Moving reference to the web

Libraries have always tried to make reference services easier to access, wh ether by telephone, fax, or e-mail, but these services do not fully take ad vantage of the immediacy and convenience of Web interaction. This article e xplores the possibility of using Web contact center software to offer refer ence assistance to remote users. Contact center software provides live inte raction and collaborative tools, including call routing (to network better with subject specialists in remote locations) and collaborative browsing (a llowing the reference librarian to guide the patron's browser to the approp riate URLs). The Metropolitan Cooperative Library System/Santiago Library S ystem consortium has received a grant to purchase contact center software a nd test its applicability for reference. The implications of this project, including a proposed virtual reference network, are discussed. If this appr oach lives up to its promise, and reference is moved onto the Web, perhaps then it may be possible to provide our patrons with access to the library a nyway, anyhow, and anywhere.