Libraries have always offered personal assistance for special information needs, usually from a reference librarian. In an increasingly online age, we’ve moved from onsite personal service to frequently-asked-question (FAQ) lists, to email-based services (Ask a Librarian), and to chat and instant messaging.
The next step seems to be virtual representatives, or vReps for short. A vRep appears to interact like a real person, using natural language and providing real time, conversational answers to queries. It’s a nice way of putting a face on an automated database.
The National Library of Medicine is testing vRep technology with Cosmo, a virtual customer service representative. Cosmo was developed by the NLM Reference and Customer Services Section, using software produced by NativeMinds of San Francisco, CA.
Assigning a personality to a service may add a level of comfort for users. The Ask Cosmo service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for basic questions about the NLM, its products and services.
Answers are drawn from the NLM’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and 100 Fact Sheets and MEDLINEplus drug information. For health topics, users are referred to MEDLINEplus, NLM's consumer health Web site.
Of course, Cosmo doesn’t know everything. The librarians are still available when Cosmo can’t answer a question. And they continue to monitor and build the knowledgebase from which automated answers can be drawn.
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