Fancy walkie talkies, star trek communicators or roving reference?

Abstract

This paper investigates the customer service and library staff benefits of using Vocera badges (www.vocera.com), a portable wireless technology (WiFi), to facilitate roving reference service. Use of portable voice communication devices allows help to be taken to the people and away from service desks. These communication technologies allow library staff to easily access the expertise of other staff. There is now an Australian library using this technology. The State Library of Victoria, after trialling Vocera in 2008, went live with a system for all reading rooms in January 2009. © 2009, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.