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Much has been written recently about the “library as place.” This essay approaches the question of library space philosophically, arguing that developing commercial attitudes toward space leads us away from more productive ways of conceiving libraries. A concept called Third Space is introduced, and its relevance to libraries and librarianship is explored. (more…)
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This study examines the utilization and preference of popular Internet and communication technologies among students at Sam Houston State University (SHSU), a Carnegie Research Doctoral University in East Texas. The researchers wished to study the local relevance of various technology trends reported in librarianship literature and then to use the survey data to inform decisions regarding library service development. (more…)
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Effects of social marketing strategies on student research behaviors were investigated. Three objectives were identified as target behaviors for change: (1) decrease procrastination due to the illusion of immediacy (2) increase students’ willingness to seek expert assistance when it is warranted, and (3) increase the selection of information sources based on criteria other than the information need itself, which includes the habituated and automatic use of Internet sources based on the assumption that they are more convenient, reliable, and easy to use. (more…)
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Are the resources provided in answers to reference questions reusable for answering future reference questions? This study seeks to answer this question as a means to address the scalability problem of human-mediated reference work. Using the Internet Public Library’s archive of over eighty thousand records of answered reference questions, this study identifies (1) what resources are provided in responses to digital reference questions, (2) the extent to which these resources are reusable in future responses, and (3) the useful lifespan of a resource that has been provided. (more…)
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As virtual reference services (VRS) have become vital alternatives to traditional face-to-face (FtF) and phone reference, guidelines for best practices emerged to ensure that users are being well served across different modes of service delivery. (more…)
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Most librarians and staff who perform library instruction in academic settings place a high value on assessment. They understand that determining what our students bring with them to the instruction lab and what they learn during the hour we teach them helps improve teaching. (more…)
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Although much has appeared in the literature regarding the initiation of virtual reference services, to date a case study discussing online reference service’s integration into an academic library’s current suite of reference services has not been written. At the University of Saskatchewan, the integration process forced the library to take a broader look at reference services as a whole (more…)
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Over the past decade and a half, reference and information services have increasingly moved away from library reference desks and away from libraries’ print collections into the electronic world. (more…)
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This article compares the concept of the “problem patron” in the library and information science (LIS) and nursing literatures as the basis for developing a new framework for use in LIS. The trend in the LIS literature has been to identify either the patron or the patron’s behavior as the problem. (more…)
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This paper presents a theoretical framework for understanding the process of generating and storing knowledge from online reference service transactions. Terminology for this study has not been sufficiently developed in scholarly work, so this paper uses the phrase “online reference knowledge base” (ORKB) to denote a place for storing knowledge generated from online reference services. (more…)
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Finding journal titles and journal articles are two of the toughest tasks on academic library webpages. Challenges include choosing the best tools, using terms that make sense, and guiding the user through the process. In addition, the continued development of Google Scholar raises the question of whether it could become a better tool for finding a full-text article than link resolver software or journal portals. To study these issues, researchers at James Madison University analyzed results from two usability tests. (more…)
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This paper reviews the development of the subject encyclopedia as an information resource and evaluates its present role, with particular focus on the academic library. The paper looks especially at online subject encyclopedias and the extent to which academic libraries are facilitating and promoting access to these resources. (more…)
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Traditionally, library professionals have used a variety of ready reference technologies to assist in providing reference and user services. Technologies such as card files, vertical files, and reference notebooks are frequent components of library service desks. Ready reference technologies serve many purposes, most notably, helping staff to answer frequently asked questions and facilitating the sharing of information between library staff. This paper traces the development of the Virtual Notebook, a wiki-based ready reference technology, at Purdue University. (more…)
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Academic librarians have been using social software and networking sites for public services since they appeared on the Internet. While issues of privacy, identity management, and self-disclosure when using such technologies have been written about, very little critical attention has been paid to establishing policies or guidelines related to their use. This article is based on the authors’ experience creating a social software policy and internal service guidelines at Georgia State University and on the results of an informal survey study that gauged academic librarians’ need for and awareness of such documents. (more…)
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Because of the proliferation of remote resources that allow users to complete research without visiting a library in person, many academic librarians have responded with outreach initiatives that extend library services to a variety of campus locations. Residence halls, however, have received little attention as an outreach venue despite the fact that most universities stress the importance of housing’s educational mission. In the three years that University of Oklahoma librarian Karen Antell lived as Faculty-in-Residence, she developed extensive library and educational programming for the students in her residence hall. (more…)
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Our paper presents the results of a survey of MLIS students’ motivations for choosing a library career, as well as their outlook on the job market, preferences for various subfields, and dreams about the future. In 2004 several researchers conducted a survey of MLIS students at the University of Alabama’s School of Library and Information Studies and reported the results in a 2006 RUSQ article. (more…)
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This study assessed student use of and satisfaction with the WebFeat federated search tool, which was implemented by the library at Sam Houston State University. Students voluntarily responded to an electronic survey, providing feedback on how often they conducted class research using the federated search tool, individual databases, and online search engines and how well each search tool satisfied their class research needs. (more…)
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This paper describes the experience of three sophomore English composition classes that were required to visit the reference desk for class credit. Student perceptions of reference consultations are analyzed to gain a clearer understanding of the students’ attitudes toward reference services. (more…)
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This study sought to determine the extent to which the Hesburgh Libraries of the University of Notre Dame meets the needs of its graduate students. It focused on how Notre Dame graduate students found research materials and how useful the Hesburgh Libraries’ collections were in their research and studies. (more…)
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According to a market survey showing that the public library is the first place many turn when seeking health information, librarians are the front-line workers in consumer health literacy. A consumer health literacy initiative has been undertaken throughout the Pittsburgh public library system to help librarians assure meaningful access to consumers seeking health information. (more…)
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In an attempt to determine and compare the nature of virtual reference services in both academic and public libraries outside the United States, we analyzed data compiled from webform transactions e-mailed to and from libraries via the Question-Point virtual reference service. (more…)
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In today’s climate of accountability in higher education, most colleges and universities—and therefore academic libraries—consider student learning the cornerstone of their missions. Reference service is one area in which libraries can demonstrate their commitment to support student learning. (more…)
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When asked about a hypothetical book containing racist beliefs, do people support removing the book from their public library or not? The study examined responses to this question from surveys conducted from 1976 to 2006. (more…)
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This exploratory study investigated the feasibility of using reference questions as an important tool in the construction of study guides, instructional outreach, and collection development at a small, four-year university in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The premise for the study was based on the assumption that the content of the reference question and class from which the question came provide more valuable information than the metadata normally captured within reference classification systems (e.g., directional, research). (more…)
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Librarians and researchers studying medieval history need a sophisticated understanding of the contents of relevant databases, including the Iter Bibliography and the International Medieval Bibliography, to develop effective research strategies. Such an understanding includes the strengths and usefulness of the individual databases and an appreciation of what materials are unique to each of the databases. (more…)
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Ready reference collections were originally formed, and still exist, because they perform a valuable function in providing convenient access to information that is frequently used at the reference desk. As library collections have been transformed from print to electronic, some of the materials in these collections also have inevitably been replaced by electronic resources. This article explores the historical roots of ready reference collections and their recent evolution. (more…)
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Members of the public are expected to assume increasing responsibility for their own health and to keep themselves informed about health issues. Here we describe a study of library users’ and staff members’ expectations about the public library’s role in supporting citizens’ “healthwork.” (more…)
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Generation 1.5 students are those who appear fully conversant in American English and culture but are still in the process of learning English when they enter college. This study, based on the findings of a 51-question survey administered to 285 students in a first-year college composition course, examines the effect and role that public libraries have in the success of Generation 1.5 college writers. (more…)
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During the fall of 2004, the Head of Electronic Resources at the College of Mount St. Joseph’s Archbishop Alter Library conducted a survey using a paper-based questionnaire and administered it to several randomly chosen undergraduate courses. The goal of the study was to investigate the college’s undergraduates’ usage and attitudes toward electronic books. (more…)
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A major review of the reference collection in Bowling Green State University’s Jerome Library was made necessary by the decision to incorporate the materials from the reference collection in the science library. The process of planning and implementing this collection review is described, emphasizing how this process has been affected by changes in technology and the demands made by library users. (more…)
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This article considers the teaching role of reference librarians by studying the teachable moment in reference transactions, and users’ response to that instruction. An empirical study of instruction was conducted in both virtual and traditional reference milieus, examining the following three services: Instant messaging (IM), chat, and face-to-face reference. (more…)
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This article describes a content analysis of virtual reference transcripts taken from the NCknows virtual reference service. The analysis sought to determine why librarians consider some questions to be unanswerable at the time they are submitted by users. (more…)
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Graphic novel collection and use has beome a popular topic in the library community; most of the literature has focused on collecting in school and public libraries. The number of academic libraries that carry graphic novels has increased, but those collections and the few articles addressing graphic novels in academic librarianship have focused on serving the recreational reader or the pop culture historian. (more…)
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A content analysis of 298 statements describing books included in the University of Oklahoma Books That Inspire exhibit was conducted to identify the reasons members of the academic community found particular books inspiring. (more…)
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Using a scoring rubric based on RUSA’s “Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers” (RUSA Guidelines), librarians’ performance in 106 chat reference transcripts in which a patron was determined to be acting inappropriately were compared to 90 randomly chosen transcripts from the same time period in which no inappropriate behavior was identified. (more…)
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This paper explores ways in which academic libraries can partner with colleges of education to prepare teachers who can apply research to their practice. (more…)
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Illinois State University’s Milner Library conducted focus groups in the summer and fall of 2007 as part of its user-centered approach to implementing a federated search engine. The feedback supplemented the comments from usability testing conducted in the summer of 2006. The purpose of the focus groups was to learn about students’ use of and satisfaction with the federated search engine and to gather their ideas on how to incorporate it into the library website. (more…)
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Key documents guiding U.S. library service, including Reference and User Service Association (RUSA) guidelines and the American Library Association (ALA) Code of Ethics and Bill of Rights, focus on equitable public library service. (more…)
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This article examines the programmatic and philosophical changes that resulted from a collaboration between a librarian and a composition and rhetoric professor. (more…)
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With decreased funding and personnel reductions in many libraries across the United States, local librarians are searching for innovative methods to create sustainable partnerships in the community. (more…)
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This article examines Microsoft Power-Point use at library conferences. Through a survey of two hundred librarians, the first part explores librarians’ perceptions of PowerPoint use at library instruction conferences. (more…)
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The intellectual life of retired faculty members, whose numbers will skyrocket in the coming years, can be enhanced with adequate library support. This paper provides a descriptive study of the professional activities of emeriti faculty at one large public research university, assessing their needs for continued access to library resources and their knowledge of what library privileges they continue to have in retirement. (more…)
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In 2005, the authors tested the consistency and ease of use of a skill- and strategy-based reference question classification system published by Warner in 2001. Results of that test indicated that the Warner system was a significant improvement over the traditional resource-based system. (more…)
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Most academic libraries have limited budgets for promoting their reference services. Understanding which promotions best reach current and potential patrons is crucial to budgeting funding, as well as time, effectively. This article describes a study that sought to answer three questions (more…)
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Using wiki technology in a credit library course, the authors created an online exhibit for students’ research titled the Digital Archive. The purpose of the Digital Archive is to showcase students’ final projects from the course and to demonstrate research skills developed during the semester. (more…)
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The merger of an academic library with the main branch of a large city’s public library in 2003 required a new method for determining customer–patron transactions. The Warner model, previously reported in RUSQ in 2001, was adopted and used to investigate the possibilities for developing tiered reference, adjusting staffing levels, and improving service in a merged reference unit. (more…)
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Has the move toward online resources had an effect on source material for the study of black feminist theory? The last forty years have witnessed a critical mass of literary and theoretical writings on the black feminist movement. This article evaluates the coverage of writings by a select group of forty “second wave” (1963–75) and pre– “third wave” (1976–90) black feminists in twelve major electronic-literary and women’s-studies indexing and abstracting services. (more…)
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During fiscal year 2006, the University of Connecticut Libraries spent almost two-thirds of its collection budget on electronic resources, making it essential that students, faculty, and staff can find and access these resources without assistance from librarians. To address ease-of-use issues, a cross-functional task team spent a year assessing the libraries’ database locator and worked to create a more functional system. (more…)
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This exploratory study investigated the help-seeking preferences of library users at two large urban universities in Toronto. Reference desk and virtual reference users were compared in terms of their perceptions of the options now available for obtaining reference help. (more…)
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Many library customers’ questions never reach designated service points such as circulation and reference desks. These questions may be addressed to personnel untrained in customer service such as student shelving staff in an academic library. (more…)