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The first part of the paper develops a framework explaining the need to disambiguate user inquiries to improve information systems and services. Theoretical grounds for this framework are explained for how questions are categorized on the basis of their ambiguity type, while the relevant literature is reviewed including both the traditional and the digital information service environment. The second part of the paper categorizes a set of questions (400 Qs), originally collected for TREC 8 and 9 QA Tracks, according to ambiguity type. Three types and two dimensions of ambiguity are identified by the author with the acceptable levels of inter-coder agreements presented. The last part of the paper discusses three aspects of information systems and services, mainly related to user-system and user-information intermediary (i.e., a reference librarian) interactions, on the basis of the results of categorization. Those three aspects include (1) increasing user input to make initial queries less ambiguous, (2) reducing search space by disambiguating queries, and (3) clustering search results based on the characteristics of prospective answers. In each of the three aspects, discussions on the evolving environments of virtual reference services were presented.1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of virtual reference services (VRS) in libraries, focusing on the process of query clarification in live chat scenarios. It presents a study of live chat transcripts between reference librarians and library users, offering qualitative analysis of transcripts from the cooperative reference service QuestionPoint, from the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC). The study reports on the actions of both librarians and researchers in clarifying information during the searching process. Topics include differences between VRS and face-to-face (FTF) reference services, the ratio of self-generated queries against imposed queries, and the accuracy of queries.

The article presents a case study about the integration of virtual reference and digital reference tools into academic libraries, focusing on the integration process at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It addresses the impact of the needs of library users on the integration process and provides information on the school's reexamination of the library's reference services.