Developing Digital Reference Service Around Civic Movements: A Case Study of the Sunflower Student Movement in Taiwan

Abstract

Libraries bear the responsibility to reflect the needs of the modern society, by which they increase their value. One of the current goals for modern libraries is to assist the development of the government and society by supporting the citizens in decision-making. Taiwan’s Sunflower Student Movement in 2014 inspired its citizens to examine the contents of the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement (CSSTA) and the details therein. In this study, an online social reference service named “CSSTA Reference Service Desk” was established for answering questions related to CSSTA from the public with authoritative, first-hand information to fulfil the citizens’ information needs.

Based on interviews with participants of the Sunflower Student Movement about their information needs, the “CSSTA Reference Service Desk” was established on a Facebook Page for online social reference services in this case study. To ensure service efficiency, a code of service ethics and standardized service procedure were established. A “CSSTA Reference Knowledge Base” was also created to record the question-answering progress.

During 42 days of service period, “CSSTA Reference Service Desk” received 144 reference questions from 88 users. The majority of the questions were about the CSSTA and the details of other related trade agreements. Other questions include those about Taiwan and other countries’ regulations, updates on the Sunflower Student Movement, and the CSSTA Reference Service Desk itself. The Facebook Page Insights function was used to analyse the question-answering on the CSSTA Reference Service Desk.

In this study, traditional reference service was transitioned into a more public-friendly outreach service. The resulting service increased