DISTRIBUTED EXPERTISE - REMOTE REFERENCE SERVICE ON A METROPOLITAN-AREA NETWORK

What is the nature of reference work in the digital library? What is t he role of the reference librarian where many users serve themselves b y means of BIDS and other free-at-point-of-use services which emulate the Bath original (e.g. MIDAS in Manchester and EDINA in Edinburgh)? H ow is the concept of the 'reference desk' to be defined where points o f presence for both users and librarians are distributed? Can assumpti ons based on specialist roles and fixed locations migrate to the world of virtual reference work? An Edinburgh-based research project is exp loring these issues in the context of the enhanced regional communicat ions now available through EaStMAN (Edinburgh and Stirling Metropolita n Area Network). A major goal is for local HE institutions to explore the possibilities afforded for collaborative reference work. The proje ct team have completed preliminary work with the BIOSIS Abstracts serv ice hosted by the EDINA consortium. In this paper; we present the resu lts of an investigation of the experiences of risers and the work patt erns of librarians and relate these to the design rationale of a proto type Web-based network reference consultation support system. Our focu s here is on typologies of user problems and expert response across va rious media and genres of interaction. A pilot service is scheduled to start in the autumn of 1997 and we plan to report on its use at a lat er date.