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Draws on a recently completed British Library Research and Development‐funded project investigating key factors in help‐desk success. Describes the methodology of survey by questionnaire and case studies. Summarizes the results briefly and focusses specifically on the results which feed into a discussion of the potential of the help desk in enabling an organization or its customers to gather data on systems use, plan and implement IT development strategies and assess their impact on attitudes to IT.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an exploratory look at facilities and estates management help desks in four different case study organisations.

A case study methodology was adopted, with semi‐structured interviews and observations as the principal methods to collect data.

The findings suggest that the key factors for the success of a facilities management (FM) help desk include mapping out all customer requirements, recruiting the correct operating staff, ensuring an appropriate working environment and client communication once the help desk is operational.

At the time of the study there had been relatively little research completed focusing specifically on FM help desks. The paper will be of value to facilities and property managers who are considering implementing a help desk service.

The help desk and user support industry has, over the last ten years, risen to prominence as one of the most important areas of the IT and customer services industry. However, it has also become clear that not all help desks have the same requirements, and help desks operating in academic environments find themselves with distinct circumstances and problems. Drawing on research published by the author, and a comprehensive review of recent literature and input from practitioners, addresses these issues which distinguish the help desk in academia. Also finds that it often suffers from difficulty in defining its role and obtaining resources, examines how some institutions have successfully tackled these problems and offers some suggestions for strategies, future developments and sources of expert advice.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate student use of the reference desk at a residential college, so that academic libraries can better understand the role of in‐person assistance to meet the information needs of students.

Survey respondents answered open‐ended questions related to ways they ask for help in the library; data were coded and analyzed for salient trends. Photo diary entries and interviews with smaller groups of students were also used to illuminate findings.

Students express a need for the kind of help provided by the reference desk in terms of how students use and describe the desk. Usage patterns can also be predicted in terms of class year, gender, and major, indicating a way for the library to provide specific outreach to students who underutilize the reference desk.

The study investigates student use of the reference desk at a single institution. The unique characteristics of the institution might limit the implications that can be drawn from the study's conclusions for institutions that are not residential and do not serve a primarily traditional‐aged college population.

As information and our users move increasingly online, libraries must consider the value of reference desks. Findings at a residential institution demonstrate the value‐added benefit of this service in helping students with their research.

The purpose of this article is to revisit Kimbel Library’s peer reference program three years later and provide further information on the challenges and benefits of growing a successful peer reference service model.

This article examines the ongoing development of a peer reference model in an academic library setting and assesses the impact, value and continuing evolution of this model.

Communication and collaboration among library public service departments is the key to managing rapid program growth and expansion of services.

This article offers suggestions based on the experiences of one library for others interested in establishing or reexamining a peer reference service model.

Employing undergraduate students at the reference desk is a relatively new practice that warrants further analysis, as it becomes more widespread. This article returns to examine a newly established peer reference program three years after its beginning.

Recent years have seen a growing recognition amongst technology companies that customer support is an important part of their business. The author spoke to a number of operators and customers of help desks of online services, to see how their services are being improved and how the customers are responding. The example of STN International is given as a case study.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss an academic library's need to engage all available resources to provide the services required by the changing uses, formats, and production of information.

The paper uses the @One service environment as a case study. The service and staffing model employed a sample of 20 students and professionals who work at the @One desk. Attitudes toward the @One space were assessed through one‐on‐one interviews using two different interview protocols. Participants were asked open‐ended questions that allowed them to talk at length in response.

It is found that the University of Nevada, Reno's Mathewson‐IGT Knowledge Center has implemented a highly interactive service environment in support of production‐intensive information technologies. Professionals from numerous information disciplines participate in staffing the department, but student staff constitute the core of service delivery.

This paper provides information on an interactive staffing model in a US university.

Kimbel Library used a peer reference model of service beginning in 2009 that was successful for several years but eventually phased out due to shifting priorities and needs. This article aims to describe Kimbel Library's second attempt at creating and using a peer reference program in 2018, how it was different from the original approach, and what ultimately happened.

In this article Reference Services Review Co-editor Sarah Barbara Watstein interviews Allison Faix, Instruction Coordinator and Librarian at Coastal Carolina University, about her experiences with peer reference services.

Because of the marked decline in the number of research-based questions asked at the library's help desk, the library found itself with smart, well-trained peer research assistants who were disappointed that their research assistance was not in greater demand.

This interview looks at two different ways that peer reference was implemented at the same institution starting in 2009.

This study aims to describe reference service activity within a learning commons at a large research university. The researchers tested several reference models in order to explore new ways of providing research support to their patrons within the electronic library. The aim was to discover student responses to different models and to investigate patron need of, and desire for, research support at the learning commons.

The researchers combined measurements of type and frequency of reference traffic both in person and through their online chat reference service. They also gathered quantitative and qualitative information during the reference model experiments and through a survey of patrons in order to discover patron use of, and thoughts concerning, reference service in the electronic library.

Results from reference model experiments and a survey of patrons show that there is indeed an audience for research assistance in the electronic library and that in‐person research support is the preferred method of service. To keep pace with student needs, the researchers will continue to experiment with reference models that support in‐person research assistance beyond the traditional reference desk.

The researchers provide examples and guidelines for introducing new reference services in a learning commons environment and suggest ideas for further experimentation with reference models in a predominantly electronic environment.

The results of this study will be of interest to academic librarians, especially those who have or are planning a learning commons. This research is also of interest to those studying student research behavior and attitudes towards library collections and services. Because this learning commons is a unique environment as a stand‐alone electronic library, computing, and classroom space, this study makes an original contribution to the literature. As planners of learning commons explore models that move away from the traditional library, this study will inform the possible implications of new designs for reference service.

This paper aims to describe both the development of a peer research consultant program – using student assistants to staff the reference desk with minimal supervision while providing high-quality research assistance to their undergraduate peers, and the steps taken to create buy-in for the program from campus and librarians.

The authors provide a description of peer reference services and describe how a remodel of the library building facilitated a redesign of services. The paper covers the process of developing program guidelines, securing funding, expectations of peer research consultants, the training process and lessons learned from a medium-sized academic library.

The findings after the first year demonstrate that undergraduates are highly skilled at providing high-quality reference services when provided with quality training and support. In addition, undergraduate students are now seeking out peer researchers for assistance with research items such as topic formation, keyword development in databases and proper citations.

No formal research or assessment of the program has been completed as of this time.

Well-trained Peer Research Consultants (PRCs) provide valued assistance to librarians in freshman composition classes, at the Ask Us reference desk, and to their peers. The program has allowed librarians to provide more outreach to their subject areas.

Students prefer going to their peers for research assistance rather than a professional librarian when given the choice. The training the PRCs are provided by librarians provides credibility and trust, which encourages undergraduate students to approach PRCs for assistance.

This paper draws on multiple iterations of peer reference models to create an original program, involving training student employees to provide reference services at a paraprofessional level, as well as providing the methodology for other academic libraries to develop and launch a similar program.