Lili Luo was born in China in 1978. She received her BA in library science and economics in 2000, and master of information management in 2003, both in China. She came to the United States to pursue her Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Library and Information Science where she is currently a doctoral candidate and an instructor. Luo became interested in digital reference by working as a reference librarian at the Peking University Library in Beijing, where she helped implement the first chat-based reference service in China in 2002. In collaboration with OCLC and QuestionPoint the library now provides the most online reference capabilities in China. (OCLC, 2002, p1)

Recognizing that virtual reference offers more options to patrons for asking questions and the keys to successfully offering that service, are a "well trained reference staff, clear guidance and well developed implementation plans", (OCLC, 2002, p2) Luo's research interests lie in digital reference service, online searching behavior, and annotation. Her graduate research consisted of an evaluation process of NCKnows, North Carolina’s statewide collaborative web-based chat reference service. The NCKnows project started as an 18- month pilot program in 2004, with 19 libraries participating, including public, university, academic, government, and community college libraries. By using interviews, transcripts, and surveys, Luo was able to determine uses and user satisfaction of the system, which generated positive feedback as to whether collaborative virtual reference services are an effective way to meet information needs. NCKnows is now on its way to becoming a self sustaining feature of the North Carolinian Libraries.

By concentrating on the variables that should be included in studies of online searching behaviors related to the user, such as demographic variables, the user's understanding/knowledge, and psychological/ personality variables; and variables related to the search process, such as search topics/tasks, search behaviors, and search outcomes, Luo’s Delphi Study of Online Searching Behavior, intended to help establish a research agenda for studies of online searching by identifying those variables that are most critical to studies of search behaviors and information retrieval system use. (Luo, 2002, section I, para. 1). Her Annotation of Structured Data research sheds light on the role annotations play in seeking and understanding information in electronic environments. “People are increasingly faced with using structured data in their personal and professional lives; and, this work should provide guidance to designers and software engineers who want to create systems that make it easier for users to record notes and reflections.” (Luo, et al.,2005,section II, para. 2)

Such projects have served as the basis for her dissertation work that continues to focus on the creation, promotion, and improvement of the growing number of chat reference services. By investigating the “1) essential competencies librarians need in order to provide chat reference service, 2) effective training approaches for librarians to achieve essential chat reference competencies, and 3) exploring variables such as service mode, work setting and provision venue and their relation to chat reference competencies/training approaches.” (Luo, 2006, p9). Luo intends to form a generalized, inclusive model that will determine “what kind of training is appropriate, for what competencies in what context, so that reference training and education will be able to progress with more complete and up to date guidance." Luo, 2006 p14). Thus, Lili Luo is someone to watch. As virtual reference becomes the norm, widely implemented in libraries around the world, she will likely play a key role in advancing digital reference services to the next stage, facilitating the evolution of the "enduring values of librarianship." (Luo, 2006, p1).

Sources

Luo, Lili. (2006). A Framework of Chat Referenced Competencies and Training Approaches: Dissertation Proposal.

Luo, Lili. (2002). Establishing a Research Agenda for Studies of Online Search Behaviors: A Delphi Study. Retrieved November 16, 2006 from http://ils.unc.edu/annotation/publication/luo_jcdl_2005.pdf

OCLC. (2002). Providing Virtual Reference in Beijing. Retrieved November 16, 2006, from: http://oclc.org/services/brochures/questionpointcasestudypeking.pdf

Pomerantz, J., Luo, L. & McClure C.R. (forthcoming 2006) Peer Review of Chat Reference Transcripts: Approaches andStrategies. Library & Information Science Research,28(1).

http://sils.unc.edu/~jpom/pubs/Preprint-LISR-2006.pdf

Personal Correspondence

http://ils.unc.edu/~luolili/

Related Links

Steve Coffman

Charles McClure

Joe Janes

Jeffery Pomerantz

Bernie Sloan

Live Virtual Reference Sevice

http://vrd.org/

http://sils.unc.edu/~jpom/conf/ASIST-2004.pdf

http://portal.acm.org/ft_gateway.cfm?id=1065491&type=pdf

http://www.tutor.com/products/aal.aspx

http://www.qandanj.org/

Sage Goodman

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