Secondary Data Analysis of NAEP Visual Arts Mother/Child Block: The Reference Connection Between Government and Users

Abstract

ABSTRACTReference librarians are situated to provide technical assistance with searches, and they have skills that include the use of government sites. Their assistance can guide users to online repositories, white papers by government contractors, and the published works of secondary analysts. Key to the process is an artful reference interview that continues until an investigative path is clear to the user. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) provides an example of how skillfully the question environment can be managed by an external agent. A test can manage the environment to a certain point. In the NAEP Mother/Child example in this article, predetermined open-ended questions query what the individual knows and understands already, explore what can be known from given examples, and gradually help the test taker put the information together so as to answer a question about the relationship between artistic means and societal perspectives. Tests can reveal what the participant already knows how to do and point toward end goals. Similarly, the reference librarian works with the user by finding out what is already known about a search topic, and what sort of formats are suitable for the user’s experience level. Questions can be related to an aesthetic or theoretical issue, a frame of understanding, or technical matters. The reference librarian is, unlike the test, interactive with the user and can actually demonstrate or teach new approaches to acquiring knowledge. In theory, the RL interview continues until the user indicates that they have what they need from the librarian so as to conclude the current search. In practice, the NAEP Mother/Child problem block and reference librarians approach the negotiation of learning through prior knowledge, use of technology and strategies, and have an aesthetic outcome. The goal is meaningfulness.