Patron Services Research Articles

Maintaining Academic Library Services During a Renovation Project

This article reviews how one small university library delivered patron services during a nearly eleven-month-long renovation project. It outlines the factors considered, the harsh realities, and the decision-making process that resulted in the project's interim service model for the Dayton Memorial Library of Regis University. The authors discuss what worked and what didn't work and conclude with recommendations for libraries anticipating similar projects.

Analyzing the Commitment-Loyalty Link in Service Contexts

This study addressed the ill-understood issue of how loyalty develops in service patrons. Although many theorists hold commitment to be an essential part of this process, the link between commitment and loyalty has received little empirical attention. To address this void, the study first portrayed commitment’s root tendency to resist changing preference as a function of three antecedent processes. Second, this portrayal formed the basis for developing a psychometrically sound scale to measure the construct of commitment. Third, the scale was then used in a mediating effects model (M-E-M) to test the commitment-loyalty link. Path analyses found this parsimonious structure to be a significant improvement over rival direct effects models (D-E-Ms). Results found the tendency to resist changing preference to be a key precursor to loyalty, largely explained by a patron’s willingness to identify with a brand. Implications of these findings for loyalty’s development and research are explored.

Collection Development in the Information Age

ABSTRACT This article describes three public libraries in the United Kingdom: Croydon, Dunfermline, and York. The objective was to describe the different levels of technology in these libraries and the steps that are being taken to move them into the 21 st century. The effects of community and user input were topics of interest. The history of the development of the individual libraries or systems as well as the current organizational structures are described. Government unitary authority changes affects two of the three libraries. Unique characteristics of each of the libraries are emphasized. Research was conducted over a two year period and includes interviews, observations, and secondary sources. The intent is not to compare the libraries, but to illustrate how the varying levels of automation affect patron resources and services.

Changing Roles for Science & Technology Librarians As Reflected in the History of Engineering Index

The role of the science & technology librarians has evolved over more than a century. The first members of our profession were valued primarily for their clerical services. Patron service today involves the use of a broad spectrum of complex information tools, coupled with the librarian's understanding of the literature, the research process and specific patron needs. The history of Engineering Index, beginning in 1884 and continuing to the present, provides a context for examining how the practice of user service in science and technology libraries has changed over a period of more than a century. While the goal of excellent information service has remained a constant, the nature of the tools and the role of the librarian has changed markedly.

Now That We Know the Answer, What Are the Questions?

Abstract Information resources, regardless of their medium, exist on a value continuum; so, too, the methods of organizing, storing, describing, and providing access to information range greatly. For any given infonnation resource, the “cataloging” methods used are generally associated with the value ascribed to the information: the more highly valued the information, the more rigorous the methods. Libraries would do well to apply this simple logic to the cataloging of Internet resources. A good rule of thumb might be this: If an Internet resource were published in any other media, say, paper, and it met your library's selection and collection development criteria, would you catalog it? If the answer is Yes, then select the Internet resource and catalog it. Libraries that take this approach find themselves offering improved patron services, staying abreast of technological change, and positioning themselves for next-generation cataloging alternatives even i f their actual level of cataloging is low. Some cataloging of Internet resources is far to be preferred than no cataloging. Cataloging is relatively expensive, however. We must continue to drive down the unit cost of cataloging, and Internet resources are likely to yield to cost reductions more rapidly than other media. Standard methods of encoding metadata will soon enable resource creators to associate cataloging-type information in ways that can be universally accessed by software applications. With information supplied and captured “upstream” from the cataloger, libraries can begin to imagine entirely new cataloging systems that may, for instance, create a basic bibliographic record from encoded meta-data. At a minimum, such approaches will drastically reduce the amount of transcription catalogers perform, reducing time and entry errors. Selectively applied, librarians would add value to basic records through subject analysis, classification, authority control, and uniform headings. And we can imagine computers assisting those hnctions as well. Regardless of the level of cataloging applied or the methods whereby metadata or cataloging are created, libraries must also begin to address problems related to long-term access to digital resources. Cataloging is a long-term investment, and best applied to resources whose expected value exceeds the immediate and may extend to decades or centuries. What role will libraries play in long-term digital archiving? That question is better answered from a position of experience gained through providing bibliographic control for selected resources today. Again, the balance tips in favor of experience gained through cataloging. So, time to take stock. Let's dump the Three Stoppers. lnaction gains nothing. The library that identifies, selects, and catalogs even one Internet resource benefits in ways that far exceed the incremental costs. And the library that systematically integrates the identification, selection, and cataloging of Internet resources into its routine practice will find itself both shaping the future and all the more prepared to meet it. If you haven't cataloged one Internet resource, do it for yourself. If you already catalog Internet resources, accelerate the pace. Do it for others: your users, other libraries, and the future well-being of your profession.

A Location Management Scheme Supporting RouteOptimization for Mobile Hosts

Using the Internet as a foundation for wireless networking, there is currently a great deal of interest in providing IP networking support for mobile hosts. As a result of IPs reliance on the entire Internet address for host identification, most proposals depend on a default route through the mobile host's home address, which makes for unnecessarily long routes. This paper introduces two concepts, “local region” and “patron service”, based on the locality features of host moving and calling patterns. It then shows how these concepts work together to realize a location management scheme for achieving optimal routing for most traffic while restricting costly location propagation. The proposed scheme was implemented using a network simulator and evaluated from routing effectiveness point of view, as compared with its location overhead.

Tipping customs and status seeking: a cross-country study

Tipping is a widespread custom in which service patrons give voluntary payments of money to the workers who have served them. This study found that tipping is more prevalent in countries the greater the value their citizens place on status/prestige. This finding suggests that tipping functions (in part) as a status display for consumers. Hospitality managers should keep this and other functions of tipping in mind when considering whether or not to permit tipping of their employees.

DogitaLS1: the Dortmund digital library system

This paper presents DogitaLS1, the Dortmund digital library system. DogitaLS1 uses Hyper-G, a second generation Internet Information system, as underlying WWW-server technology. The main emphasis is placed on two different goals that are important for digital libraries: structuring heterogeneous document collections and providing services for patrons and librarians. Concerning the structure of the document collection, the concepts provided by Hyper-G are exploited. Concerning the services, the tasks that both a patron and a librarian typically perform are examined. Then, we describe the services that have been implemented in DogitaLS1 to cover these different tasks. The paper also deals with how services can be embedded in the structure of a digital library if the digital library system is based on Hyper-G. Beyond this, this paper introduces services that do not have an analogue in conventional libraries but that have now become possible due to the technology used. Since DogitaLS1 is one of the few digital library systems based on Hyper-G, this paper might also be helpful to all who intend using Hyper-G as a substrate for implementing a digital library.

Access to library internet services for patrons with disabilities: Pragmatic considerations for developers

Many libraries are using Internet access to improve patron services. In the United States, an estimated 21 percent of public libraries have some type of Internet connection, with libraries in urban areas (having a patron base over one million) connected at a rate of 75 percent. These libraries are taking different approaches to providing Internet and online services to their patrons. Some have connections from terminals located inside the library; others allow dial‐in access from patrons' offices or homes. As services grow in sophistication, so do patron interfaces. Many new computers sport full‐color, mouse‐driven graphic user interfaces (GUIs), which allow access to CD‐ROM products, World Wide Web sites, and other multimedia products.

An efficient location and routing scheme for mobile computing environments

One of the most important issues affecting host mobility is the location and routing scheme that allows hosts to move seamlessly from one site to another. This paper presents a method that exploits the locality properties of a host's pattern of movement and access history. Two concepts, and patron service are introduced based on the locality features. For each mobile host, the local region is a set of designated subnetworks within which a mobile host often moves, and the patrons are the hosts from which the majority of traffic for the mobile host originated. These are used to confine the effects of a host moving, so location updates are sent only to its local area, and to those source hosts which are most likely to call again. Our scheme has the advantages of limiting location updates, and providing optimal routing, while increasing network and host scalability. >

Neuroticism and the prevalence of tipping: A cross-country study

Tipping is a widespread custom in which service patrons voluntarily give money, above and beyond the price of the service, to the workers who have served them. This study found that the greater a nation's level of neuroticism the larger the number of service professions that it is customary to tip in that country. This finding provides some support for an anthropological theory that tipping evolved as an institutionalized means of reducing service workers' envy of their customers.

The Serials Librarian and the Reference Department:

Reference librarians are persons who deal with users directly, providing services which cover a wide range of subjects and formals. Sometimes these librarians have subject expertise or are strong in certain areas. Serials librarians are also providing services to users but the nature of their contribution is sometimes overlooked, often misunderstood. The serials librarian can provide a useful link to the world of periodicals, journals, directories and other reference sources because he or she is familiar with the types of materials available, the treatment of serials, and the problems which are posed by this format's complexity. This paper presents the role of the serials librarian not only as a technical services professional, but also as a valuable associate to reference and public services. The main purpose of this discussion is to describe ways in which both reference and serials librarians can work together toward the ultimate goal of providing quality patron service.

Putting Knowledge to Work

The creation of the Business Reference and Services (BRASS) Section of ALA in 1987 is a strong indicator that the needs of the business community are of paramount concern to many libraries. This article presents a historical overview of the relationship between the business community and the public library. Topics convered in this survey include the facilities, staff, and collection needed to provide effective service. Current and desired library services for business patrons are discussed as well as the marketing of such services. Use studies are also examined to discover what types of materials are most frequently used and what kind of information is most desired by business patrons.

Designing a periodical collection with the patron in mind: Serials and users at the University of Michigan's Hatcher Library

Houbeck is head of the Serials Division, U n i versi ty of Michigan L ib ra ry , Ann Arbor . Several years ago when the Univers i ty of Michigan L ibra ry merged a technical service and a public service serials unit into a single body, our goals were to el iminate duplicat ion of recording, realize a net gain in reader space, and improve serials service to our patrons. 1 The first two goals we accompl ished immediate ly . But what about patron service? How did we plan to improve patron service? And did we? Located within the l ibrary 's Technical Services Depar tmen t and called Serials Services and Records (SSR), the new unit had two ma jo r functions: to mainta in the Ha tcher Gradua te L ibra ry ' s serials collection and to receive and record all Univers i ty L ib ra ry serials. As the name of the new unit implies, we sought to improve patron access both to the serials in our collections and to in format ion about those serials. We focused on four major endeavors.

The Past, Present and Future of a Cataloguer

Libraries are coping with technology and tight budgets, present and future pressures, in a variety of ways. Through the use of automation, libraries are able to reorganize technical services departments more efficiently and reassign professional cataloguers to other positions in the library. Benefits of such reorganization are more productive use of resources, wider professional experience for cataloguers, and better service for patrons.

Methods of Securing a Vital and Honest School Information Service for Patrons

Methods of Securing a Vital and Honest School Information Service for Patrons