1. General Provisions
1.1 Virtual reference service (hereinafter – VRS) of Beisembayev Library of Toraighyrov University (hereinafter – BL TOU) is an integral part of the unified system of reference and bibliographic services for library users.
1.2 VRS fulfills one-time requests from remote users related to searching for information in the Internet, in electronic catalogs and bibliographic databases, reflecting the collection of a scientific library, as well as in other sources of information available in BL TOU.
1.3 BCC operates in accordance with the Service Regulations.
2 Purpose and principles
2.1 The purpose of VRS is to provide users with access to receiving reference and information services regardless of their location.
2.2 Principles of VRS operation: general availability and free of charge for all users; the obligation to fulfill the requests accepted for work and provide answers even in the absence of the required information; efficiency of requests fulfillment; confidentiality of information about users.
3 User categories
Students, Master’s degree students, doctoral students, faculty staff and employees of TOU, as well as employees of libraries of educational institutions of Pavlodar region are served.
4 Types and topics of accepted requests
4.1 Address and bibliographic, i.e. inquiries about the availability of specific editions held in the BL collection.
4.2 Subject inquiries, the implementation of which does not entail a complex bibliographic search and can be performed on the basis of traditional and electronic bibliographic resources available in the BL TOU collection, as well as Internet resources. In the case of the selection of information for complex scientific and educational works (dissertations, theses), VRS carries out the first stage of searching in databases, electronic catalogs and other resources using keywords that make up the research topic, and indicates possible guidelines for further independent search.
4.3 Clarification queries that establish and / or clarify missing or corrupted elements of the bibliographic description.
4.4 Factual queries containing information about a fact, event, phenomenon, person, organization, etc.
4.5 Requests on socio-economic, humanitarian, biological and technical topics are accepted, corresponding to the areas of educational and scientific, professional activities of BL TOU users.
4.6 The chronological framework of the request is established within the last five years.
4.6 From the staff of libraries of educational institutions, inquiries are accepted, suggesting answers in the form of consultation.
5 Services provided
5.1 In response to a request, the user is provided with a bibliographic list (no more than 20 sources) with a link to the search source – a database, electronic catalog, etc., which provides the user with the opportunity to continue the search on his own, and also contributes to increasing his level of information competence.
5.2 In response to a request, the user receives a link (s) to a source of information in the Internet for self-retrieval of information.
5.3 The ability to independently search for information in the database of completed requests, generated as requests are received, using a search engine.
5.4 When compiling the list, bibliographic descriptions are subject to minimal revision and are provided in a form identical to their entry in the original databases, therefore, they may not comply with library and bibliographic standards.
6 Timing for requests completion
6.1 Requests for the availability of specific publications in the BL TOU funds are processed within one VRS working day.
6.2 Subject inquiries, which do not entail a complex bibliographic search, are carried out within 1-3 working days of service.
6.3 Clarification and factual inquiries are made within 1-2 working days of the service.
6.4 The beginning of the execution period is counted from the hour of its receipt.
6.5 The user can find the answer to his request in the “Archive of completed requests” section, in which all responses to requests are presented in sequential numbering. You can search by keywords.
7 Service resource base
When executing inquiries, the traditional information and retrieval apparatus of the library, the system of electronic catalogs and databases BL TOU and other libraries and information centers available via the Internet, and full-text Internet resources are used.
8 Mode and order of work of the service
8.1 Requests are accepted daily, except Saturday and Sunday, holidays and are processed in the order in which they are received.
8.2 Requests received after 16:30 will be processed the next day.
8.3 Requests are accepted in Kazakh and Russian languages.
The library reserves the right to assign a fixed number of requests per day.
9 Limitations
9.1 Requests related to the provision of entertainment information (solving crosswords, participating in contests, quizzes, etc.) are not fulfilled.
9.2 Scanned document texts are not provided.
9.3 Questions asked incorrectly are not considered. Service employees have the right to remove them.
9.4 Requests related to the solution of mathematical, physical, chemical and other problems are not fulfilled.
9.5 Commercia questionsl are not considered.
9.6 Requests related to searching the Internet for an electronic version of a specific book, article, dissertation, abstract, etc. are not performed.
9.7 Only one request per day is accepted from one visitor. Within the framework of one request to the reference service, only one thematic, address, clarifying or factual request is considered. If you have several questions in your appeal, we will answer only one of them, at our discretion.
9.8 We do not respond to questions asked by email. VRS employees are not responsible for the possible illegality of the content of the Internet resources provided in response to requests.
10 Work recording
The VRS work is recorded in real time and is reflected in the monthly BL reports.
11 Liability
The work of VRS is carried out by specialists of BL TOU.