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Date: Sat, 17 Jun 2000 11:10:46 -0500
From: Nancy Colborn <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Program at ALA - Reference Research Forum (RUSA/MOUSS/Research
& Stats Comm.)
Sender: Nancy Colborn <[log in to unmask]>
**Apologies for duplication--cross-posted**
The RUSA MOUSS
Research and Statistics Committee
presents its
Sixth Annual Reference Research Forum*
Monday, July 10, 2000
2:00 - 4:00 pm
Swissotel, GR BB III
Four research projects in the field of reference services will be presented by their authors, with a discussion following. This year the presenters are:
"The Library Visit Study" by Kirsti Nilsen, Lecturer, University of Western Ontario and Catherine Sheldrick Ross, Professor, University of Western Ontario
This is the second phase of a study of the reference transaction from the users' perspective. Phase one, based on users' accounts collected in public and academic libraries in the early 1900s, was reported in RQ, Public Libraries, and Reference and User Services Quarterly. Since that first data collection period, there have been reductions in library staffing levels and increases in the availability of electronic reference sources. The purpose of the second phase of the research is to investigate what difference, if any, such changes have made in the ways in which reference service is provided and experienced. Specifically we want to examine, from the perspective of the user, the role of electronic sources, including the Internet, in the reference transaction. The second phase of the study is based on more than 150 Library Visit accounts collected by MLIS students between September 1998 and April 2000. During this time of transition, the Internet became recognized in the library literature as an increasingly important reference source despite its well-recognized problems of reliability and cognitive authority. In this presentation, we examine the following questions: How, if at all, has the availability of the Internet changed the way that library staff respond to users' questions? How satisfied are users with the help they receive? Building on the findings of phase one, this presentation will report, from the users' perspective, on the post-Internet situation at the reference desk.
"Electronic Mail Reference Services in the Public Library" by Beth A. Garnsey Reference Librarian, Baldwin (MI) Public Library and Ronald R. Powell, Professor, Library and Information Science Program, Wayne State University
Although electronic mail reference services are increasingly being offered by public libraries, little information about these services has been reported. An exploratory survey was conducted to examine public library e-mail reference services and the patrons who use them. Data collection techniques included a questionnaire mailed to participating libraries and a Web-based questionnaire completed by library patrons. Data gathered included: 1) information on the provision and administration of e-mail reference services provided by public libraries across the United States, 2) characteristics of public library e-mail reference patrons and their satisfaction with the service they received, and 3) classification of e-mail reference questions received by public libraries.
"The Quality of Reference 2000" by Jennifer Sweeney, Library Analyst, University of California, Davis
Rapid emergence of web-based information products and corresponding shifts in user behavior have transformed traditional academic reference service. A recent study of reference service at University of California, Davis libraries explored emerging issues affecting service quality and effectiveness, and attempted to validate those factors with surveys, interviews, and quantitative data. Study methodology, results, and implications for the future will be presented.
"Imposed Queries in the Adult Room: Preliminary Findings from a Survey of Thirteen Libraries" by Melissa Gross, Assistant Professor, School of Information Studies, Florida State University
In providing library services, the assumption is that the user's information need is his or her own However, the imposed query model makes explicit that user behavior includes seeking information to resolve questions that belong to someone else. The work reported here reveals that, in a reference satisfaction survey performed in 13 public libraries, 25 percent of the respondents were in the library on behalf of someone else. While 14 categories of imposers were revealed, the majority of the individuals who reported seeking information for someone else were in the library on behalf of an employer, an instructor, a spouse, or a child.
* The Research Forum is listed in the ALA program as a RUSA/MOUSS committee meeting.
Nancy Wootton Colborn
Reference Librarian, Coordinator of
Staff Development and Public Relations
Schurz Library
Indiana University South Bend
219.237.4321 (ph)
219.237.4472 (fx)
[log in to unmask]
www.iusb.edu/~ncolborn
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