"Death of social encounters": Investigating COVID-19's initial impact on virtual reference services in academic libraries.

This investigation explores the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on live chat virtual reference services (VRS) in academic libraries and on user behaviors from March to December 2020 using Goffman's theoretical framework (1956, 1967, 1971). Data from 300 responses by academic librarians to two longitudinal online surveys and 28 semi-structured interviews were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed. Results revealed that academic librarians were well-positioned to provide VRS as university information hubs during pandemic shutdowns.