Introductory Comments

Today we will hear from speakers intimately involved in live reference services. We have asked them to share with us the vision, scale, and scope of their projects. We will hear about training, marketing, use, evaluation, and policies. Since most of our speakers represent systems that are using the Egain software, Susan McGlammery, our first speaker, will demonstrate the software as part of her presentation.

We do have some sad news/good news to share with you this morning. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Janice Koyama is unfortunately not able to be with us. She sends you her regards and has asked me to let you know of her deep disappointment that she is unable to be here today. We do have good news, however. Janice’s colleagues, Eleanor Mitchell and Alice Kawakami have agreed to take her place. Many thanks, Eleanor and Alice.

Introduction of Speakers

During the program, speakers were introducted immediately prior to their presentations. For the web site, the introductions are presented together.

Susan McGlammery

• Susan McGlammery has an MLS from St. John's University and a JD from Emory University.
• She is the Coordinator for Reference Services for the Metropolitan Cooperative Library System (MCLS), a consortia of multi-type libraries in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
• Susan is also the project director of the MCLS 24/7 Reference Project funded by the California State Library, a project she will talk to us about today.

In addition to her work at MCLS, Susan is an instructor with the UCLA Department of Information Studies and a trainer in the California State Library's Infopeople project.

Kay Henshall

§ Kay has been with the Peninsula, Silicon Valley, Bay Area andMonterey County Library Systems for the past year. The last six months have been devoted to managing the consortium's virtual reference project – the QandAcafe. Most recently, Kay has taken the position of head trainer for LSSI, Virtual Reference Services.  Previously, she also held positions at the Stanford University Art and Architecture Library, and DNAX Research Institute Library.

§ Kay's would like you to know that her past life has prepared her for many of the duties of her present job in virtual reference. She has years of experience in customer service as a flight attendant, fielded many calls at all hours of the day and night at the Santa Cruz County 911center, and coached volleyball at the communitycollege level.

Mary Carol Lindbloom

• Ms. Lindbloom is currently library development consultant with the Alliance Library System, a multi-type library system comprised of 282 member libraries covering 14,000 square miles in western and central Illinois.
• Her professional focus is as a general consultant, which, in Mary Carol’s own words means “that I answer questions and provide advice and plan continuing education events of interest to all types of libraries.
• She has a varied background and previously worked at Quincy University, with responsibilities in resource sharing, reference, and bibliographic instruction; directed a public library and a teaching hospital library; and worked for the South Central Regional Library Council of Ithaca, NY.
• Mary Carol holds an MLS from Syracuse University, and BA in anthropology.

Eleanor Mitchell

• Ms. Mitchell has been the head of UCLA College Library for the past six years. Her focus has been on service improvements. This year they have added digital reference to their existing mix of differentiated reference services : in person, telephone, and email reference service. 
• Prior to coming to UCLA, she was the Information Delivery Specialist at Arizona State University West, where she managed the reference, journals, and document delivery services.
• Ms. Mitchell received her BA from Skidmore College in English, and her MLS from SUNY Albany

Alice Kawakami

• Alice K. Kawakami is a reference librarian and the Instructional Technology Coordinator in the UCLA College Library. She is also coordinating the digital reference effort at UCLA.
• She has also worked for the County of Los Angeles Public Library as the Consumer Health Information Program Librarian, and at the USC Norris Medical Library as the coordinator of bibliographic instruction. 

§ Ms. Kawakami has an MLS from UCLA in Library and Information Science.

Charity Hope

• Charity Hope received her Masters in Library and Information Science from Simmons College in 1998.  After completing a 2-year Research Librarian Residency Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, in which she worked in the Reference Department and on the newly-formed Digital Initiatives Team, she joined San Jose State University Library as a reference librarian in August 2000, where she is now involved working with the Bay Area digital reference initiative.

Janie Silveria

• Janie Barnard Silveria is Coordinator of Reference Services at the CSU Monterey Bay Library where her main areas of expertise and responsibility are the development, enhancement and supervision of reference and document delivery services. She was the first librarian to be hired at CSUMB, joining the campus as a tenured founding faculty member in July 1995.

§ Prior to joining the CSU MB faculty, she was Reference Coordinator for the 19-member Monterey Bay Area Cooperative library system (MOBAC)

• Her interest in virtual reference was fueled by participation in the initial LC conference on Reference Service in a Digital Age. In June 2001, she will be presenting an ALA poster session on CSUMB’s experiences with the QandAcafe Project
• Mrs. Silveria has an M.L.S. in Library Science from UC Berkeley and a B.A. in English from Rice University

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