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The purpose of this paper is to show how images and videos of search strategies can enhance student experiences in reference interactions by providing a visual and/or auditory explanation, rather than written step‐by‐step instructions. This paper explores how online screencasting tools, such as Jing, can be used to quickly create and share on‐the‐fly videos and images.

A literature review briefly discusses uses of screencasting in higher education and the implications for Millennial students, followed by a discussion of how librarians at California State University, San Marcos are creating screencasting videos and images to enhance chat/instant messaging, e‐mail, and in‐person reference interactions.

Based on chat transcripts and anecdotal evidence, students find librarians' use of screencasting helpful in illustrating complex search strategies to find information resources.

Further research is needed to determine if screencasting is an effective learning tool for Millennial students, as well as, other library users in both reference interactions and instructional settings.

Online screencasting tools are easy‐to‐use, low‐cost, and can be used in any type of library, specifically for reference services. In virtual reference, librarians can quickly create and share instructional videos rather than type detailed instructions for accessing library and information resources.

While screencasting tools such as Captivate and Camtasia are widely used in library instruction, they are new to reference delivery. Since many reference interactions include instructional components, on‐the‐fly screencasting can be a useful tool to enhance the user's reference and learning experience.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the communicative rituals of opening and closing manifested in e‐mail‐based Internet Public Library's (IPL's) online reference interaction.

A total of 400 transcripts comprising user queries and responses by IPL librarians are examined. The opening and closing elements are identified to examine the way in which IPL librarians and users construct social space; that is, communicate their interpersonal and affective stances during the course of seeking and offering information.

The results of data analysis show regular patterns of verbal and structural politeness indicators of opening and closing e‐mail discourse. Linguistic elements such as greetings and acknowledgement are included in all the sampled transcripts; i.e. a 100 percent occurrence. Closing rituals have a 95 percent occurrence of linguistic features such as acknowledgement and invitation for follow‐up. In contrast, there is a low occurrence of personalized openings through greeting by user name (26 percent). This lack of personalization also occurs in closings: personalized farewell through use of librarian name appears in only 8 percent of closings.

The employment of the various politeness tactics in opening and closing reflects the librarian's attention and concern to user's information needs, interests and wants. Such communicative competence narrows social distance and brings forth close socio‐interpersonal space for interaction; this may, in turn, improve the overall quality of reference service. Research findings also indicate that more use of personal names may decrease the social distance between the librarian and user, resulting in increased solidarity and proximity.

The study provides new insights into linguistic politeness and the functions of address forms such as personal names with a view toward developing effective opening and closing rituals that contribute to the enhancement of virtual reference services.

The purpose of the present study is to explore the possibility of introducing a 3D environment in the library by reviewing current literature and to provide a good understanding of different purposes of using this immersive environment.

The present paper is a narrative account of libraries’ presence in the virtual world in combination with an overview of how libraries respond to the 3D environment. Relevant data for the review paper have been collected from library websites, books, journal articles, interview, etc.

The study found purposive involvement of libraries in this immersive environment which indicates that users use this exciting 3D medium to satisfy their information requirement.

The paper basically considers publications containing observations of broader research community in the relevant field and contents in websites dealing with virtual world and outlines the major features as discussed in available documents. The review study infers that the implementation of 3D project in libraries requires a mindset for the specific approach, from the end of both librarians and users, together with involvement of funds. Therefore, a library may start with a beta project and observe the effectiveness from the users’ perspective before embarking on a full-fledged project.

With numerous examples, as evident from publications and websites, the current review study makes an attempt to improve the understanding of librarians towards informed selection of projected purposes to be integrated with the virtual world from library perspective. The study also presents different approaches of libraries motivating users in the virtual world that other libraries may follow while considering their 3D library project.

This study examines differences in library use patterns (in-person visits, online use, reference transactions, library resource and services use) pre-COVID-19 and during the COVID-19 pandemic through multiple data sets.

Using library statistics collected during 2017/2018 and 2020/2021 and student responses to a biennial library use survey distributed in 2018 and 2021, the potential impact of the pandemic on users' behaviors was explored.

Library use statistics and the biennial survey responses demonstrate that users' overall library use was impacted by COVID-19. Both the library's gate count and students' frequency of library visits showed a dramatic decrease. The use of virtual support to patrons increased during COVID-19 as reflected by the increase in email and chat reference interactions and virtual consultations.

As students return to the physical classroom, observing library use via various data will help inform how well use of the library rebounded or if there are changes in users' behavior that suggest the need for the promotion of library services or an expansion in alternative services to support users.

This article highlights the importance of continuously obtaining various data sets to observe trends and changes. By observing multiple data points, some changes are aligned across data, whereas other changes or patterns are different. While impact on physical library use may be obvious, library use before and during the pandemic will help guide and inform how academic libraries should be prepared for hybrid environments post-pandemic.

This paper aims to detail how a university library developed an AI chatbot to meet a growing need for virtual reference services. This chatbot was developed using Google's free Dialogflow bot platform and embedded in the library's website. With the onset of COVID-19 and a greater reliance on virtual services, chatbots have become of increasing interest to libraries as a tool to provide enhanced services during non-staffed hours and to perform basic information triage when virtual chat transactions reach an overwhelming number of available staff.

Using in-depth research into current practices and readily available tools, a small non-technical team at a university library designed and piloted an AI chatbot that employs natural language processing and AI training. This article describes the chatbot development and implementation process. Results of chatbot interactions after one academic year of usage are also reviewed.

This study reveals that a university library chatbot may be developed and deployed with minimal coding knowledge using existing tools. Chatbot content can be populated through current library information sources and trained to address typical information inquiries. However, additional development and testing is needed to increase user engagement.

This study indicates that libraries can develop and deploy chatbots to meet user information inquiries without onerous technical training or IT resources. It describes best practices for chatbots and the steps necessary to deploy a chatbot on a library website.

As the metaverse gains popularity, libraries have the potential to play a vital role in this virtual world. However, digital librarians and digital age library users need to develop metaliteracy skills to effectively navigate and evaluate digital information in the metaverse. The main purpose of this paper is to explore the link between libraries and the metaverse, define metaliteracy and highlight its importance for librarians and library users. The challenges of developing metaliteracy skills in the metaverse are discussed, as well as the need for ongoing training and support. This paper also explores the role of libraries and librarians in the metaverse and provides recommendations for enhancing metaliteracy skills.

Through a review of the literature, this paper analyzes various library websites and consulting literature relating to the link between libraries and the metaverse, metaliteracy and its importance for librarians and library users and the challenges of developing metaliteracy skills in the metaverse.

As the metaverse continues to evolve, libraries and librarians must adapt and develop the necessary skills to continue providing valuable resources and services to their communities in virtual environments.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, this paper is the original idea that highlights the importance of metaliteracy for librarians and library users. The challenges of developing metaliteracy skills in the metaverse.

Academic libraries are experiencing numerous changes in their services due to high demands for digital resources and changes in users’ information needs and expectations. Many academic library users give preferences to Google, Google Scholar and other search engines on the internet when they search for information. As reference transactions are decreasing in many academic institutions, this paper aims to investigate the continuing need for mediated reference services in the technology-driven environment in academic libraries.

The authors have conducted a literature review to document and analyze the current trends in reference services in academic libraries. They have examined the relevant published literature through a series of reflective questions to determine whether the demise of mediated reference services is imminent in academic libraries. While this literature review is by no means an exhaustive one, the authors have provided a fairly comprehensive representation of articles to synthesize an overview of the history, evolution, and current trends of reference services in academic libraries.

This paper clearly demonstrates the importance of human-mediated reference services in academic libraries. It reinforces the need for skilled, knowledgeable professional librarians to provide effective and efficient reference services in a digital environment.

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of current trends in reference services in academic libraries and analyzes the merits and demerits of these trends to establish the need for mediated reference services in academic libraries. The arguments used in this paper will be useful for library and informational professionals as validation for the need to hire skilled, knowledgeable reference librarians to provide reference services in a digital environment.

This paper critically looks at the current trends and practices in reference services through the published literature to determine the future need for mediated reference services in academic libraries. It offers important insights to demonstrate why professional librarians’ skills, knowledge and expertise are essential to provide efficient reference services in the digital age.