VRLH: Virtual Reference Library Home
Acronym Definition
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VRLH Virtual Research Library Home
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VRLH Virtual Regent Low Height (bus)
VRLH Virtual Relative Lesion Height
VRLH Virtual Residence Life & Housing (university)
VRLH Virtual Run Like Hell
Virtual Reference Services
Virtual Reference Services are the remote delivery of reference source materials
that are provided to users who are not inside the library. They are used use for
people seeking to utilize resources who are unable (or unwilling) to visit an
institution of knowledge. Providing remote based services for patrons has been a
steady practice of libraries over the years. For example, a number of reference
questions have been answered via phone, fax email and voice conferencing.
However, with the widespread use and adaptation of Web culture, it has been the
library institutions’ goal to incorporate and utilize remote based programs for
the user’s advantage.
Each virtual service that is offered by libraries is unique. However each
program that is used has six distinct features.
Knowledge Base
A knowledge base can be described as a chunk of information that users can
access independently. An example of this is can a serialized listing of
Frequently Asked Questions (or FAQs) that a user can read and use at his or her
leisure.
Online Chat
Instant messaging has become a very popular Web based feature. Instant messaging
is a real time conversation that utilizes typed text instead of language. Users
may feel a sense of satisfaction with the use of this tool because of their
personalized interaction with staff.
Email
The use of email in responding to reference questions in libraries has been in
use for years. Also, in some cases with Instant Messaging feature, a question
may be asked that cannot be resolved in online chat. In this instance the staff
member may document the inquiring patron’s email address and will the user a
response.
Co-Browsing
Co-browsing involves the ability to interact and control a user’s web browser.
This function enables the librarian to actually “see” what the patron has on his
or her computer screen. And this two way viewing system may aid the staff member
in resolving the patron’s issue.
Pre-Constructed Message
In Virtual Reference Systems some forms of communication such as basic
instructions for the use of databases, standard greetings and farewells are
automated.
Statistical Reporting
This feature is important in order for the library staff to effectively learn
how the systems is used, to see patterns of use and the evaluate the overall
effectiveness of the system.
Virtual Reference Providers
Ask a Librarian, Florida's Virtual Reference Service, provides Live Chat Virtual
Reference Service featuring cobrowsing and Email Virtual Reference service.
In general, a reference is a relation between objects in which one object
designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another
object. Such relations may occur in a variety of domains, including linguistics,
logic, computer science, art, and scholarship. Thus, the objects to which the
term reference applies may be of varying character ranging from concrete
examples, such as a reference work in a library, as well as abstract objects,
such as pointers in computer programming languages or symbols in language or
mathematics. The nature of reference in its role in language and thought has
been a prominent topic of discussion in philosophy since at least the 19th
century and the logic work of J.S. Mill.
An object which is named by a reference, or to which the reference points, is
called a referent.
The term reference is used with different specialized meanings in a variety of
fields, as follows:
Semantics
In semantics, reference is generally construed as the relation between nouns or
pronouns and objects that are named by them. Hence the word John refers to John.
The word it refers to some previously specified object. The object referred to
is called the referent of the word. Sometimes the word-object relation is called
denotation; the word denotes the object. The converse relation, the relation
from object to word, is called exemplification; the object exemplifies what the
word denotes. In syntactic analysis, if a word refers to a previous word, the
previous word is called the antecedent.
Reference and Meaning
Frege argued that reference cannot be treated as identical with meaning:
"Hesperus" (an ancient Greek name for the evening star) and "Phosphorus" (an
ancient Greek name for the morning star) both refer to Venus, but the
astronomical fact that '"Hesperus" is "Phosphorus"' can still be informative,
even if the 'meanings' of both "Hesperus" and "Phosphorus" are already known.
This problem led Frege to distinguish between the sense and reference of a word.
Absent Referent
Absent referent
Words can often be meaningful without having a referent. Fictional and
mythological names such as "Bo-Peep" and "Hercules" illustrate this possibility.
Following from the argument that one cannot directly experience the divine (e.g.
God), the sign "God" can serve as an example of a reference with an absent
referent. Additionally, certain sects of Judaism and other religions consider it
sinful to write, discard, or deface the name of the divine. To avoid this
problem, the signifier G-d is sometimes used, which is a sign which refers to
another sign with an absent referent.
In Mathematics, the absent referent can be seen with the symbol for zero, "0" or
the empty set, "{ }".
Linguistic Sign
The semantic sign can be considered a subset of a more general concept, the
linguistic sign, first elucidated by Ferdinand de Saussure?. A sign contains two
parts, the signified (a thought which represents an object), and the signifier
(the sound or written word). Both have a referent (the actual physical object).
Art
In Art, a reference is an item from which a work is based. This may include an
existing artwork, a reproduced (i.e. photo) or directly observed (i.e. person)
object, or the artist's memory.
Scientific writing
In scientific writing, a reference is a previously published written work within
academic publishing which is used as a source for theory or claims referred to
which are used in the text. References contain complete bibliographic
information so the interested reader can find them in a library. References can
be added either at the end of the publication, or as footnotes.
Computer science
reference (computer science)
In computer science, references are datatypes which refer to an object elsewhere
in memory, and are used to construct a wide variety of data structures such as
linked lists. Most programming languages support some form of reference.
The C++ programming language has a specific type of reference also referred to
as a reference; see reference (C++).
Geometry
A reference point is a location used to describe another one, by giving the
relative position. Similarly we have the concept of frame of reference (both in
physics and figuratively), benchmark (in surveying and figuratively), etc.
Libraries
In a library, the word reference may refer to a dictionary, encyclopedia, or
other reference work that contains many brief articles that cover a broad scope
of knowledge in one book, or a set of books. However, the word reference is also
used to mean a book that cannot be taken from the room, or from the building.
Many of the books in the reference department of a library are reference works,
but some are books that are simply too large or valuable to loan out.
Conversely, selected reference works may be shelved with other circulating
books, and may be loaned out.
References to any type of printed matter come in electronic or at least
machine-readable form nowadays. For books there exists the ISBN, for journal
articles, the digital object identifier (DOI) is gaining relevance. Printed
information on the Internet is usually referred to by some kind of uniform
resource identifier (URI).
Scholarship
In scholarship, a reference may be a citation of a text that has been used in
the creation of a piece of work such as an essay, report, or oration. Its
primary purpose is to allow people who read such work to examine the author's
sources, either for validity, or simply to learn more about the subject. Such
items are often listed at the end of an article or book in a section marked
Bibliography or in a section marked References. A Bibliography section will
often contain work not cited by the author, but used as background reading or
listed as potentially useful to the reader. A section labelled References should
contain all and only work cited in the main text.
Copying of material by another author without proper citation or without
required permissions amounts to 'plagiarism'.
Personal references
In the labour market, a reference is a letter to a prospective employer
regarding a job applicant's characteristics. Usually the person providing the
reference - the referee - is a previous boss, or someone of some distinction in
government, the clergy, or education, who can personally vouch for the
applicant's employability; see also credit reference.
Canadian law
reference question
A Reference question, or "Reference" is a procedure through which the government
of Canada can submit legal questions to the Supreme Court of Canada and
provincial governments to the provincial courts of appeal.
A reference work is a compendium of information, usually of a specific type,
compiled in a book for ease of reference. That is, the information is intended
to be quickly found when needed. Reference works are usually referred to for
particular pieces of information, rather than read cover to cover. The writing
style used in these works is informative; the authors avoid use of the first
person, and emphasize facts. Indexes are commonly provided in many types of
reference work. Updated editions are published as needed, in some cases
annually.
In comparison, a reference book or reference-only book in a library is one that
may only be used in the library and not borrowed from the library. Many such
books are reference works (in the first sense) which are usually used only
briefly or photocopied from, and therefore do not need to be borrowed. Keeping
them in the library assures that they will always be available for use on
demand. Other reference-only books are ones that are too valuable to permit
borrowers to take them out. Reference-only items may be shelved in a reference
collection located separately from circulating items or individual
reference-only items may be shelved among items available for borrowing.
Examples of reference works:
* Almanac - a tabulation of information in specific fields, often by date
* Atlas - a set of maps, often of geographical locations
* Book by category - books listed in their category
* Citation index - lists which publications cite other publications
* Concordance - a list of every word in a book, and where it is used in that
book
* Dictionary or Lexicon (the latter generally provides more grammatical
analysis) - an alphabetical listing of words and their definitions
* Directory - a list of references, used for ease of locating their subject
* Encyclopedia - a comprehensive compendium
* Gazetteer - a geographical dictionary
* Handbook - a manual which summarizes a subject
* Mathematical tables - a tabulation of mathematical results
* Periodical index - a list of topics for a periodical publication, organized by
date
* Scientific tables - a tabulation of scientific results
* Thesaurus - a list of words with similar, related, or opposite meanings
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