Reference Transactions Research Articles

READ-ing Our Way to Success: Using the READ Scale to Successfully Train Reference Student Assistants in the Referral Model

ABSTRACTThe Reference Services Department at Radford University's McConnell Library has been developing a training program in the reference referral system for student assistants (SAs) over 3 academic years. The program's goal is to effectively instruct SAs in balancing high quality customer service with the importance of appropriately referring users to librarians and to assess the accuracy of their referrals and responses. The trainers have met these goals with the successful incorporation of a modified version of the Reference Effort Assessment Data (READ) scale, a reference transaction assessment tool developed by Bella Karr Gerlich, into the student training program.

A Mixed Methods Approach to Assessing Roaming Reference Services

Abstract
 
 Objective – The objectives of this research are threefold: a) to assess the students’ perception of the roaming service at the point of service; b) to assess the librarians’ perception of the service; and, c) to solicit librarian feedback and observations on their roaming experience and perceived user reactions. Ultimately, this data was used to inform and identify best practices for the improvement of the roaming service.
 
 Methods – A combination of quantitative and qualitative survey methodologies were used to collect data regarding patron and librarian service perceptions. Patrons and librarians were asked to complete a survey at the conclusion of each reference transaction. In addition at the end of the first semester of the implementation, librarians were asked to provide feedback on the overall program by responding to five open-ended questions.
 
 Results – The findings indicate that our students typically seek assistance from the librarians once a term (58%), but the majority (71%) indicated that they would seek a librarian’s assistance more frequently, if one were available on the various floors of the library. Overall, our users indicated that they were “Satisfied” (36%) to “Very Satisfied” (43%) with the roaming service. Librarian responses indicate overall enthusiasm and positive feelings about the program, but cautioned that additional enhancements are needed to ensure the continued development and effectiveness of the service. 
 
 Conclusion – Overall, patrons were satisfied with the service delivered by the roaming reference librarian. The roaming librarians also provided positive feedback regarding the delivery of service. Data collected from both groups is also in agreement on two major program aspects needing improvement: marketing of the service and a means by which to easily identify the roaming librarian.

Taking notes at the reference desk: assessing and improving student learning

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess student perceptions of their learning during reference transactions and to evaluate a note-taking strategy developed to improve the quality of learning during reference encounters. Design/methodology/approach – Students were surveyed following a reference interaction and were asked, “What did you learn today?”. Based on the authors results, librarians developed a Reference Notes form encouraging librarians and students to take notes during reference transactions, highlighting terms, concepts and strategies. The forms were assessed with a modified version of the initial student survey to determine their effectiveness. Student survey results were analyzed, and librarians also provided feedback via surveys and discussions. Findings – Initial results indicated that students retained concrete concepts like the names of previously unknown databases. With the implementation of Reference Notes, students were more likely to report learning broad-based concepts like narrowing a search, brainstorming keywords and search mechanics. Librarians and students felt the form was an effective reference tool. Research limitations/implications – This is an indirect method of assessing student learning, relying on students’ self-reports. Without the opportunity to pre-define learning objectives for a reference transaction, the authors were unable to assess student learning directly. Practical implications – Many librarians write down some information during reference transactions. A more systematic approach to taking notes may improve the learning potential of the reference encounter. Originality/value – This project demonstrates that student learning assessment is an important tool for evaluating reference services. Through student learning assessment, librarians can develop strategies, such as the authors Reference Notes forms, to increase the quality of learning during reference transactions.

A Theory of Fairness in Labour Markets.

I study a gift-exchange game, in which a profit-maximizing firm offers a wage to a fair-minded worker, who then chooses how much effort to exert. The worker judges a transaction fairer to the extent that his own gain is more nearly equal to the firm's gain. The worker calculates both players' gains relative to what they would have gained from the "reference transaction," which is the transaction that the worker most recently personally experienced. The model explains several empirical regularities: rent sharing, persistence of a worker's entry wage at a firm, insensitivity of an incumbent worker's wage to market conditions, and-if the worker is loss averse and the reference wage is nominal-downward nominal wage rigidity. The model also makes a number of novel predictions. Whether the equilibrium is efficient depends on which notion of efficiency is used in the presence of the worker's fairness concern, and which is appropriate to use partly depends on whether loss aversion is treated as legitimate for normative purposes.

Comparing the incomparable? How consumers judge the price fairness of new products

The present article explores price fairness perceptions in the specific setting of new product launch prices. In this context, the process of forming price fairness judgments by comparing the price to be judged with the price in a reference transaction is thwarted by the fact that reference transactions are not readily available. Following the conceptual logic on the development of price fairness judgments, results from three experimental consumer studies reveal that price fairness is the key link between launch price and adoption intention but that this relationship is moderated by transaction similarity and social norms. More specifically, transaction similarity, captured by the degree of product newness and future expected price change, determines the comparators consumers will use in their evaluative effort and mitigates the negative launch price-perceived price fairness relationship. In consequence, consumers use existing products to judge prices of incrementally new products. Given the reduced similarity of reference transactions for really new products, consumers rather rely on future prices in their price fairness judgments providing evidence for consumers' forward-looking evaluation. The present study captures social norms by the concept of consumer innovativeness and results demonstrate that due to the inherent uncertainty of really new products, consumer innovativeness influences the extent to which individuals engage in price comparisons when judging the fairness of launch prices of these products. The authors conclude by deriving implications for the price setting of new products.

Talking to Ourselves: Internal Communication Strategies for Reference Services

At many academic libraries, spiral notebooks and three ring binders have given way to blogs and wikis as a means of facilitating communication at the reference desk. Western Kentucky University Libraries opted instead to create a custom internal website to log reference transactions, highlight current issues, and manage scheduling changes. This solution incorporated numerous platforms and technologies, including LibGuides, Facebook, and Google Calendar. It avoided some of the pitfalls described in the literature, such as relying too heavily on user-generated content, and has been successful largely because it is embedded in the reference workspace and contains features that librarians will use on a daily basis.

Reference Desk Employees Need Both Research Knowledge and Technical Skills for Successful Reference Transactions

A Review of:
 Chan, E. K. (2014). Analyzing recorded transactions to extrapolate the required knowledge, skills, and abilities of reference desk providers at an urban, academic/public library. Journal of Library Administration, 54(1), 23-32. doi:10.1080/01920836.2014.893113
 
 Abstract 
 
 Objective – To determine the essential knowledge and skills required by reference positions serving academic and public library patrons.
 
 Design – Data analysis of recorded reference transactions using author-created categories.
 
 Setting – The reference desk of a joint academic and public library in downtown San José, California. 
 
 Subjects – A total of 9,683 in-person and phone reference transactions recorded between August 20 and December 29, 2012.
 
 Methods – All reference transactions recorded in the tracking software Gimlet during the fall 2012 semester were downloaded and analyzed in Excel using 17 author-created reference service categories. Of the original 13,827 transaction entries, 4,135 were eliminated because the actual reference questions, an optional entry in Gimlet, were not recorded. Thus these transactions could not be properly categorized for analysis. 
 Main Results – The most frequently occurred type of reference transaction (16.6%, or 1,607 out of 9,683) out of the 17 categories was assistance for printing, copying, scanning, and wireless network assistance. The next most regularly recorded categories were catalog searching for non-known items (15.0%) and general research (10.9%), which included formulating research questions and selecting the appropriate resources for searching.
 
 When clustering the 17 reference question categories into 4 broader thematic groups, “research-oriented assistance,” including question categories for catalog searching and general research, emerged as the most common question type (31.7%). Technical and equipment assistance (30.8%) was the second most popular category group, followed by facility and policy questions (19.2%), and quick search requests (18.3%). 
 
 Conclusion – The study findings suggest that successful reference desk transactions would require library employees to master research knowledge as well as technical computer and equipment skills.

The Application of RUSA Standards to the Virtual Reference Interview

The proliferation of online databases used to search for articles in scholarly journals and magazines began shortly after Internet use became common in the late 1990s. Although there was a shift to digital resources, reference librarians still could use the same approach, asking similar questions during a reference interview, for queries involving online databases as they had during a print source search. In both cases, the patron engages the librarian in person at the reference desk. Further technological advances have created opportunities in reference service broadly defined as Here, the patron only engages the librarian via e-mail or in a virtual chat over the Internet. These virtual reference encounters lack traditional visual and nonverbal cues. Thus, a new set of standards needs to be created for the reference interview in addition to defining a different form of library-patron interaction. (1) THE VIRTUAL REFERENCE INTERVIEW The original Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) guidelines for an effective reference interview had no need to include cues for the virtual environment. Now, however, a reference interview tailored to the virtual reference mode of communication is necessary as the world of reference increasingly moves beyond the traditional reference desk. Digital reference services should provide opportunities for an effective reference interview so that users can convey necessary information to librarians who would then assist the patron. (2) The RUSA guidelines for implementing and maintaining virtual reference services define virtual reference as services initiated electronically, where patrons employ computers or other internet technology to communicate with reference staff without being physically present. Chat, e-mail, videoconferencing, voice over IP, cobrowsing, and instant messaging are examples of the communication channels used in virtual reference. (3) This paper will focus on the interview process associated with both e-mail and chat reference, the most common methods for providing virtual reference services. The reference interview is at the heart of the reference transaction and is crucial to the success of the process. (4) Virtual reference requires that the library staff use many of the same communication and interpersonal skills that are also employed during a regular face-to-face reference transaction. For example, in the library, a well-trained librarian will sometimes initiate communication if a hesitant user appears to need assistance. This prompting can also occur in the virtual reference environment when a chat patron seems to pause or not respond for a period of time. Stephanie Willen Brown defines the reference interview as the interpersonal communication that occurs between a reference librarian and a library user to determine the person's specific information needs. (5) These interpersonal communication skills are perhaps even more important in virtual reference. Without the visual cues of a face-to-face interview, there is an increased need to be able to communicate clearly and effectively with patrons during a chat or e-mail encounter. These needs may turn out to be different than the initial reference question. It is more of an art than a science, an ever changing practice that requires responsiveness to context rather than to the application of a predetermined set of skills. (6) Attention should be given to ensuring that a proper reference interview is provided to the patron once a library has decided upon the format that virtual reference should take. While elements of approachability, interest, listening, inquiring, searching, and follow-up are the same in both the face-to-face interview and the virtual, and principles of each apply to both formats, additional standards should be incorporated into the virtual reference interview. E-MAIL AND CHAT VIRTUAL REFERENCE It is important for the reader to have a clear understanding of how e-mail and chat reference function and to define both terms. …

Content Analysis of Reference Transactions Provides Guidance Regarding Staffing of Library Service Points

A Review of:
 Bishop, B. W., & Bartlett, J. A. (2013). Where do we go from here? Informing academic library staffing through reference transaction analysis. College & Research Libraries, 74(5), 489-500.
 
 Objective – To identify the quantity of location-based and subject-based questions and determine the locations where those questions are asked in order to inform decision-making regarding optimal placing of staff.
 
 Design – Content analysis of location-based and subject-based reference transactions or transcripts collected using LibStats at 15 face-to-face (f2f) service points and via virtual services.
 
 Setting – Virtual and f2f service points at University of Kentucky (UK) campus libraries.
 
 Subjects – 1,852 location-based and subject-based reference transactions gathered via a systematic sample of every 70th transaction out of 129,572 transactions collected. 
 
 Methods – Using LibStats, the researchers collected data on location-based and subject-based questions at all service points at UK Libraries between 2008 and 2011. The researchers eliminated transcripts that did not include complete data or questions with fields left blank. If all question fields were properly completed, identification and coding of location-based or subject-based questions took place. 
 
 Usable transcripts included 1,333 questions that contained sufficient data. For this particular content analysis only the question type, reference mode, and location of question were utilized from the data collected. Unusable transactions were removed prior to content analysis, and reliability testing was conducted to determine interrater and intrarater reliability. Interrater reliability was high (Krippendorff’s alpha = .87%) and intrarater reliability was acceptable (Cohen's kappa = .880). 
 
 Main Results – From the usable transcripts, 83.7% contained location-based questions and 16.3% were subject-based, and a little over 80% of location-based questions and 77.2% of subject-based questions were asked face-to-face (f2f). Of the location-based questions, 11.5% were directional questions and many of these questions were related to finding places inside the libraries. “Attribute of location” questions related to library services and resources, such as finding an item, printing, circulation, desk supplies, and computer problems, made up 72.8% of total question transactions. Researchers found that subject-based questions were difficult to categorize and noted that other methods would be needed to analyze the content of these questions. Professional librarians and library staff are better equipped to answer these questions, and the location where the question asked is irrelevant. The researchers addressed the issue of where questions were asked by recording the reference mode (chat, e-mail, phone, or f2f) and location service point at UK Libraries. Overall, 79% of questions were asked f2f, rather than via chat or e-mail. Researchers think that this is due to a lack of marketing efforts regarding those services, noting that most questions were asked in the system’s large main library, which also receives the most subject-based questions. 
 
 Conclusion – This study can inform the UK Libraries system as to where their resources are most needed and allow for more strategic decision-making regarding staffing. The study could also prompt development of a mobile application to answer location-based questions, though more investigation is needed before moving forward with development of a mobile app. Due to the findings of this study, UK Libraries will deploy their professional library staff to locations where subject-based questions were most frequently asked. Because staffing of libraries is one of the “most expensive and valuable resources,” academic libraries can use this method to validate their current staffing strategies or justify the allocation of staff throughout their systems (p. 499).

Text 4 Health

This study seeks to provide empirical evidence about how health-related questions are answered in text reference service to further the understanding of how to best use texting as a reference service venue to fulfill people’s health information needs. Two hundred health reference transactions from My Info Quest, the first nationwide collaborative text reference service, were analyzed to identify the types of questions, length of transactions, question-answering behavior, and information sources used in the transactions. Findings indicate that texting-based health reference transactions are usually brief and cover a wide variety of topics. The most popular questions are those seeking general factual information about the human body, medical/health conditions, diseases, or medical concepts/jargons. Great variance is discovered between the question-answering behavior, with only a little more than half of the answers containing a citation to information sources. The study will inform the practice of health reference service via texting and help libraries make evidence-based decisions on establishing service policies and procedures, providing training for librarians, and ultimately implementing the service successfully. Note: In this paper, transcriptions of text reference questions are entered verbatim, without attempt to correct spelling or grammar.

The Effects of Reference, Instruction, Database Searches, and Ongoing Expenditures on Full-text Article Requests: An Exploratory Analysis

ACRL Library Trends and Statistics survey data from two years were analyzed to explore relationships among variables thought to predict full-text article requests. Five different regression models predicted full-text article requests from variables including reference transactions, library instruction, Web site visits, database searches, and ongoing expenditures. Full-time student enrollment and Carnegie classification were included as covariates in all five models. All regressions supported using enrollment as a covariate; four of the regressions supported using Carnegie classification as an additional covariate. Results suggested that reference transactions, library instruction, and ongoing expenditures increase the number of database searches and full-text requests beyond these covariates. Ongoing expenditures made the largest contribution in all models, but did not always contribute the most unique variance. Furthermore, a mediation analysis showed a significant indirect effect of library instruction on full-text requests through database searches. This study suggests most ACRL data may need log transformation before using regression analyses, and offers one approach to interpreting results. Future research could investigate the meaning of ongoing expenditures after controlling for institutional size and Carnegie classification. Additional variables such as interlibrary loan usage or whether the library has a discovery tool might be interesting to include in similar models.

Nothing is Permanent but Change: The Journey to Consolidation and Back

Responding to a staffing shortage and assessment of usage data, eight of Hale Library's nine service desks were consolidated into one service point. Fourteen months later, the Libraries conducted an assessment of the consolidation using reference transaction data, responses to a survey administered to Libraries’ staff, and responses from a student focus group. The assessment revealed many logistical and staffing challenges with the new desk. As a result, a separate service point for reference was created directly outside the consolidated desk. Our statistics indicate that this was a successful change.

Analyzing Recorded Transactions to Extrapolate the Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities of Reference Desk Providers at an Urban, Academic/Public Library

ABSTRACT Much has been written about the competencies that reference providers must exhibit to be successful at their positions given today's technology-rich, information environment. Many have proclaimed new mandatory technological and attitudinal qualities for librarians, while others have interviewed future, practicing, and hiring librarians for their perspectives on this topic. This study adds to the existing literature by examining a dataset of 9,683 recorded reference transactions collected during the fall 2012 semester in an urban, academic/public library. This dataset provides a very current look at the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities that reference providers need to be successful at this library.

Re-Conceptualizing the ‘Reference Transaction’ – The Case for Interaction and Information Relationships at the Public Library Reference Desk

Preliminary data from a larger ethnographic case study using observation and interviewing techniques in 2 reference desk ecologies in a Canadian urban public library are presented. The reference encounter is characterized from a knowledge sharing perspective; the experiential and communication dimensions of the client-staff information relationship are explored.Les résultats préliminaires d’une vaste étude de cas ethnographique utilisant les techniques de l’observation et de l’entrevue à deux comptoirs de références d’une bibliothèque publique urbaine du Canada sont présentés. L’entrevue de référence est caractérisée à partir du point de vue du partage des connaissances. Les dimensions de l’expérience et de la communication de la relation informationnelle usager-personnel sont explorées. ***Student to CAIS/ACSI Award Winner***

Undergraduate Students’ Perspectives on the Reference Transaction: A Pilot Study

A qualitative user study examining the reference transaction role in four undergraduate students’ information seeking process. Data was obtained through interviews, which were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Findings show that participants sought no process intervention from reference librarians, had negative perceptions of the reference transaction, and valued independence during the research process.Une étude qualitative des utilisateurs examinant le rôle du processus de référence lors des recherches d’information de quatre étudiants de premier cycle. Les données ont été obtenues à l’aide d’entrevues analysées avec l’approche de la théorie ancrée. Les résultats montrent que les participants n’ont par cherché à obtenir d’aide de la part des bibliothécaires de référence, qu’ils ont des perceptions négatives à l’endroit du processus de référence, et qu’ils valorisent l’indépendance durant le processus de recherche.

Seeing the Forest by Counting the Trees: Using a Variety of Data Sources to See the Big Picture

Libraries, particularly academic libraries, are swimming in a sea of data. Librarians often contribute to this by counting every possible patron interaction in an attempt to both define their current situation and to predict future staffing, budgetary, and collection needs. This investigation assessed the effectiveness of using various data sources in predicting future library activity and needs. The authors collected data on in-person and chat reference transactions, electronic journal downloads, database queries, and catalog searches from 2009–12. By analyzing these data points, the authors hypothesized they would find correlations that might be predictive of changes in related library services. Results indicated that the strongest correlations track activity over the course of the academic calendar. While none of the data points examined had predictive properties, the strong correlations between the data points over the period of time studied indicated that any one of them might serve as a stand-alone indicator of usage.

Where Do We Go from Here? Informing Academic Library Staffing through Reference Transaction Analysis

This study conducted a systematic sample of every 70th reference transaction from over a three-year period and analyzed 1,852 reference transactions asked at an academic library system’s fifteen face-to-face (f2f) service points as well as via telephone, e-mail, and chat. Findings indicate two-thirds of the total questions asked were location-based questions about the library. Also, 80.2 percent of location-based questions and 77.2 percent of subject-based questions were asked f2f. Analysis of location-based reference questions informs effective deployment of librarians and staff at library service points as well as the development of mobile library apps.

Communication, Face Saving, and Anxiety at an Academic Library's Virtual Reference Service

This study investigates the communication between patrons and librarians at a large research university's virtual reference service. Reference transactions were analyzed for type of transaction and evidence of deflection, deference, and rapport building to determine if face-saving communication by librarians appeared to lower patrons’ stress and anxiety levels during the course of the virtual reference transaction. The transactions analyzed showed that despite the fact that few patrons self-disclosed feelings of library anxiety, there was evidence of deferential speech and rapport building, two essential elements of face saving, between patrons and librarians.

There is a Relationship between Resource Expenditures and Reference Transactions in Academic Libraries

A Review of:
 Dubnjakovic, A. (2012). Electronic resource expenditure and the decline in reference transaction statistics in academic libraries. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 38(2), 94-100. doi: 10.1016/j.acalib.2012.01.001
 
 Objective – To provide an analysis of the impact of expenditures on electronic resources and gate counts on the increase or decrease in reference transactions.
 
 Design – Analysis of results of existing survey data from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) 2006 Academic Library Survey (ALS). 
 
 Setting – Academic libraries in the United States.
 
 Subjects – 3925 academic library respondents.
 
 Methods – The author chose to use survey data collected from the 2006 ALS conducted by the NCES. The survey included data on various topics related to academic libraries, but in the case of this study, the author chose to analyze three of the 193 variables included. The three variables: electronic books expenditure, computer hardware and software, and expenditures on bibliographic utilities, were combined into one variable called electronic resource expenditure. Gate counts were also considered as a variable. Electronic resource expenditure was also split as a variable into three groups: low, medium, and high. Multiple regression analysis and general linear modeling, along with tests of reliability, were employed. 
 
 Main Results – The author determined that low, medium, and high spenders with regard to electronic resources exhibited differences in gate counts, and gate counts have an effect on reference transactions in any given week. Gate counts tend to not have much of an effect on reference transactions for the higher spenders, and higher spenders tend to have a higher number of reference transactions overall. Low spenders have lower gate counts and also a lower amount of reference transactions. 
 
 Conclusion – The findings from this study show that academic libraries spending more on electronic resources also tend to have an increase with regard to reference transactions. The author also concludes that library spaces are no longer the determining factor with regard to number of reference transactions. Spending more on electronic resources is also important to increase both in-person and electronic reference transactions.

Reference Reviewed and Re-Envisioned: Revamping Librarian and Desk-Centric Services with LibStARs and LibAnswers

The first section of this article reviews the literature on the changing face of reference, beginning with a discussion of the national decline in reference transactions, its causes, and the likelihood that online reference services might one day halt or reverse the decline. It then analyzes definitions of the term “reference,” pointing to a disconnect between those definitions and much of the work that actually takes place at reference desks. Next, critiques of desk-centric models of reference are examined, followed by a discussion of the persistence of the desk in so many academic libraries today. The analysis of the literature in section one informs the re-envisioning of reference services at CPP discussed in section two. Specifically, section two describes and assesses CPP's reference desk staffing shift from librarians to LibStARs (Library Student Assistant Researchers) and our implementation of LibAnswers in an effort to automate some reference transactions. The paper ends with an overview of the benefits of these new initiatives.