A collaborative research study by SLIS faculty, students, and associates at the Information Institute entitled “The Geography of Virtual Questioning” appeared in Library Quarterly (Vol. 79, No. 4, pp. 393-420). The research looked at activity within the Florida Electronic Library “Ask a Librarian” collaborative chat service. Researchers mapped IP addresses in participating Florida libraries as their users asked questions of the statewide chat reference service.

The findings highlighted the local nature of virtual reference services as virtual users asked questions about locally based library collections, policies, and services. They also tended to access the statewide chat service through entry portals in the Web sites of their own local libraries. The article discusses implications for improvements to virtual reference services.