Reference Staff Research Articles

Floating and Idea

During the 2001-2002 academic year, Augustana College Library (Rock Island, IL) and St. Ambrose University Library (Davenport, IA) began a unique joint venture of peer observation between the reference staff members of the two libraries. Librarians from each college took turns visiting the other library and conducting peer observations of reference desk service. Although the reasons each library had for initiating this venture differed, both libraries benefited from this project. This article discusses the development of the program, the results, and plans for the future.

The University of Texas at Arlington's Virtual Reference Service

The University of Texas at Arlington's Library began using an online chat reference in 2002. The service, called Collaborative Digital Reference Service, later became “Ask a Librarian.” Slightly over one year later, the library joined the University of Texas System's “Ask a Librarian” service. Both services are powered by software suite called QuestionPoint. In May 2003 and May 2004, the library's reference staff shared their views towards this new reference tool by completing a questionnaire. Statistics and staff members' responses are analyzed in this study.

Comparing users' perspectives of in‐person and virtual reference

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to compare user perspectives on visits to in‐person and virtual reference services conducted by participants in the Library Visit Study, an ongoing research project.Design/methodology/approachThis paper compares satisfaction rates, identifies staff behaviours that influence user satisfaction, and suggests how both face‐to‐face and virtual reference can be improved. Since 1990, participants in the Library Visit Study have been MLIS students who ask questions at in‐person and virtual reference desks, and report on their experiences. In addition to these accounts, students complete questionnaires on their experiences. Level of satisfaction with the in‐person or virtual transactions, based on the “willingness to return” criterion, are computed. Satisfaction is compared with other factors such as correctness of answers and friendliness of library staff. Underlying problems that influence satisfaction are identified. Findings – Data from 261 in‐person and 85 virtual reference transaction accounts (both e‐mail and chat) show that virtual reference results in lower satisfaction than in‐person reference. Underlying problems that are associated with user dissatisfaction were identified in face‐to‐face reference and carry over to virtual reference, including lack of reference interviews, unmonitored referrals and failure to follow‐up. Research limitations/implications – The number of virtual reference visits is relatively small (85) compared with 261 in‐person visits. Practical implications – The reasons for ongoing failures are examined and solutions that can help improve both face‐to‐face and virtual reference are identified. Education and training of reference staff can be improved by recognition of the behavioural causes of dissatisfaction in users. Originality/value – This paper provides empirical data that compare user perceptions of in‐person and virtual reference.

How to Have an Intelligent Conversation About Digital Conversion: Advice for Curators

ABSTRACT This article provides advice to curators and reference staff on how to discuss digital conversion projects that include Slavic materials with technical staff who will implement the project.

Students’ Experience with the Hidden Curriculum in the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences

Background and Purpose: The hidden curriculum has great impact on students’ learning. The present study was conducted on Nursing and Midwifery students to determine their experience with the hidden curriculum. Methods: It was a combined survey achieved in two stages on Nursing and Midwifery students. During the first stage, a free interview was carried out to determine their attitudes towards, experiences with, and references of the hidden curriculum. These interviews were analyzed using Streubert technique. During the second stage, a questionnaire was completed and finally analyzed Results: All students have experienced the hidden curriculum and usually found it to be more effective than their routine learning program. This learning modality was associated with more stable behaviors among them. Meanwhile, most of their learning objectives, including positive and negative or group and individual learning were achieved through the hidden curriculum. They have pointed out that faculty professor, nursing and midwifery staff, other students, patients and mass media were their main source of reference, however, nursing and midwifery staff augmented the training impact. Conclusion: Students believed that the hidden curriculum is an effective modality for learning. Key words: HIDDEN CURRICULUM, STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCE, NURSING AND MIDWIFERY

Formal information support systems for domestic violence victims

AbstractSurvivors of domestic violence (DV) seek information on many issues under stressful and even dangerous circumstances. Numerous agencies use multiple information formats to structure segments of formal information systems in support of these crime victims. The effort of e‐government to make full use of the Internet's potential for interactive, substantive information provision is a key feature of this system. Many users rely on this formal system in times of crisis as well as during the often lengthy, incremental movement toward safety. Nevertheless, no post‐Internet examination of the nature or efficacy of the system has been conducted in the United States. This study examines the information needs and concerns of DV survivors and those who seek to assist them, as well as the nature of this formal system. Using a two‐stage combination of interviews and questionnaires, the study involves survivors, safe‐house directors, police officers, health care workers, public library reference staff, and social service directors in several demographically diverse Texas cities. A web‐site analysis of the relevant e‐government and safe‐house sites in each city extends the work. This study constitutes the first regional analysis in the U.S. of post‐Internet formal information systems for the support of DV victims.

Cleanup of NetLibrary Cataloging Records: A Methodical Front-End Process

ABSTRACTElectronic resources and ebooks in particular, have become a very important source of information for library patrons. When our library was given access to more than 20,000 ebooks, we were faced with bibliographic records of unknown quality. To provide high-quality records in a timely manner, we identified as many potential problems as we could, worked with reference staff to create the best PAC displays, and created efficient record-editing methods to address these issues prior to loading the records in our database. This article documents that process and describes the MarcEdit, Word, and Excel strategies used to methodically correct and improve these records. It also offers practical solutions and procedures for database maintenance and quality control for NetLibrary or any outsourced cataloging records. The future of ebooks and other related cataloging issues, including authority control, are also discussed as points that remain to be addressed.

What Exactly Is Proactive Reference? The Columbus Metropolitan Library System Tells Its Story: So Far …

ABSTRACT Proactive reference at Columbus Metropolitan Public Library means librarians abandoning their traditional chairs and desks to seek out and greet patrons as they enter reference area. This article is written to share the CML story: The goals, planning, mustering of resources, and implementation that changed how CML conducts its customer service business. The article closes with one reference staff member describing working day using the proactive reference approach. This narrative shows how the various pieces of proactive reference fit together and the rewards that the staffs receive from being part of the innovation.

Assessing the Impact of Reference Services Provided to Undergraduate Students

This article describes a study assessing the impact of reference services on undergraduate students. The study targeted undergraduates receiving nondirectional reference assistance, yielding sixty-nine survey responses and five follow-up interviews. Three outcomes were examined: (1) Do undergraduate students perceive the reference staff as being friendly and approachable? (2) Do they learn something during the course of the reference interaction? and (3) Do they feel more confident about their ability to find information after the reference interaction than they did before? Our findings suggest that reference services can play a significant role in helping students become confident, independent information seekers. Correlations between variables and a multiple regression model further indicate that friendliness of the reference staff was one of the best predictors of students’ confidence in their ability to find information on their own. These outcomes are particularly salient in a college and university environment where building skills for independent information exploration is a primary goal.

Leaving, Searching, Finding

In this article, the author provides an account of what she thought and what research she did on the Internet and in printed sources as she relocated from a library job in Arizona to one in Ohio. The article provides information on job changing, a seldom written-about aspect of library life. Also, reference staff who work with younger professionals will find this article a helpful introduction to using electronic tools for specialized job searching.

Cooperative Reference Desk Scheduling and Its Effects on Professional Collegiality

SUMMARY Since 1995, reference staff at Oregon State University's Valley Library have engaged in a process of cooperative reference desk scheduling. The system was originally adopted to allow staff to have more influence in tailoring desk hours to their individual work schedules, but the department discovered that it also encourages and reinforces a climate of cooperation and collegiality among the reference staff. This paper describes the creation of the system and examines the reasoning behind it, the steps taken to implement it, and how it continues to evolve in an ever-changing library environment. Also examined is how this system has influenced other work done in the Reference and Instruction Department beyond the reference desk, and how it might be adapted and applied for use in other tasks in the future.

E-Mail Reference: Improving Service by Working Cooperatively

SUMMARY E-mail reference service provides complex challenges, but the service can be planned effectively and improved through cooperative work among reference staff and various library departments. Staff members from the Michigan State University Libraries have engaged in extensive cooperative work to evaluate, improve, and maintain effective e-mail reference services. Two library committees and an e-mail reference team have developed new service procedures, and have worked with other library departments to improve e-mail reference service. This article explores the collaborative work of the MSU committees, and discusses how e-mail reference has improved through cooperative work.

Cooperation in a Multi-Faceted Reference Department: Blending Resources, Personnel, and Services of Reference, Instruction, Interlibrary Loan, and Government Documents

SUMMARY Cooperative reference is a valuable approach to serving patrons as well as a means of expanding one's professional knowledge. Members of the reference unit actively participate in cooperative reference for answering patrons' tougher queries, bibliographic instruction, and reference collection development. The cooperative efforts of our unit have expanded our ability to find better information faster. Cooperative reference extends to all librarians within the University Library as each librarian serves in a rotation to staff the reference desk on nights and weekends. Some of the benefits of practicing cooperative reference are the following: providing a balanced and sometimes more complete answer to a reference question; increasing the knowledge of the reference staff by sharing experiences; and increasing morale and support for the reference staff. All of this is accomplished by doing what librarians do best: sharing. Successful cooperative reference relies upon good communication within the department, respect for colleagues, flexibility, and commitment to serving our patrons.

A National Laboratory and University Branch Campus Library Partnership: Shared Benefits and Challenges from Combined Reference Services

SUMMARY The Hanford Technical Library of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Max E. Benitz Memorial Library of the Washington State University Tri-Cities Branch Campus have functioned both separately and in combination since moving into the same space within the Consolidated Information Center in 1997. The libraries have successfully partnered to serve different clientele at a combined reference desk since June 1997. Although having separate staffs, catalogs, and collections, the libraries share a single reference/information desk. The reference staffs work together to serve a very diverse clientele including students, faculty, engineers, scientists, contractors, regulators, and the public. The combined libraries offer significant benefits to both library staffs and their users. The libraries have expanded access to collections and information expertise, enhanced staff training opportunities, and provided additional hours of reference service to patrons while at the same time maintaining the individual identities of the two libraries.

Chat It Up! Extending Reference Services to Assist Off-Campus Students

A virtual reference service is likely to attract both on-campus and off-campus students and providing one service for all users can extend the hours of availability to all students. The needs of these two student populations may differ and off-campus users may present some specific challenges to the reference staff. While some libraries do have a specified distance education librarian, it is unlikely at many institutions that there will be reference staff dedicated only to answering questions from off-campus students. Reference services for off-campus students do present special issues about which general reference staff may not be aware. With awareness of these challenges and proper training, an existing virtual reference service can be extended (or improved) to help off-campus students, or a new chat service can be developed with the objective to assist all user groups with equal success.

Assessing Reference Staff Competency in the Electronic Environment

This paper shows how the Galter Health Sciences Library of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine developed and implemented a program to assess reference staff competencies for assisting users in the electronic environment after completing a new training program. The first phase was a year-long assessment of reference questions to identify the types of questions received at the desk. Next, a training program for reference was developed and implemented with an emphasis on answering the most common questions identified such as remote access, access privileges, holdings information, and database searching. The program included individualized instruction on library policies, electronic resources, access restrictions, and troubleshooting. The next phase was to create instruments to test staff competencies in answering questions after training. Based on the scores, additional training was individualized and provided to the appropriate staff member to enhance their skills where needed. The training system that was developed has proven to be effective as most staff scored better than 92% on initial testing. As a result, library management can be certain that users' questions are being answered correctly and that the staff has the skills required to work in an electronic environment.

E-Problems, E-Solutions

Summary Problem patrons are not a phenomenon exclusive to the public library arena. Academic libraries have throughout time had their own share of difficult patrons. This article focuses on problem patrons and reference staff in the academic library with a particular focus on electronic equipment and resources, particularly the Internet. Issues include viewing of pornographic images by patrons, plagiarism and the librarian's role, use of e-mail and chat, and cell phone use in the reference area.

Buoyed by a Rising Tide

Summary This paper discusses how the information literacy efforts at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) have been supported by national trends within health science education to incorporate evidence-based medicine and problem-based learning into the curriculum. In addition, both accreditation agencies and national commissions have published documents supporting information literacy education for health science students. These trends and mandates in academic medicine have re-enforced faculty and administration support. Unlike many college and university libraries, the librarians at MCPHS are now in the position of being asked to provide more instruction than they can support. Responses to this situation have included an increase in reference staff, change in emphasis from reference services to teaching, learning and creating computer-based instruction programs, and enhanced collaboration and involvement with teaching faculty. The future, molded by these forces, holds the potential of offering librarians an opportunity to be key members of the evidence-based health care team; to allow librarians to adopt the same quantifiable research techniques into the practice of “evidence-based librarianship”; and to continue to boost information literacy efforts.

Reference service in an urban public library in Nigeria

Reference services have existed in public libraries for over 100 years but the level of collections and services differs from one type of library to another. Examines the organisation of reference activities at the Kwara State Public Library. Specifically investigates the status of the reference staff, organization of the collection, up‐to‐dateness, and categories of user. The study shows that inadequate funds are a major problem, while lack of professional staff at the reference library is also experienced. As a result the reference collection is becoming obsolete and unable to grow. Suggests steps the library could take to improve the situation.

Stress Relief: Help for the Technophobic Patron from the Reference Desk

Summary Although much has been written on technophobia and how it can be treated, little has been published on how the reference librarian can help. Limiting the time spent introducing new technologies, speaking without using computer jargon, offering instruction through different learning styles, and preparing patrons to deal with the problems they encounter are a few of the strategies the reference librarian can do to help patrons deal with their fear of computers. This article examines and defines technophobia, offers short-term strategies that reference staff can use to alleviate the anxiety of their technophobic patrons, and finally touches upon long-term solutions and changes that can be made within the library environment itself.