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46, no. 4

Onsite Reference and Instruction Services: Setting Up Shop Where Our Patrons Live

Jan 6th, 2008
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A. Ben Wagner and Cynthia Tysick

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Electronic, full-text resources, and on-line forms have become more and more established in most libraries. As a result, foot traffic has decreased significantly, leading to fewer opportunities for personal contact between librarians and patrons. Innovative outreach efforts are required to counter this trend. In the past two years, some University at Buffalo (UB) librarians have set up office hours in the departments they serve to provide onsite reference and instruction services. (more…)

Good for What? Non-appeal, Discussability, and Book Groups (Part 1)

Jan 6th, 2008
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Barry Trott, Editor
Joan Bessman Taylor, Guest Columnist

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Since the publication of Readers’ Advisory Service in the Public Library (Joyce Saricks. ALA Editions: 1989, 1997, 2005) readers’ advisors have used the concept of appeal as a way to connect readers with books. Looking at the elements of a piece of writing–character, language, mood, setting, and story, and what the reader prefers in each area–helps the readers’ advisor to make connections between works that the reader may not have considered, and thus expands the possible choices for that reader. What has been less explored, though, is the concept of working with those elements of a book that the reader did not enjoy. (more…)

Retail Reference or Not? Where Are We Headed?

Jan 6th, 2008
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Diana D. Shonrock, President

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How has reference changed? I came to reference later in my career after attending library school in the late ’80s and early ’90s. At that time, I was still enough of an idealist to think that I would be supplying better reference service when I graduated even though I had already been teaching in a library instruction program for more than twenty years. (more…)

Learning From Leisure Reading: A Study of Adult Public Library Patrons

Jan 6th, 2008
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Jessica E. Moyer

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Using a combination of surveys and interviews, this research project explores the relationship between educational and recreational outcomes of leisure reading, the importance of learning to the leisure reading experience, the role of learning in leisure reading, and the educational outcomes reported by leisure readers. (more…)

The Thank You Study: User Feedback in E-mail Thank You Messages

Jan 5th, 2008
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Lorri Mon and Joseph W. Janes

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This exploratory study of unsolicited thank you messages from e-mail digital reference users analyzed the information provided in these messages for user perspectives on digital reference success, outcomes, and quality elements in answers. Digital reference interactions receiving thank you messages were also compared with nonthanked interactions. (more…)

Cognitive Development: The Missing Link in Teaching Information Literacy Skills

Jan 5th, 2008
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Lori Arp and Beth S. Woodard, Editors
Rebecca Jackson, Guest Columnist

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They’ll do a database search, and they will invariably choose the first five articles in the list. Doesn’t matter if they’re good or bad, relevant or not.

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Ranganathan’s Relevant Rules

Jan 5th, 2008
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Diane Zabel, Editor
Emily Rimland, Guest Columnist

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Some things are timeless: the golden rule, family traditions, and even the more materialistic simple black dress or string of pearls. These classic items are often passed over for a shinier new toy or the latest trend. However, they are timeless because we can always return to and trust them. They ground us. For librarians, Ranganathan’s five laws of library science are timeless objectives that put our profession’s goals in perspective. (more…)

The Thank You Tradition

Jan 5th, 2008
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Diane Zabel

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One of the traditions established by the previous RUSQ editors was to use the editorial in the summer issue to thank all the people who contributed to the production of the journal during the past year. I am continuing that fine tradition, given that I have a multitude of individuals to thank as I complete my first year as editor. To start off, I am certain that I would never have gotten my first issue to press without guidance from Connie Van Fleet and Danny Wallace, my predecessors. (more…)

Outstanding Reference Sources: The 2007 Selection of Recent Titles

Jan 5th, 2008
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RUSA Reference Sources Committee

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The 2007 list of Outstanding Reference Sources for small and medium-sized libraries has been announced by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). The titles, selected by RUSA’s Reference Sources Committee, represent high-quality reference works that are suitable for small to medium-sized libraries. (more…)

An Exploration of the Working Relationship between Systems/IT and Reference/Information Services Staff in an Academic Library Setting

Jan 5th, 2008
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Machine-Assisted Reference Section User Access to Services Committee

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The worlds of information technology (IT) professionals and academic librarians have been on a convergent path for the last twenty years, propelled by technological advances that unite them in their mission. These new relationships have not always worked smoothly as these professionals from very different workplace cultures try to respond to shared problems. (more…)

Riddling The Da Vinci Code

Jan 5th, 2008
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Neal Wyatt, Editor
Terry Beck, Guest Columnist

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A major event in the publishing world, Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code inspired a stream of books reacting to its subjects and presentation. Readers became caught up in the mix of fiction and fact, often confused the two, and looked for nonfiction titles to shed light, support ideas, or further debate. (more…)

Rethinking the Public Workstation

Jan 5th, 2008
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M. Kathleen Kern, Editor
Amy Wallace, Guest Columnist

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When I finished reading Amy Wallace’s manuscript, I knew it needed to be the next Accidental Technologist column. Amy’s experience with users’ constantly changing technology needs will resonate with all frontline librarians. Her library’s response is a readily available but often overlooked technology and her advice will be of great use to libraries in their quest to provide access to a variety of computer peripherals, both cutting-edge and legacy. (more…)