A Trend From Germany

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A Trend from Germany: Library Chatbots in Electronic Reference - Presentation Transcript

  1. International Ticer School Digital Libraries à la Carte Module 2: Technological Developments: Threats and Opportunities for libraries A Trend from Germany: Library Chatbots in Digital Reference Anne Christensen August 28, 2007

  2. Outline

    • Introduction to library chatbots
    • The making of a library chatbot
    • Experiences and learnings from chatbot projects
    • Introduction to library chatbots

  4. A chatterbot is a computer program designed to simulate an intelligent conversation with one or more human users (...). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatterbot

  5. intelligent conversation = reference interview

  6. automatic reference interview = 24/7 availability

  7. How much reference can a chatbot actually take care of?

  8. Let‘s take a look at the four chatbots.

  9. Library chatbots in numbers INA Saxonian ASKademicus Stella

  10. Benefits of library chatbots help users with the website 24/7 availability library marketing create awareness for deep web resources information literacy natural language FAQ complement live chat service appeal to teenage users entertainment interactive innovative

  11. The making of a library chatbot

  12. Create a chatbot in 10 steps

    • Define the scope
    • Find a suitable software solution – or create one
    • Figure out who is going to pay for it
    • Create an avatar
    • Build the knowledge base
    • Put the chatbot on your website
    • Go online - but be aware that you are not done yet!
    • Read session transcripts
    • Improve the knowledge base
    • Evaluate the chatbot

  13. Create a chatbot in 10 steps - The particularly tricky parts -

    • Define the scope
    • Find a suitable software solution – or create one
    • Figure out who is going to pay for it
    • Create an avatar
    • Build the knowledge base
    • Put the chatbot on your website
    • Go online - but don‘t relax just yet!
    • Read session transcripts
    • Improve the knowledge base
    • Evaluate the chatbot

  14. Costs

  15. Chatbots don‘t come cheap.

  16. Costs of a chatbot project Euros 1,000 (per day) Consulting (optional) 25,000 Personnel (6 months minimum) 2,000 Avatar (e.g. graphics, photos) 2,000 Training 5,000-24,000 Software license

  17. Most of the German bots were built with funds from grants.

  18. Create an avatar

  19. The development of a biography for a library chatbot is a challenge for creativity.

  20. Stella about herself Cool system – thank you, library folk! User Well, thank you! I am happy when I can help you. Stella I like you. User I fought for the implementation of the library – which was never acknowledged. An unmarried woman in academia – that was sort of suspicious at the time and caused some examinations. In the course of which I died... Stella How did you die? User No I‘m not. I am chosen to revive at the library‘s website. As a patron saint for all those searching for literature and information. Stella Are you a ghost? User

  21. None of the library chatbots is a librarian.

  22. A chatbot needs to be credible and reliable.

  23. The chatbot has to fit in with the library‘s image.

  24. Humour is vital!

  25. Graphic design Men were afraid of her... Steffi Graf? Too hot Star Trek librarian? First drafts...

  26. Giving Stella a face

    • Four out of ten moods laughing explaining enthusiastic confused

  27. Build the knowledge base.

  28. Library chatbots in numbers INA Saxonian „i“ ASKademicus Stella

  29. The basics Brain, aka knowledge base Each rule addresses one subject

    • Input from user
    • Answer from chatbot

    Rule 3

    • Input from user
    • Answer from chatbot

    Rule 2

    • Input from user
    • Answer from chatbot

  30. The differences

    • How specific are the rules?
    • How are the rules coded?
    • Which means of dialog control are available?

  31. How specific are the rules? can I renew books from interlibrary loan? what is the difference between ILL and document delivery? how can I order a book from abroad? can I order a book that is checked out here from another library? do I have to know which library holds the book I want before I can order it? in which cases do I have to pay more than 1,50 Euros? what does „Mehrkosten“ mean? ... Stella features128 ILL-related rules what is interlibrary loan? how much does ill cost? where can I buy ILL vouchers? ... ASKademicus features approximately 10 ILL-related rules

  32. Depth of knowledge depends on the scope of the project.

  33. Large knowledge bases require software products that can handle this complexity.

  34. Coding rules: AIML:

    <alice> <category> <pattern>Good morning * </pattern>
<template>Good morning. How are you?</template>
</category> </alice>

  35. Coding rules: Regular expressions ((&quot;#HOW# .*(order|make|do) .*#ILL#) || (&quot;#HOW# does #ILL# work&quot;) || (&quot;how works #ILL#”) || (“what do I have to do to (make|place)? .*order(s)? .*#ILL#”)) covers these questions plus sematic variations

    • How does interlibrary loan work?
    • How do I order via interloan?
    • What do I have to do to order something via document delivery?
    • How do I order something with the interlibrary loan system?

    Answer: It depends! You can either order online or with a paper form. But the process is basically the same: You pay the fee of 1,50 Euro in advance, fill out the online or paper form. You will be notified when your order has arrived.

  36. Dialog control find article search book/journal in catalog know article, but not the source show explain know the article particular subject bibliographies

  37. Reference interview as a model.

  38. Software for chatbots: Novomind IQ™ Explorer for Knowledge Base Expressions: possible questions, phrased in perl regular expressions and Boolean logic Actions: answers and URLs to be called

  39. Stella: System architecture Knowledge Base Web Frontend (iFrame) Web Server with Apache Tomcat Core Engine (Java)

    1. Experiences and learnings from chatbot projects

  41. How Stella runs into trouble... Help!!!! User Hamburg is my favourite city – that‘s for sure! Stella I don‘t live in Hamburg. User I am sorry, but could you rephrase that for me? Stella Call my real colleagues at 42838-2214 or send us an email Stella But I am not in Hamburg User Just a quick reference - in this case I would suggest using the reading rooms on level 1 and 2. They offer for comprehensive resources for all subjects. Stella (...) quick reference User

  42. Dialogs per day

  43. Stella: Usage

    • Dialogs per day (total)
    • 251
    • Popular topics
    • Finding books
    • Circulation
    • Hours
    • E-Resources
    • Off topic
    • 592 marriage proposals

  44. Stella and other electronic reference services Benchmark „real“ reference: 370 queries per day Log files of library website (2005) 25 Online Tutorials / Guided Tours Log files of library website (2005) 160 FAQs October 2004 – July 2007 Study on live chat reference services in Germany (2004) Statistics from Reference Services (2005) Source of data Chat 251 Stella 0,7 5 E-Mail Usage per day

  45. Evaluation methods used for Stella

    • Transcript analysis
      • Extensive after launch, ongoing
      • Decrease in wrong answers from 30% to 15% within 2 months
      • 83% of dialogs on library-related topics
      • 25% information literacy
    • Questionnaire
      • 1 month, online
      • Poor turnout => limited validity
      • High polarisation
      • Interesting quotes

  46. Users about Stella „ You should spend your resources on the development of a more usable website rather than on projects like Stella.“  „ I only knew this kind of virtual characters as an entertainment tool on websites. Stella however is a better help than any FAQ ,user guide or such like“ 

  47. Stella – an alternative catalog interface? I can not perform the actual search for you, but I will be delighted to help you find suitable catalogs and databases. Are you interested? Stella ameri?a? society User Is that a topic you want to find information on? Stella ameri?a? Society User Hello – my name is Stella and I am here to help you navigate the Hamburg State and University Library website. Can I help you? Stella

  48. Usability studies would been helpful!

  49. Connecting Stella to the catalog User enters author or subject

    Stella:

    1. searches catalog through XML interface
    2. tells users about number of hits and links to the results
    3. asks users if they want to go to the results or get help on improving them

    User: go to results User: help improving results Stella: open results in new window Stella: explain about truncation, databases for articles...

  50. Learnings

  51. Chatbots are used much more frequently than other forms of digital reference.

  52. Why is that?

  53. Chatbots don‘t make you think. (At least, they shouldn‘t.)

  54. Chatbots provide instant answers.

  55. Asking stupid questions is easier.

  56. Chatbots can be used anonymously.

  57. Chatbot reference resembles peer-to-peer services.

  58. But:

  59. Other forms of reference doubtlessly provide better answers.

  60. Chatbots can do marketing for other reference services.

  61. Anyway: Chatbots are really good at marketing.

  62. Stella: Press articles

  63. Chatbot merchandise

  64. Chatbot 2.0: Lillian

    • designed to inform about library holdings
    • uses Web Services from Amazon and OCLC to pull more information on a title
    • prototype stage

  65. Points for discussion

    • How much reference should chatbots take care of?
    • Are chatbots worth the money and the effort?
    • What are the alternatives for digital reference in a web 2.0-world?