Why do patrons at some colleges and universities use chat reference more than others? By comparison, some institutions have high chat statistics while others have low to none. For example Santa Fe College library received 182 chats this past year, 2018, while in comparison Tallahassee Community College received 9 chats via the Ask a Librarian collaborative service. Other institutions did not have any chats. Comparatively, some patrons at institutions such as TCC use the email and text features in Ask a Librarian more often than chat.

Why the difference? Is this due to advertising, promotion, staffing, or another reason? After examining yearly chat statistics from Florida’s Academic Libraries and surveying Ask a Librarian site coordinators and TCC affiliates, we can draw some conclusions to understand why some Academic Library patrons use chat reference more often than others (or not at all) and why they might prefer emailing or texting a librarian.

This presentation will address usage statistics and marketing chat reference for Academic Libraries. Attendees will learn about patron use, motives, and behavior around Ask a Librarian, and various methods to promote and advertise chat reference to help boost its usage.