Recommending sources in chat reference

As the administrator of the chat reference service at Baruch College, I read all the transcripts so that I can keep detailed statistics on the use of the service. From time to time, I notice aspects of the reference interaction that irk me. One such problem spot is the misguided notion that because chat reference operates using the web as an interface (unless you are using an IM client for your chat service) you should then be helping your users find information solely on the web.

Libraries, especially college libraries, have committed enormous sums of money for the subscriptions to databases. As I imagine the case to be in most academic libraries, the kinds of questions we get from our students and faculty usually (but not always) lead to our recommending a particular database (or databases) and a search of the online catalog. We spend a lot of time redirecting our students from their web searches to database and catalog searches.

In our chat cooperative, I am always amazed, though, at how many librarians blithely send our students off to Google to search for information that in many (if not most) cases may only be found in a database or a book in our library. I wish I could recall where I read it, but somewhere someone made the point that, by being out there online to help patrons lost on the web, chat reference librarians can serve as advocates for the libraries print collections. I would also add that we are in a great position to highlight our library's electronic collections, too, which many of our users are sadly ignorant of.