This book outlines and evaluates the digital reference services in libraries worldwide. The work is based on an international collaborative project between two groups from German and Chinese institutions, during which digital reference services provided by nearly 200 libraries all over the world were evaluated. The book also examines the reasons for the resulting differences; it also contains more generic proposals and perspectives on digital reference services. - An international, evaluative approach is taken - Includes unique information - which has never before being gathered and evaluated - Includes a brief introduction to the basic knowledge and development in the field of digital reference service in the library

Dr Jia Liu has been a research fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany. During the research project, she was based at the Faculty of Information and Communication, University of Media, Stuttgart, Germany. Before this, she was an associate professor in the Department of Information Management, Peking University, Beijing, China.

Introduction; Basics about digital reference services; Evaluating digital reference services; Views from the Western world: Evaluation by the German team; Views from the Eastern world: Evaluation by the Chinese team; Comparisons and conclusions.