Quality standards for digital reference consortia

This article identifies a working set of standards by which to assess indiv idual digital reference services (Internet-based human-mediated information services) and to define membership within a collaborative network of digit al reference services. The standards are designed for the Virtual Reference Desk AskA Consortium, a group that represents several subject-area and inf ormation referral digital reference services geared in part to the K-12 edu cation community. However, the standards can serve as a model for digital r eference consortia and cooperation in general. This article presents the st andards in the context of traditional and digital reference evaluation, des cribes the process by which the standards were created and revised, present s the standards as defined by multiple levels of adherence, discusses commo n themes reflected in the standards, and applies the standards to other dig ital reference contexts and consortia. Plans for continual evolution of the standards are also discussed.