Abstract: Graduate Services Assistants working at the University of North Texas Libraries, under the supervision of the Student Engagement Librarian, quickly transitioned all in-person reference services to virtual in March 2020, including launching a new live chat service. The goal of the outreach team was to promote these virtual reference services as well as outreach to students alienated from the library due to the sudden distance. Without the ability to rely on tried-and-true in-person methods such as tabling, the team needed to be adaptable and creative.
Utilizing virtual tools such as LibWizard’s quiz feature and Zoom’s video conferencing technology, several outreach events were planned. Zoom was used primarily for virtual workshops, while LibWizard was used to create a Banned Books Week trivia quiz, a fun way to promote the virtual reference service and the work libraries do to ensure equitable access to information. Additionally, with the team being made up of Library and Information Science graduate students working for the library, emphasis was placed on partnering with Subject Librarians to utilize their expertise during Zoom workshops while allowing them a new platform to promote their services.
Lastly, a series of interactive social media posts aimed to engage students and increase awareness of an upcoming virtual workshop, which focused on teaching research/information literacy skills and promoting virtual reference services. With each Twitter post or Instagram story, viewers interacted through polls and were then encouraged to register for the upcoming event. Items from the library’s digital collections were used in these polls, simultaneously promoting library materials and the virtual workshop. These workshops and social media stories allowed students to interact with the libraries in a less formal manner and to meet subject librarians outside their field of study. Future plans include further collaboration on Zoom workshops, continued social media promotion, and creation of instructional videos.
