Reference Services in Academic Libraries

A P R I L 2 5 TH , 2 0 1 2

REFERENCE SERVICES
IN ACADEMIC LIBRARIES:
GUIDES IN THE CHANGING INFORMATION
LANDSCAPE

JULIE PIACENTINE
REFERENCE LIBRARIAN, INSTRUCTION SPECIALIST
JOSEPH REGENSTEIN LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

© 2011 J. Pitcher

THE INFORMATION SCHOOLS MOVEMENT

Information Schools -- “iSchools” -- address
the relationship between
information, technology, and people.

Develop understanding of the uses and
users of information, as well as information
technologies and their applications.

S o u r c e : h t t p : / / w w w. i s c h o o l s . o r g / s i t e / a b o u t / . A c c e s s e d A p r i l 3 , 2 0 1 2 .

INFORMATION SCIENCE SPECIALIZATIONS

Archives & Records Management Information Policy

Community Informatics Library Science

Human Computer Interaction Preservation of Information

Information Analysis & Retrieval School Library Media

Information Economics Social Computing

Usability is the extent to which a design

can be used:

 by specific users

 to achieve specific goals

with:

 effectiveness

 efficiency

 satisfaction

Source: Usability 101: Introduction to Usability by Jakob Nielsen.
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html

Usability consists of:

 Learnability

 Efficiency

 Memorability

 Error recovery

 Satisfaction

Source: Usability 101: Introduction to Usability by Jakob Nielsen.
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html

USABILITY ASSESSMENT

Contents
 Links removed/added

Labels
 “Quick Links” is effective
 Some link labels revised

Location
 Not effective - needs to be
more prominent

INFORMATION SCHOOL / LIBRARY SCHOOL
OVERLAP

ALA-
Accredited
Schools
iSchools

ALA-Accredited Schools = 40
North American iSchools = 25
Source: Directory of ALA-Accredited Master's
Programs in Library and Information Studies. ALA-Accredited iSchools = 18
http://www.ala.org/accreditedprograms/directory

GENDER IN LIBRARY & INFORMATION SCIENCE
EDUCATION

Women comprise 80.2% of ALA-accredited
Master’s of Library Science enrollment.

Gender distribution is more equal for the
Master’s of Information Science
degree, where women constitute 48.2% of all
students.

Source: Association for Library and Information Science Education, Statistical Report, 2004.

Depiction of
the Library of
A l e xa n d r i a b y
1 9 th C e n t u r y
e n g r a ve r, O .
vo n C o r ve n

LIBRARIES ARE FORMAT AGNOSTIC

5/1/2012
© 2011 University of Chicago Library

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LIBRARY
TOTAL VOLUMES MADE ACCESSIBLE

11000000
10729052

10500000
10144360
10000000

9500000 9330221

9000000

8500000
FY09 FY10 FY11

PRINT VOLUMES ADDED

185000 181558
180000
174208
175000
170000
165000
160000
155000 153488

150000
145000
140000
135000
FY09 FY10 FY11

Reference Services in Academic Libraries

ELECTRONIC VOLUMES ADDED

500000
447679
450000
400000
354816
350000
300000
250000
200000
157768
150000
100000
50000
0
FY09 FY10 FY11

“The information landscape of
early 21 st century higher
education is characterized by
ubiquitous, digitized, indexed
, online access to content.”

-From the 2008
Council on Library
and Information
Resources
report, No Brief
Candle:
Reconceiving
Research
Libraries for the
2 1 st C e n t u r y

Archival Photographic Files, apf2-06119, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Archival Photographic Files, apf2-06121, Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

Patron: Hi. I'm having a very difficult time tracking down publication of a specific
public law.
Librarian: Hi, thanks for using Ask a Librarian. I’d be happy to help. What are you
looking for?
Patron: I need to find [a specific law] passed by [a specific congress]. I don’t have
an HR number or a PL number. It was sponsored by [a specific senator].
Librarian: One moment while I search…
Librarian: I found text of a congressional report, which might match, in LexisNexis
Congressional. Here is the link. Take a look and let me know if it is not what you
need.
Patron: This is excellent. It links to [PL number], which is the law I needed. Thank
you for solving the impossible!

Patron: Hello?
Librarian: Hi! Thanks for using Ask a Librarian. This is [name]. How may I help
you?
Patron: Hi [name]. My name is [name]. I need help finding dissertations by other
graduate students at [my university]. Are these available online?
Librarian: There is a database which contains many of these dissertations. Here
are the steps to access it:
…
Patron: This works splendidly!
Librarian: Great! Let me know if there’s something specific I can help you find.
Patron: I’ve already found what I was looking for. :-)

Patron: Hi. what is LP? the format LP
Librarian: Hi, thanks for using Ask a Librarian.
Patron: I’m searching for audio/video
Librarian: An LP is a vinyl record. “LP” stands for “long play” or “long-playing” and
refers to a full-length album.
Patron: oh, ok… thanks

IM REFERENCE PATRON FEEDBACK

“This service is awesome. “I’ve never used this
I have been able to save
myself a few unnecessary help function
trips.” before, but it is so
helpful and
efficient.”
“The [IM] widget is great!
Makes it so easy to get
answers!”
“It’s so great that I
can do this live!”

“I love, love, love this service!!!!!!!”

“It is useful to frame current virtual
reference services in terms of the
history of remote reference.
Whether a librarian chooses to
send a letter, write an e-mail, or
video chat with a user, his intended
goal is the same. The only
difference is the medium he selects
-Daniel Hickey
and the constraints that medium i n R e f e r e nc e
R e b o r n:
B r e a t hi ng Ne w
places on communication.” Life into
Public
Services
L i b r a r i a ns h i p

Reference

Instruction Outreach

Instruction Reference

Outreach

“A look over this decade
shows that reference has been
transformed from an area
focused on resources and
artifacts to one that explores a
human process of
questioning, contextualizing, a
-Marie Radford
nd learning.” i n R e f e r e nce
Renaissance:
C u r r e nt &
F u t u r e Tr e n d s

“By understanding that a
reference transaction is a
learning event, reference staff
must be aware of all the
potential means of facilitating
learning.”

- R . D a vi d
L a n k es i n
Reference
Renaissance:
C u r r e nt &

(cc) 2010 Berkman Center for Internet & Society

U N IVER SIT Y O F C H IC A G O R EG EN ST EIN L IB R A RY
IN ST R U C T ION STAT IST IC S

2000 1607
1034 1283
1500

1000

500
Participants
0 89
91
132 Sessions
FY09
FY10
FY11

THREE PARADIGMS OF LIBRARIANSHIP

Systems-centered User-centered Knowledge-
Librarianship Librarianship construction-
centered
Librarianship
Goal of librarianship Systematically Fulfill patrons’ Aid information
organize materials information needs seekers’ processes
to facilitate access of knowledge
and use construction

Goal of reference Help patrons Deduce and fulfill Enable the process
retrieve materials users’ information of knowledge
from the information needs construction
system

Reference librarian as Gatekeeper Intermediary Guide

- Hannah Kwon in Reference Renaissance: Current & Future Trends

“The future is less about
helping people find information
and more about helping people
use information. It is about
creating services before the
customers know they need
them.”
-Carla J.
S t o ff l e i n
Reference
Renaissance:
C u r r e nt &

Reference Services in Academic Libraries

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