Hello all, I'm interested in gathering transcripts of both exemplary and not-so-exemplary digital reference transactions for the Digital Reference Education Initiative (DREI), a sister project to the Virtual Reference Desk (VRD). DREI seeks to bring together the collective expertise of practitioners, library educators, and digital reference software developers interested in issues of education and training in order to develop core competencies, and educational approaches to digital reference. These transcripts would be posted on the DREI Web site at drei.vrd.org, and would serve as learning tools for those students, faculty, and practitioners who are looking for both models of effective virtual reference transactions, as well as transactions that somehow went awry. All patron and librarian information will be removed, and in the case of "bad" transactions, all identifying information, including that of the organization, will be stripped. Organizations have the option of retaining their organizational identity on "good" transcripts. The transcripts showing less than effective transactions in particular offer a good opportunity for students and practitioners to think about how such transactions could have been better handled, and how to avoid potential pitfalls that result in poor service. A submission form for anonymous submissions is in the works; until then, please send your submissions directly to me; feel free to send from anonymous yahoo, excite, or other e-mail accounts if you prefer. All reference services are looking for ways to improve their effectiveness, and this is a terrific opportunity to build a repository of both exemplary and flawed transaction logs for learning and research purposes. I look forward to your submissions. Regards, Joann -------------------------------------------------------------------- Joann M. Wasik Research Consultant & Communications Officer The Virtual Reference Desk www.vrd.org Project Manager Digital Reference Education Initiative drei.syr.edu [log in to unmask] -------------------------------------------------------------------- ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).