics' rankings in tables 3.1 - 3.7 in the report. R2 refers to Articles and Research rankings in tables 5.1 - 5.7. No. refers to the number of institutions compared with Deakin.. , La Trobe University, the University of Melbourne AsiaWeek is now discontinued. Comments:In 2006, Times Higher Education Supplement ranked the University of Melbourne 22nd in the world. Because of the drop in ranking, University of Melbourne is currently behind four Asian universities - Beijing University, andVictoria University of Technology A trial was conducted in September 2002 to test a number oftechnical and practical features for improving telephone service toclients through co-operative effort. Rather than a 'callcentre' as such, the trial involved 'transferring' callsbetween the participating institutions. The features tested includedtechnology for switching calls, a roster of operators from theparticipating libraries and defining and standardising the servicesavailable. The trial operated from 10 am to 4 pm five days per week androtated rotatedturned around; pivoted.rotated tibiasee rotated tibia. between the three participating academic libraries on atwo-hourly basis. A website composed of links to information onparticipating library websites such as opening hours opening hoursopen npl → heures fpl d'ouvertureopening hoursopen npl → ?ffnungszeiten pl, borrowingservices, photocopying photocopying,process whereby written or printed matter is directly copied by photographic techniques. Generally, photocopying is practical when just a few copies of an original are needed. When many copies are required, printing processes are more economical. , and workstation access at the participatinglibraries was developed. The trial successfully demonstrated that technology could deliver amore efficient way of dealing with client enquiries. However, it was notan ideal model for responding to queries relating to relating torelate prep → concernantrelating torelate prep → bez��glich +gen, mit Bezug auf +accthe reciprocalborrowing program. The experience of participating in this trialnonetheless led the Bundoora campus library at La Trobe University toinvestigate the feasibility of establishing a centralised TES for thelibrary. The existing service model of six distinct service points meantthat staff at each service point would often answer the same questionfrom different patrons. The intention of a telephone service was toanswer in a central location those repetitive directional In one direction. Contrast with omnidirectional. queries suchas opening hours and queries about library holdings. Visits were arranged to a number of Melbourne academic librarieswith established centralised telephone services. These included MonashUniversity Facilities in are diverse and vary in services offered. Information on residential sevices at Monash University, including on-campus (MRS managed) and off-campus, can be found at [2] Student organisations library at Clayton and Deakin University library at Burwood.The Monash service had been described in an Australian Library Reviewarticle (Pernat 1994) following a twelvemonth pilot. During thesevisits, library staff discussed their respective telephone services andtheir experiences in establishing and maintaining such services.Victoria University of Technology library was also contacted to discusstheir use of software that provided an automated telephone menu serviceand allowed patrons to renew books by telephone. La Trobe Universitylibrary did not pursue the automated telephone software, as theintention of setting up a centralised telephone service was to maintainor improve the level of service currently offered. The options offeredby this software were not seen as an improvement in service. The 2003 trial Following investigations into possible service models, a proposalwas developed to conduct a trial between 10:00am and 3:00pm weekdays inthe first three weeks of second semester se��mes��ter?n.One of two divisions of 15 to 18 weeks each of an academic year.[German, from Latin (cursus) s , 2003. This timing allowedthree weeks of planning and preparation during the precedingmid-semester break. In preparation for the trial, the two busiest service points--theLoans Desk and the Information Desk--conducted surveys of incomingtelephone calls. These surveys provided detailed information on thetypes of queries received by telephone at each service point. The trial service was located in a separate room in a staff areawhere a workstation was set up with appropriate equipment and furniture.An additional telephone line was installed and advice sought from theuniversity switchboard on the purchase of an appropriate telephonehandset The part of the telephone that contains the speaker and the microphone. On a desktop phone, the part you hold in your hand is the handset. On a cellphone, the entire phone is the handset. See multihandset cordless and headset. and headset Headphones combined with a microphone. Used in call centers and by people in telephone-intensive jobs, headsets provide the equivalent functionality of a telephone handset with hands-free operation. Many people use headsets at the computer so they can converse and type comfortably. so that operators had their hands free to use thecomputer workstation. The four service points participating in the trial were the LoansDesk, Information Desk, Audiovisual Desk (AV) and Serials Desk. TheInterlending and Document Delivery Services telephone remained separatefrom the centralised service, as did the Reserve Desk telephone, as mostcalls to these services were quite specialised. Each of the foursections contributed a staff member for one hour each day. Reserve staffalso contributed to the roster although their service desk was notaffected by the trial. Each section involved in the trial identified a list of queriesthat would be handled by the telephone operators. For each section therewas a list of queries that could be identified as being representativeof the types of queries handled within the section. Guidelines guidelines,n.pl a set of standards, criteria, or specifications to be used or followed in the performance of certain tasks. and training As operators could come from any section of the Client Servicesarea of the library, and could be a librarian, a library technician A library technician is a person who uses their clerical skills to assist librarians acquire, prepare and organize information. They also assist library patrons in finding information although this is usually part of their required duties. or aparaprofessional staff member, guidelines were developed and eachsection prepared appropriate training for questions related to theirarea. (See Appendix 1: General guidelines for the centralised telephoneservice). Training sessions were divided into two presentations:Loans/AV and Serials/Reference. These were logical pairings as Loans andAV use the circulation system extensively and Serials and Reference usethe catalogue and library web pages extensively. Separate trainingsessions were conducted in the use of the telephone handset and headset. There were 20 operators involved in the trial, in addition to theReference and Information Services See Information Systems. Librarian and the Resource DeliveryServices Librarian (1) who co-ordinated the trial. This was asignificant number of people to keep informed of developments and plans,so an e-mail distribution list was established to communicate quicklyand efficiently. The guidelines assisted staff of the centralised telephone servicein handling calls, including personal calls and calls from those wantingother departments within the university Much of the information neededby operators was available on the library's website. Trainingsessions by Reference staff ensured that operators were aware of whereto locate information on either the intranet or the public web pages. Inaddition, an information manual was prepared containing copies of theguidelines, notes from each training session, and a 'cheatsheet' of frequently used numbers. During the trial, telephone operators were encouraged to rememberthat they were the first point of contact for the library and needed topresent a suitably professional and confident service. It was alsoimportant that the TES should offer the same level of service,irrespective of irrespective ofprep.Without consideration of; regardless of.irrespective ofpreposition despitethe individual fostered at the time, and their expertisein a specific part of library services. Evaluation The telephone operators answered a total of 565 calls during thetrial and the survey revealed a relatively even distribution of callsover the week (Figure 1). [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] Figure 1: Distribution of telephone calls each weekday 2003 A survey form was completed for each call (see Appendix II). Duringthe trial period, each of the four service points also completed asurvey form for all calls transferred. This second form allowedexamination of the types of queries being referred back to specificservice points. Each service point used an individual form. (AppendixIII shows the survey form used by the AV Desk.) In effect, two surveyswere undertaken during the trial--one of the incoming calls and thesecond survey provided information on the nature of the callstransferred for 'expert' intervention. It was agreed that thedata entry would be undertaken by an external contractor using thesoftware package SPSS A statistical package from SPSS, Inc., Chicago (www.spss.com) that runs on PCs, most mainframes and minis and is used extensively in marketing research. It provides over 50 statistical processes, including regression analysis, correlation and analysis of variance. . Table 2 shows a breakdown by query type. Miscellaneous callsincluded requests about library membership, opening hours, campus orlibrary location and other general queries. Feedback sessions were conducted with staff participating as TESoperators. Comments included: * Enjoyed the challenge of something new * Knowing the queries of other departments and then learning how toanswer them was satisfying * Enjoyed using the technology * Enjoyed own room, peaceful, was able to get some of own work done * Found it useful to learn about library web pages and see whatothers are doing * I liked being a part of a team with people from other divisions Feedback was also sought from each section affected by thetelephone trial. This indicated overall approval; staff appreciatedbeing able to concentrate on face-to-face encounters with users withoutthe distraction DistractionDivination (See OMEN.)Porlocka “person from Porlock” interrupted Coleridge while he was recollecting the dream on which he based “Kubla Khan”. [Br. Lit.: Poems of Coleridge in Magill IV, 756] of a ringing telephone. Although no formal feedback was sought from library patronsregarding the TES, the absence of negative feedback from users on thetelephone was taken as an indication that the service was operatingsatisfactorily from their perspective. The 2004 pilot The successful trial in 2003 led to a proposal for a year-long TESduring 2004, to incorporate the telephones of the Audiovisual Desk,Information Desk, Loans Desk, and Serials Desk. The telephones for theReserve and Interlending and Document Delivery Services (ILDDS) servicepoints were not incorporated into the service due to the specialisednature of most of the calls to these service points. The service commenced at the beginning of 1st Semester, operatingfrom 10:00am to 6:00pm Monday to Friday. This was later amended to11:00am to 6:00pm to ease the burden of rostering. The service wassuspended sus��pend?v. sus��pend��ed, sus��pend��ing, sus��pendsv.tr.1. To bar for a period from a privilege, office, or position, usually as a punishment: suspend a student from school. during the mid-year break and was concluded at the end of 2ndSemester. During the 2003 trial, statistics were taken on every in-comingcall. For the 2004 pilot, statistics were taken during four sampleperiods: two weeks into the beginning of each semester and the finalweek of classes at the end of each semester. Feedback from operators indicated that the service positivelyaffected work areas due to fewer interruptions, but the majority ofstaff felt that the drain on staff resources in supporting an additionalroster was too heavy. This strain became more obvious when there wasalready a shortage of staff due to illness, meetings, flexi days etc. Co-ordinator role The experience of the 2003 trial led to the appointment of aco-ordinator for the 2004 pilot, responsible for the day-to-dayoperations of the TES including preparation of the roster. While theReference & Information Services Librarian and the Resource DeliveryServices Librarian were responsible for the overall development,implementation and ongoing management of the service, the need forsomeone to oversee the day-to-day operations had become evident. In preparation for the 2004 trial, expressions of interest weresought from library staff from client service areas of the library, whowould be prepared to assume the co-ordination of the TES in addition totheir regular duties and responsibilities. The duties andresponsibilities of the co-ordinator were to: * Participate in the selection of staff to act as operators for theservice * Prepare and co-ordinate the roster for the TES * Liaise with the Reference and Information Services Librarian andthe Resource Delivery Services Librarian on the delivery of the service,training needs and relevant staffing issues * Undertake administrative tasks in relation to the service,including maintaining the room and equipment in which the service islocated, overseeing the supply of stationary, forms and otherrequirements, maintaining the procedures and information manuals thatsupport the operators Evaluation Table 3 illustrates the number of calls handled by the TES duringeach of the four sampling periods. The first sampling period of theacademic year received the highest number of calls. Over succeedingsampling periods, this number diminished and levelled out toward the endof the academic year. Similarly the total calls for the four samplingperiods show that most calls occurred on a Monday with a reduction ofapproximately 10 per cent on Tuesday and again on Wednesday. Thursdayhad the lowest total calls and Friday had a similar call rate toWednesday It should be noted that this trend is not consistent in thefour periods sampled. Only the fourth sampling period is similar, withthe first and third sampling periods showing higher levels on Tuesdaysand the second sampling period having a markedly lower number of callson Tuesday. Table 4 shows that the total calls and the calls for each samplingperiod, with the exception of the second sampling period, peak in thenoon to 3 pm brackets. This distribution appears to be fairly common inrelation to demands on other library services, for example, computerworkstation demand statistics. Table 5 shows that, in general, the Information Desk and Loans Deskhad the highest number of referrals followed by AV and then ILDDS.Switch (the university switchboard) had a very large number of calls inthe first sampling period of the academic year and very few in thesubsequent sampling periods, presumably pre��sum��a��ble?adj.That can be presumed or taken for granted; reasonable as a supposition: presumable causes of the disaster. as patrons became more familiarwith the university and where and to whom they could direct queries. Feedback sessions were again conducted with staff who acted asoperators. Some of their comments included: * The call centre relieves some of the pressure at servicepoints--less stressful--fewer interruptions--most days can achieve morework. * Can concentrate on the person who is in front of us (at theservice desk) instead of being distracted dis��tract��ed?adj.1. Having the attention diverted.2. Suffering conflicting emotions; distraught.dis��tract by the phone ringing. * The desk is less hectic hec��tic?adj.1. Characterized by intense activity, confusion, or haste: "There was nothing feverish or hectic about his vigor"Erik Erikson.2. and [the TES] has made desk work moremanageable. * Staff who volunteer for the TES gain more knowledge about thelibrary system, library policy, and find it interesting work. * If the TES was discontinued dis��con��tin��ue?v. dis��con��tin��ued, dis��con��tin��u��ing, dis��con��tin��uesv.tr.1. To stop doing or providing (something); end or abandon: it would mean a huge step backwardsin terms of service (networking) Terms Of Service - (TOS) The rules laid down by an on-line service provider such as AOL that members must obey or risk being "TOS-sed" (disconnected). . Staff wanted the service to continue, however, most felt thatcertain issues would need to be addressed including: * A dedicated room as there was too much noise in the presentlocation due to the proximity of a photocopier photocopierDevice for producing copies of text or graphic material by the use of light, heat, chemicals, or electrostatic charge. Most modern copiers use a method called xerography. and staff coming andgoing. * Additional casual hours were needed to contribute to the roster. * A more up-to-date computer with faster response time. * An updated mobile telephone headset. * Consistent training for all staff who work on the TES and more'hands on' training. Operational service from 2005 Following the success of the 2004 pilot, it was decided toimplement the TES as a permanent feature of the library's servicemodel, using a combination of continuing and casual staff. The casualstaff who worked at the TES also worked regular shifts at the LoansDesk, ensuring they had a good grasp of library policies and procedures Policies and Procedures are a set of documents that describe an organization's policies for operation and the procedures necessary to fulfill the policies. They are often initiated because of some external requirement, such as environmental compliance or other governmental which assisted them in answering telephone enquiries. Training After evaluating the training sessions conducted by the teamleaders of each service area (Loans, AV, Serials, and Reference) in2004, and after the introduction of the co-ordinator role, it wasdecided to streamline the training process by giving this responsibilityto the co-ordinator. The Guidelines for operators were also reviewed andupdated (see Appendix 1). Evaluation Table 6 shows call levels throughout the year are relativelyconstant. The highest total was 898 in March. It should be noted thatthe data for November does not refer to a full month as the survey endedon 18 November. The low total shown for July is due to the three-weeksemester break. Similarly, the highest number of calls referred was inMarch (340 calls). No apparent trends are evident in the data collectedto date. We are interested to note that telephone operators were able,on average, to deal with over 68 per cent of calls. By mid-2005, the need for deputy to assist the co-ordinator wasclear. Expressions of interest were sought from client services staff toassume this role in addition to their regular responsibilities for 2ndsemester 2005. This role, and that of the coordinator, were continued in2006. In preparation for the 2006 service, expressions of interest weresought from staff interested in assuming the roles of co-ordinator anddeputy co-ordinator for the TES. The establishing of these important roles has ensured the smoothoperation of the service. By 2006 the co-ordinator had fully assumedresponsibility for training operators and offering refresher sessions tocontinuing operators. It has been found that offering the roles ofco-ordinator and deputy co-ordinator for the TES is also an importantstaff development opportunity, providing experience in co-ordinatingstaff from various areas of the library and negotiating theiravailability, preparing rosters and dealing with situations whererostered staff are unexpectedly absent, liaising with the two managersresponsible for the overall operation of the service and maintainingstatistics to provide data for a report at the conclusion of eachsemester. Conclusion The service operates with a mixture of continuing and casual staff.Operators have been trained to answer a range of general,straightforward enquiries. Issues requiring specialist assistance arereferred back to the appropriate service point. Given that operators maycome from any section within the library and may be a librarian, librarytechnician or a paraprofessional staff member, guidelines have beenproduced so that patrons receive the same level of service via the TES,regardless of the individual to whom they speak. The implementation of the TES at the Bundoora campus library wasmotivated mo��ti��vate?tr.v. mo��ti��vat��ed, mo��ti��vat��ing, mo��ti��vatesTo provide with an incentive; move to action; impel.mo by the desire to improve service to clients as well asdeveloping a more flexible client service model for the library. It wasa very deliberate decision to staff the TES with both librarians andparaprofessional staff. The majority of operators are sourced from thoseSections which benefit most directly from the TES, namely Loans andReference and Information Services. However the opportunity to act asoperators is offered to all library staff in all sections. It has been suggested in the professional literature that thedevelopment of library call-centres 'is part of a disturbing trendtowards deskilling Deskilling is the process by which skilled labor within an industry or economy is eliminated by the introduction of technologies operated by semiskilled or unskilled workers. of the library profession' (Dilevko 2001: 222).He cites Harris' definition of 'deskilling': 'thedelegation of routine activities to less qualified personnel, leavingthe complex and difficult problems to the trained professional'(Harris 1992: 223). The establishment at La Trobe University Bundooracampus library of a TES rather than a call-centre, the use of all staffas potential operators, and the implementation of firm guidelines on thetypes of queries which it is appropriate to answer and those whichshould be referred to service points, works to address the fear thatthose acting as operators are somehow less skilled than their colleaguesand therefore less valued. Appendix I: guidelines for the TES at La Trobe University library La Trobe University Library General Guidelines for the centralised telephone service The service operates during teaching weeks in 1st and 2nd semesterMonday to Friday, from 11:00am-6:00pm. The service points involved and their telephone numbers are:* Information Desk 2922* Loans 2937 Some general guidelines: 1. The first person fostered at 11 am must phone the service pointsto ensure that the telephones are diverted di��vert?v. di��vert��ed, di��vert��ing, di��vertsv.tr.1. To turn aside from a course or direction: Traffic was diverted around the scene of the accident.2. . 2. The changeover (programming) changeover - The time when a new system has been tested successfully and replaces the old system. for each shift is on the hour but you areexpected to report 5 minutes before your starting time Noun 1. starting time - the time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the get-go that he was the man for her"commencement, get-go, offset, outset, showtime, start, kickoff, beginning, first so that anymessages, concerns, ongoing issues can be passed on. 3. The recommended way to answer the telephone, or somethingsimilar, is: 'La Trobe University library, may I help you?' * Each phone call should not last more than 2-3 minutes, if thecall is any longer, you should transfer the call to the appropriateservice desk. * For each call that you receive, you need to note it on thestatistics sheet. 4. There is a diary for you to record any problems that youencounter. Appendix II: Evaluation of calls to the TES La Trobe University Library Telephone Service Trial2003--Evaluation Questionnaire 3.6 Other Other (please specify) 34 10 July 2003 Appendix III: evaluation of transferred calls from the TES La Trobe University Library Telephone Service Trial 2003 AudioVisual Desk--Evaluation Questionnaire This survey form will chart the types of calls handled by theAudioVisual Desk during the centralised telephone service, ie. Monday 21July to Friday 8 August from 10:00am to 3:00pm. This is a survey of queries, not of people so if a caller has morethan one query, you will need to fill out a form for each of thosequeries.1. When? (circle)2. Time of day:Day of the week: Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri 1 2 3 4 510:00am-11:00am 11:00am- 12:00pm- 1:00pm 2:00pm- 12:00pm 1:00pm 2:00pm 3:00pm3. Types of questions:Queries regarding off-air recordings 6Requests for off-air recordings 7Queries regarding AV Reserve 8Queries regarding AV online 9AV interlibrary loan and intercampus loans queries 10Complex AV reference queries 11Bookings for academic staff 12Bookings for Equity and Access Room 13AV ordering queries 14AV collection development queries 15Queries regarding AV borrowing rights 16Personal calls 17Other (please specify) 1818 July 2003 (1) The Resource Delivery Services Librarian is responsible for anumber of learning within the library: Loans, Reserve. AV, Attendants,and Interlending and Document Delivery Bibliography bibliography.The listing of books is of ancient origin. Lists of clay tablets have been found at Nineveh and elsewhere; the library at Alexandria had subject lists of its books. Barnello, 11996, 'The changing face of reference: a history ofthe future', in L Stuart and D Hutto (eds), The changing face ofreference, JAI JAI Java Advanced ImagingJAI Justice et Affaires Interi��ures (French: Justice and Home Affairs)JAI Journal of ASTM InternationalJAI Just An IdeaJAI Jazz Alliance InternationalJAI Joint Africa Institute Press, Greenwich, CT. Chaudhry, A and Jeanne, C 2004, 'Call centres for enhancedreference services: a comparison of selected library call centres andthe Reference Point at National Library of Singapore', LibraryReview, 53(1):37-49. Dilevko, J 2001, 'An ideological analysis of digital referenceservice models', Library Trends, 50(2):218-44. Harris, R 1992, Librarianship: the erosion of a woman'sprofession, Ablex, Norwood NJ. Quoted in Dilevko, J (2001). Kern, M 2004, 'Have(n't) we been here before? Lessonsfrom telephone reference', in J West (ed), Digital versusnon-digital reference: ask a librarian Ask a Librarian is Florida's Statewide Collaborative Live Virtual reference Service. Ask a Librarian began as a partnership between the College Center for Library Automation (CCLA) and the Tampa Bay Library Consortium (TBLC). online and offline, HaworthInformation Press, Binghamton, NY Pernat, M 1994, 'Developing a reference telephone inquiriesservice', Australian Library Review, 11(2): 165-69. Roll, R 1958 'Let's consider a telephone referencedepartment', Library Journal, vol 83, January, pp 50-53. Quoted inKern, M (2004). Liz Burke is currently Associate librarian (Reader Services) at theUniversity of Western Australia Western Australia,state (1991 pop. 1,409,965), 975,920 sq mi (2,527,633 sq km), Australia, comprising the entire western part of the continent. It is bounded on the N, W, and S by the Indian Ocean. Perth is the capital. . Liz co-authored this article during herprevious position as Reference & Information Services Librarian atLa Trobe University with responsibility for leading and managing theteam delivering reference and information services to the universitycommunity. Liz can be contacted at lizburke@dodo.com.au Lea Beranek is currently Resource Delivery Services and AudiovisualCollection Development Librarian at La Trobe University. Lea hasacquired detailed knowledge of La Trobe University Library over manyyears as Music Librarian A music librarian is a librarian who specializes in the area of music. Several universities and colleges offer master degree programs in Music Librarianship. Music librarians have organized to form the Music Library Association or MLA. , Audiovisual Librarian and AudiovisualCollection Development Librarian culminating in her current rolemanaging five specialist service areas including Loans, Reserve,Interlending and Document Delivery, Audiovisual, and Library Attendants.Lea can be contacted at l.beranek@latrobe.edu.au Manuscript received March 2006Table 1: Community served by the Bundoora campus library, La TrobeUniversity Students (persons) Staff (persons) *2005 18162 22672004 17210 21642003 17437 21162002 16626 20462001 15921 2006* Staffing figures do not include casual staff.Table 2: Types of queries, 2003 trialSection % of queriesLoans 40.7Reference 15.0AV 6.6Serials 2.7Calls to a specific staff member 15.0Miscellaneous 20.0Total 100%Table 3: Number of calls per sampling period by weekday,2004 pilot study Sample week Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Total1 29 Mar-02 Apr 80 87 73 62 65 3672 31 May-04 Jun 63 39 43 54 37 2363 23-27 Aug 37 49 43 42 44 2154 25-29 Oct 64 48 39 20 51 222 Total calls 244 223 198 178 197 1040Table 4: Number of calls per sampling period by time of day,2004 pilot studyTime 29 Mar-02 Apr 31 May-04 Jun 23-27 Aug 25-29 Oct Totals11:00 48 43 21 23 13512:00 66 30 38 42 17613:00 56 32 35 33 15614:00 55 40 35 36 16615:00 66 36 29 34 16516:00 40 30 31 29 13017:00 36 25 26 25 112Total 367 236 215 222 1040Table 5: Number of calls per sampling period by referral point,2004 pilot studyService Point 29 Mar- 31 May- 23-27 25-29 Totals 02 Apr 04 Jun Aug OctAV 22 13 14 8 57ILDDS 13 8 7 11 39Info desk 31 18 18 12 79Loans 33 23 27 22 105Reserve 1 0 1 9 11Serials 14 2 6 8 30Switch 43 0 1 1 45Other 10 10 5 14 39Total 167 74 79 85 405Table 6: Summary of 2005 calls Calls Calls dealt TotalMonth referred with by TES calls takenMarch 340 558 898April 241 560 801May 289 583 872June 233 611 844July 67 137 204August 265 545 810September 247 584 831October 268 537 805November 135 411 546DecemberTotal 2085 4526 6611