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In an effort to bring RUSA’s ALA Annual Conference programming to RUSQ readers who cannot attend the conference, I invited Marie Radford to write this guest editorial based on her address that was presented as part of the 2008 RUSA President’s Program, “Quality Service in an Impersonal World,” at ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim. However, this article is much more than a reworking of that excellent presentation. This reflective piece synthesizes findings from other recent workshops and conferences focusing on reference and provides a blueprint for reference service excellence. The innovative and practical reference strategies presented here can be easily implemented by academic and public libraries.

Marie holds a PhD from Rutgers University and an MLS from Syracuse University. Prior to joining the faculty at Rutgers University, she was the acting dean at Pratt Institute, School of Information and Library Science in New York City. Previously, she was the head of curriculum materials at William Patterson University of New Jersey, and a school librarian and media specialist at Belvidere (N.J.) High School and Franklin (N.J.) Township School.

Her research interests are evaluation of virtual reference, interpersonal communication aspects of reference, nonverbal communication, and media stereotypes of librarians. Marie’s dynamic presentation style is well known and she has given numerous conference presentations and workshops. She has also published extensively in scholarly library journals and is active in professional organizations, including ALA, RUSA, Association for Library and Information Science Education, and the New Jersey Library Association. She served as program chair for the Reference Renaissance: Current and Future Trends conference held August 4–5, 2008, in Denver. Marie is one of the editors of Virtual Reference Service: From Competencies to Assessment (Neal-Schuman, 2008). Her book, Web Research: Selection, Evaluation, and Citing, was published by Allyn and Bacon (2006) and The Reference Encounter: Interpersonal Communication in the Academic Library by ACRL/ALA (1999). She blogs at Library Garden (http://librarygarden.blogspot.com) and her website is www.sclis.rutgers.edu/~mradford.—Editor

I want to celebrate the rise and revitalization of reference service excellence and to talk with you about the realities and possibilities we face in today’s libraries. I have been involved in reference for twenty years on the front line in school and academic libraries, and as a researcher for an overlapping time of twenty-three years. I have never seen a more exciting time for reference. In fact, I’ve never seen any time that has even come remotely close. So my talk will be in the context of what I believe to be a time of reference renaissance. Why do I feel this way? Let me share some of my reasons.

Over the past year, it has been my privilege to be intensely involved as program chair for the Reference Renaissance: Current and Future Trends conference held August 4–5, 2008, in Denver, co-sponsored by Colorado’s Bibliographic Research Center and RUSA.¹ Presenters of competitive papers, workshops, and panels reported an astonishing array of creative, successful, and groundbreaking reference endeavors from all forms of services and library types—including all modes of Virtual Reference (VR), innovative Face-to-Face (FtF) services, novel phone-based services (including text messaging), pod- and vodcasting, Web 2.0 social networking applications, etc. As a post–Annual Conference 2008 note, I am delighted to report that the Reference Renaissance conference was an incredible success! A total of 508 participants from 42 states, the District of Columbia, and seven countries came together in Denver to share and celebrate everything reference.

The success of the Reference Renaissance conference is just one reason why I don’t believe that VR or FtF reference is in decline. Quite to the contrary, I see, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that rapid and remarkable advances are taking place in a variety of library settings across the United States and beyond. These changes involve the merging and morphing of a large range of reference modes. Groundbreaking experiments in outreach to user communities including on-ground as well as cyberspace communities (such as Facebook, MySpace, and Second Life) are appearing at an accelerating pace.

In a November 2007 Library Journal article, David Isaacson said, “Unfortunately, the 1984 reference model endures in too many libraries today: librarians passively waiting at a desk for people to approach.”² Now this scenario may be all too true for some libraries, but a growing number of exciting outreach initiatives are appearing that are breaking new ground in brick and click environments. At Penn State University Libraries, I helped facilitate a two-day reference retreat in August 2007 and learned about a range of new enterprises this forward-looking group of professionals is undertaking to forge stronger connections with their students. I learned about Billie Walker, the “Library Dude,” whose reference outreach is described on the Penn State website:

The ASK cart (actual hotdog cart) is a mobile library service offered by the Thun Library to provide reference assistance. Designed as a simple, effective and fun approach to faculty and student outreach, the Library Dude aka Billie Walker and other librarians offer on-the-spot information and/or reference assistance outdoors. Equipped with wireless laptop and various goodies (highlighters, candy, etc.) the librarians at Berks are increasing visibility and awareness of reference service (one-on-one consultations, specialized databases, etc.) and library resources (podcast, bestsellers, etc). So when you see the ASK cart please give a shout-out to the Library Dude!³

I’ve been told that students now come in to the library and specifically ask for the “Library Dude” when they have reference questions.

Another sign that there is heightened interest in the scholarship and practice of reference is that “Reference in Digital Environments” was one of the two themes for Libraries in the Digital Age (LIDA) conference in Croatia, June 2–8, 2008.⁴ As chair of that half of the LIDA program, I was impressed by the number of creative approaches to reference I heard about, in both digital and on-ground environments. For example, Scott Vine and Pamela Snelson of Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, presented a paper highlighting outreach activities at their small, private institution.⁵ They spoke about their practice of making “House Calls” to faculty offices and other buildings on campus. A team of librarians let the departments know when they are coming, and now offer coupons for free coffee for those with substantial reference questions that are asked on the visits. This service started slowly, but now business is growing and faculty and staff eagerly await the “House Calls” and have meaty questions to ask and concerns to share.

Also at LIDA I had the pleasure of meeting James Malloy of University College Dublin (UCD). He told me of a fun way that the UCD library is involving students and faculty in their library blog. They have designed a cloth library bookbag that sells for a pittance (£2) and have invited students to take photos of the bookbag in exotic places and post them on the blog! Students have responded enthusiastically and artistically in posting shots that display the bookbag all over the world. What a great idea for drawing students to the library blog!⁶

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Close to fifteen years ago some very bright people in RUSA decided to create a space where the most significant reference research of the year could be shared with RUSA members and other ALA Annual Conference attendees. The Reference Research Forum, sponsored by the RSS Research and Statistics committee, highlights three research projects and informs the community of cutting edge and vital considerations in the field.

Over the past fourteen-plus years, the forum has stood as an example of the best of RUSA. It was innovative and allowed to happen—we are really good at trying new ideas. It was focused on front-line staff—we are all about the work that happens at the desk with the user. And it was collaborative—we are big on bringing people together.

We have a long history of doing good, and our past inspires our future. Long before the Reference Research Forum was conceived, RUSA established such venerated institutions as the Dartmouth Medal, the Notable Books List, and the Isadore Gilbert Mudge Award. All three groups select the best of our profession—the best reference book of the year; the most notable fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for adults; and the librarian who has best embodied our ideals. If RUSA’s achievements stopped at the creation of the Reference Research Forum, Notable Books, Dartmouth, and Mudge committees, we would have much to be proud of in our history. But RUSA has done a great deal more and is solidly focused on a future full of possibility.

RUSA’s guiding principle is its focus on the user, and much of our work is designed to help librarians working on the front desk or managing a department. We have national guidelines that inform professional practice, help us set benchmarks and local policy, and develop internal training and standards. Just recently, RUSA revised its definition of reference—a definition long recognized as a core document of the profession—and our guidelines on virtual reference (VR) have been used as part of the foundations of a new book on offering VR in your library. Virtual Reference Best Practices: Tailoring Services to Your Library by M. Kathleen Kern (ALA Editions, 2008) illustrates how RUSA’s guidelines can be used to shape local policy and guide implementation. If you have never spent time looking through the guidelines RUSA offers, take some time to do so. You will find the best thinking of our profession, sharply honed to help address any number of issues.

Looking toward the future, RUSA has many projects underway that will help us figure out what is next. MARS, the Machine-Assisted Reference Section of RUSA, debuted the MARS Virtual Poster Session, a project run by the MARS Management of Electronic Resources and Services Committee, at ALA Annual Conference 2008. The sessions all focused on using evaluation data to change and improve virtual reference. In future years the poster sessions will examine other hot topics in the field.

Hot off the presses, as it were, RUSA founded a juried book list that selects the best single book in eight different genres. The Reading List marks the first time ALA has focused its collective experience and attention on genre literature. The list is designed to help readers’ advisory (RA) and collection development librarians working with patrons and building collections. With one list published and the second to be announced at ALA Midwinter Meeting 2009, The Reading List is already regarded as a new standard in RA circles.

Another RA innovation that focuses on the future of our profession is the Readers’ Advisory Research and Trends Forum. The forum will focus attention on current RA needs, interests, concerns, directions, and possibilities, and address these issues in a collaborative conversation. The goal of the forum is to express the cutting-edge voice of RA; to be a place where ideas, best practices, and creative possibilities are actively engaged and deconstructed; to contribute to the advancement of RA service; to serve our patrons better; and to build and support the RA community.

Just recently formalized, RUSA, with the generous support of Harper Perennial, has started a new travel grant in honor of Zora Neale Hurston. Librarians working in any number of ways to raise awareness of and promote African American literature can apply for the grant, which not only includes funds to travel to ALA Annual Conference but tickets to the Literary Tastes Breakfast, the FOLUSA Tea, and copies of all the Zora Neale Hurston books published by Harper Perennial at the time of the award.

There is a lot more to discover about RUSA and an open invitation to everyone to get involved. I don’t suppose the creators of Notable Books or the Mudge award ever thought that their ideas would become enduring legacies of the profession, but they have.

It is my hope, fifteen years from now, that RUSA will celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the Reference Research Forum and the seventy-ninth, sixty-fifth, and forty-ninth anniversaries, respectively, of the Notable Books Council, the Isadore Gilbert Mudge Award, and the Dartmouth Medal. Those celebrations will be augmented by the fifteenth anniversaries of the MARS Virtual Poster Sessions (by then transformed through the very innovation they celebrate today), the Reading List, the Readers’ Advisory Research and Trends Forum, and the Zora Neale Hurston award, and I am certain that all of them will have contributed to the profession in ways we can only begin to imagine today.

I also hope, whether you are one year from retirement or just starting library school, that you will actively join in the creation of the future of RUSA and contribute to its enduring legacy by adding your voice and talents to our history. RUSA is an open door to innovation, discovery, and possibility—and we are just waiting for your next great idea to move us forward.

Neal Wyatt, 2008–09 President of the Reference and User Services Association, is a collection development and readers’ advisory librarian from Virginia. She wrote The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Nonfiction (ALA Editions, 2007), is an editor of Library Journal’s “Reader’s Shelf” column, and compiles LJ’s weekly “Wyatt’s World Lists”; e-mail: rusa@ala.org.

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In May 2008 I spent a month working at the Shanghai Library as part of a work exchange. A month is a long time to be gone from work and home, but a short time to become acquainted with a library as large as the Shanghai Library. In this column I will share a few of my thoughts on my experience. Some of my observations are about technology, some on other aspects of the library, and some are more cultural reflection. I hope that you will enjoy this persion from the regular Accidental Technologist topics.

Overview of Shanghai and the Shanghai Library

Shanghai is located in the center of the Pacific Chinese coast. It is a major trade and financial center with a population of more than 13 million people. Construction is rampant, with the entire area east of the Huangpu river (Pudong) new since 1993. The Shanghai Library and Institute of Scientific and Technological Information of Shanghai is one of the ten largest libraries in the world and the second largest library in China. It houses more than 50 million items and serves 9 million users a year. In likening it to a U.S. library, it seems close to the New York Public Research Libraries, except with a circulating collection. The 1996 merger with the Institute of Scientific and Technological Information of Shanghai brought scientific and industry research assistance into the purview of the Shanghai Library.

Within the Shanghai Central Libraries network are fifty-four district and community public libraries. While the district and community libraries are public, they are administratively separate from the main Shanghai Library, with separate funding and governance. The network started in 2000 and aims to increase cooperation and provide a “one-card-through” service to library patrons that can be used at all of the Shanghai public libraries.

My time at the Shanghai Library was pided between several departments. My first two weeks were primarily with the Friendship Library in the foreign documents pision, where I offered English-language reference assistance and learned about the library. (I also spent some time adjusting to the time zone and figuring out living on my own in a large city where I spoke none of the language. The head librarian in that unit was very helpful.) Next I spent about a week with the interlibrary lending, document delivery, and document supply center. The last week contained some time with acquisitions and cataloging, tours of two branch libraries, and the digitization and preservation units, and presenting a lecture on my final day. Somewhere in the twenty-five days I visited Nanjing and Suzhou, spent three days buying books, learned to use the subway, and spent hours walking miles through the city.

Shanghai is a very safe city. I’ve heard that most of China is this way, but I felt like I was in a particularly safe place. My lodging was at a hotel immediately behind the library, and there were guards by the hotel and by the library. It was also a block from the U.S. Embassy, which had Chinese Army guards stationed outside. Shanghai was also easy to navigate, since the street signs are in both Chinese characters and the Romanized Pinyin. The subway stops are labeled in Mandarin and English. The total of my knowledge of Mandarin consists of “hello,” “thank you,” and “good,” but people under about twenty-five years of age have been required to study a second language starting at age 10, and most choose English.

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Building the New, Celebrating the Old

I traveled to three cities while in China. In all three places I saw significant new cultural institutions. Nanjing and Shanghai both have magnificent new libraries, and Suzhou has a museum designed by renowned architect I. M. Pei. There are numerous other new cultural institutions in Shanghai as well. The historical, cultural, and economical antecedents to this recent proliferation of cultural institutions are complex. As a casual traveler, however, my impression was of a city (indeed a nation) exerting its identity and pride.

Embodied in the buildings of the Shanghai and Nanjing libraries were the themes of history and modernity. Modernity was often mentioned by the staff of the library. It was also echoed by my guide in Nanjing when she showed me her city’s library. Modernity was something that the librarians wanted to bring to my attention, but would have been evident without comment. The automated book-delivery trolley in Shanghai, the array of computers in the lobby in Nanjing, and the very architecture of both buildings impress the visitor as state-of-the-art upon sight.

At the same time, history is highlighted in both buildings as well. The Nanjing Library is built over part of the old city road, and through a glass floor in the basement one can see and walk over the tracks left hundreds of years ago by wagons. The Shanghai Library has a room devoted to genealogies, with several ancient volumes on permanent display. Next to that is a room where the public can view the restoration process for ancient documents. The Shanghai Library also has an interior courtyard evoking traditional Chinese gardens.

This “forward to the future” mentality is also present in the Expo Reading Room. Shanghai will host the 2010 World Expo. There is a reading room that houses a historical collection of World’s Fair and Expo books, maps, brochures, and memorabilia as well as contemporary publications to help Expo planners and researchers. The Expo is very big in Shanghai and tied to city pride with the motto of “Better City, Better Life.” The library is part of this planning and one of the buildings being built for the Expo will eventually be a district public library.

For-fee Services

The Shanghai Library has a staggering array of services available, many targeted to business and industry. Most of these I did not witness first-hand. With only a month in Shanghai and less than twenty days in the library, there was a lot that I did not see. I did participate in one of the library’s research services—housed in the document delivery department—which provided in-depth research, particularly for more science-focused industry. As I currently work at an academic library where the model is to provide instruction in the use of resources, the opportunity to sink myself into a market analysis was a trip back in time to when I worked for a management consulting firm.

Other for-fee services are as far-ranging as document translation, book restoration, rare book valuation, and current-events clipping services. There is a list of services on the left-hand menu of the services page of the English-language version of the Shanghai Library website. Some of these services, such as the online reference service, are free. Others carry a fee, although fees are not listed on the English version of the website.

For-fee service is a fraught issue in the United States and has been the cause of debate among librarians. There are the ethical questions of what we can charge for as publicly funded institutions and if it is counter to the concept of free access to information. We may have fewer qualms when it comes to chargeback for in-depth research for business, but then we find ourselves in a legal environment where we must pay close attention to our database licensing agreements.

The Shanghai Library is very entrepreneurial, using the wide array of librarian expertise to offer services for businesses and inpiduals with needs outside of reading and basic research. Certainly there is a different service philosophy, as well as a different legal environment, that underlies this service model. Even at the level of library cards and readers’ access there is a stratified system with four levels of fees.

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The role and powers of the president have come under increasing scrutiny since the tragic events of September 11. While the current political debate is focused on the unilateral actions of the office of the president since the terrorist attack, interest in the ways presidents use and manage the power of their position have been a subject of concern since George Washington. Amalia Monroe explores the history and methods of presidential power in this highly useful guide. While the guide is designed for college-level research, there are many suggestions for public libraries and a selection that would serve the needs of high school students as well. Monroe is a social sciences librarian at the University of Kansas, where she works as the bibliographer for political science and international documents. In addition to receiving her MLS from Indiana University, Monroe has a BS and MS in political science from Illinois State University.—Editor

American presidential power has long been an area of interest in the social sciences and receives increasing attention from researchers and the mass media. This popularity has resulted in an abundance of research materials on the topic. The problem, however, is that these materials can be very difficult to locate, as they are scattered across several disciplines (e.g., political science, history, and sociology) and are published in a variety of sources that are not always well indexed by databases and online catalogs (e.g., articles in reference sources and chapters in books). Locating research materials on American presidential power can also be difficult because it is often subsumed in sources covering the presidency as a whole. Even bibliographies, which could help to identify resources in this area, are scarce and dated. The goal of this guide is to fill this gap by listing and describing core resources addressing American presidential power as well as resources that librarians can use to evaluate or update their existing collections. The guide includes some of the most important reference sources, biographical sources, books, periodicals, journal articles, databases, government information resources, and Internet resources on the topic.

Reference Sources

Genovese, Michael A., ed. Encyclopedia of the American Presidency. New York: Facts on File, 2004 (ISBN: 978-0-8160-4699-7).
Arranged alphabetically by topic, this encyclopedia includes entries addressing the operations and the institution of the presidency and individual administrations. Relevant articles include “War Powers,” “Presidency, Theories of,” and “Separation of Powers.” Each entry is brief but concise, explaining key concepts related to the presidency. The title is out of print but remains an essential reference source and should be retained in all collections.

Israel, Fred L. Presidential Documents: The Speeches, Proclamations, and Policies That Have Shaped the Nation from Washington to Clinton. New York: Routledge, 2000 (ISBN: 978-0-415-92037-7).
Guide to significant presidential sources from important events in the American presidency. Sources include speeches, proclamations, and executive orders. This is a selective source; however, each entry is followed by a discussion explaining its significance. These sources are useful for understanding the actions of presidents.

Nelson, Michael. Guide to the Presidency. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ Pr., 2007 (ISBN: 978-0-87289-364-1).
Two volumes covering all aspects of the American presidency. It is divided into eight parts. In the third part, “Powers of the Presidency,” the authors divide different sources and expressions of presidential power into seven detailed and exhaustive chapters. These include “Unilateral Powers of the Presidency,” “Legislative Leader,” and “Commander in Chief.” Each ends with notes and selected bibliographies. Cross-referencing is also provided, which demonstrates the relationship between discussions of presidential power.

Nelson, Michael, ed. The Presidency A to Z. 4th ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ Pr., 2007 (ISBN: 978-0-87289-367-2).
Addresses presidential power in different sections: bureaucracy, veto power, and separation of powers. This is a good source for beginning researchers because of the easy-to-understand writing style and the additional reading lists at the end of every section. Cross-referencing is also provided at the beginning of some sections.

Nelson, Michael, ed. Powers of the Presidency. 3rd ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ Pr., 2008 (ISBN: 978-0-87289-958-2).
Powers of the executive branch are broken down into several sections, including “Unilateral Powers of the Presidency,” “Chief of State,” “Legislative Leader,” “Chief Diplomat,” “Commander in Chief,” and “Chief Economist.” This book is a good source for understanding the formal and informal powers of the executive from historical, constitutional, and current perspectives.

Sisung, Kelle S. and Gerda-Anne Raffaelle, eds. Presidential Administrations Profiles for Students. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999 (ISBN: 978-0-7876-3911-2).
Reference work intended for students, undergraduate students, and teachers. It is arranged chronologically by administration (Washington to Clinton). Each profile contains a biographical section and an administration section. At the end of each profile a bibliography and list of suggested readings is provided. Though intended for lower-level students, this source provides important information on each administration and is an easy to use and understand reference source for beginning researchers.

Wettreau, Bruce W. “Chief Executive” and “Commander in Chief.” Congressional Quarterly’s Desk Reference on the Presidency. Washington, D.C.: CQ Pr., 2000 (ISBN: 978-1-56802-589-6).
Wettreau addresses commonly asked questions about the powers and functioning of the executive office in a clear and concise manner (e.g., Who declares war, the president or Congress? What is an executive order?). These articles provide a starting point for researching presidential power and will help in understanding the many different subsections of the topic.

Woll, Peter. “Executive Power.” In Encyclopedia of the American Presidency, ed. Leonard W. Levy and Louis Fisher, 587–93. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994 (ISBN: 978-0-13-276197-0).
Effectively summarizes the growth of presidential power in the twentieth century. Sections addressing the different powers of the president are also included. Woll further explains the most influential perspectives on presidential power put forth by experts such as Edwin Corwin, Richard Neustadt, and Arthur Schlesinger. The title is out of print; however, it should be retained by libraries because of its continued usefulness.

Books

Included are classic works as well as more recent publications. Recently published books specifically addressing American presidential powers post–September 11 are listed because they represent a shift in the academic literature.

Crenson, Matthew A., and Benjamin Ginsberg. Presidential Power: Unchecked and Unbalanced. New York: Norton, 2007 (ISBN: 978-0-393-06488-9).
Discusses the expansion of the presidency. The authors frame their argument of the expanded executive branch in relation to the decline of “popular political engagement” among the general public of the United States. It considers the motives and opportunities utilized by the executive that has led to the “aggrandizement” of the American presidency. This is a useful source for current analysis of presidential power.

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This column addresses the impact of recent changes to APA style citation on the academic community, which widely uses this style to document its research. The author notes that these changes, especially the wholesale adoption of Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) for citing electronic journal articles, have caused frustration and confusion for users of APA style, and the problem is likely to worsen as more students and faculty realize what the new changes entail. The column also touches on the problems these changes will create for citation software and online bibliographic management tools like RefWorks, EndNote, and Zotero. Lewis concludes that the American Psychological Association needs to recognize the problems its new changes are causing and institute an interim measure for the millions who use APA style on a daily basis to document their research.—Editor

A common question at academic library reference desks is how to properly cite a source in a specific citation style. Because students and faculty may use a variety of citation styles, libraries often keep copies of the most current versions of major citation styles at the reference desk. While librarians are not necessarily experts on all styles, they will usually be familiar with the styles most used at their institutions. If institutions offer subscription citation tools like RefWorks or EndNote, reference desk librarians will also receive numerous questions pertaining to the use of these tools and their rendering of particular citation styles. Not surprisingly, it is often reference librarians who teach classes or workshops on citation styles and citation tools at institutions of higher learning. Thus academic reference librarians are among the first to deal with the impact of citation style updates. A perfect example involves recent changes to APA style, which is widely used today by many disciplines in the academic community.

In June 2007, the American Psychological Association (APA) released an update to its citation style titled APA Style Guide to Electronic References. This twenty-four page pamphlet, available for purchase as a PDF from the APA website, does not replace the fifth-edition (2001) manual, but rather revises and updates that section of the manual dealing with electronic resources. Because APA has not released a new edition of its manual and because this electronic addendum has restricted access even when purchased (e.g., libraries must purchase site licenses to post the electronic version and limit access to authenticating users), users of APA style have been slow to realize the changes and their ramifications. In addition, although the update addresses many new types of electronic content and technologies, the wording of the publication itself is at times ambiguous, confusing, and difficult for users to interpret.

APA’s most significant change to citing electronic resources is the application of the Digital Object Identifier (DOI). A DOI is a unique alphanumeric code that identifies a specific article or document and provides a persistent link to its location on the Internet. The intent of the DOI is to provide a consistent way for users to find articles and documents on an ever-changing Internet. In a very forward-looking move, APA made the inclusion of DOIs in citations the method of choice when citing scholarly journal articles accessed online. Now, instead of adding a retrieval date and URL or retrieval date and database name when citing journal articles accessed electronically, users are directed to include the DOI assigned to that article by an approved registration agency (see figure 1).

While this change makes sense conceptually, in practice its implementation seems a bit premature. DOIs may well be the wave of the future, but right now not all articles have DOIs. Furthermore, many research databases do not yet include DOIs in their records or articles. At the same time, as many academic librarians will tell you, students at the college and university level currently access the majority of the journal articles used in their research papers from the myriad subscription research databases available through their institutional libraries. Therefore the most common form of journal article citation at the college and university level is that of the journal article retrieved from a research database. The recent changes to APA style, however, now make this a confusing and difficult source to cite.

Subscription research databases enable students to search for information on their topics and find full-text articles electronically from a wide range of publications. They allow faster, more efficient searching and the reassurance that students are searching authoritative sources. When citing these sources, students want a quick, efficient way to glean the information needed for whichever citation style they might be using. They certainly want all of the required information to be readily available in the databases they are using. What if they do not see a DOI for a journal article they want to cite? This is currently a very common dilemma, and herein lies much of the problem with APA’s change in electronic citation style.

Some research databases, like PsycINFO and PsycARTICLES (both sponsored by the American Psychological Association), do a great job of including DOIs, and citing articles from these sources is simple. Many other research databases, however, do not—or at least have not yet—embraced this new technology. APA realizes this and offers the following solution: If one does not find a DOI for a journal article in a research database, one should then search for an article’s DOI by going to the CrossRef.org website and using its “free DOI lookup.”¹

If one goes to CrossRef.org and finds that no DOI has been assigned to a particular article (currently a very real and distinct possibility), one should then “give the exact URL (if the content is open-access) or the URL of the journal home page (if the content is accessible by subscription).”² Needless to say, this explanation has left many a student, faculty member, researcher, and librarian scratching their heads. These additional, external steps are making databases, the primary research tool at the college and university level, harder, not easier, to use, if one wants to cite one’s sources properly in APA style. What happened to simply citing the name of the database itself in one’s retrieval statement, which was what the fifth edition of the APA manual specifically prescribed?³

APA states, however, that one should no longer include the name of a database in a retrieval statement for a journal article. Instead, if unable to locate a DOI for an article (either by finding it in the article itself, in the database record, or via CrossRef.org), one should then go searching further on the Web for an appropriate URL. The APA Style Expert confirmed this cumbersome procedure in response to an e-mail query: “Please note that if the article is open access, the exact URL of the article (not the database home page URL) should be provided. If the content is accessible by subscription, the URL of the journal home page should be provided.”⁴

The new APA style guide does not address what to do when neither an article URL nor a journal home page is available for an article lacking a DOI. The fact remains that researchers today will find such articles in many research databases. How then should they properly cite these articles in APA style? Would it not make sense to cite the name of the database, at least when no DOI is readily available?

While the APA style was developed specifically for articles published in American Psychological Association journals and publications, APA style is widely used today by students and researchers in many different disciplines. At my university alone, our schools of nursing, business, and education all use APA style, as do many of the departments in the social sciences and health sciences. Many students coming to the university have never heard of APA style before, and if familiar with any citation style, it is usually Modern Language Association (MLA). Now not only will librarians and faculty be teaching their students a new style that is quirky and detail-oriented, they will also be telling them to search for DOIs, article URLs, and journal homepage URLs to cite articles accessed in research databases. This process seems very untenable indeed, especially for undergraduates.

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For the past quarter century, we have seen a revitalization of readers’ advisory (RA) services in the public libraries in the United States. The 1980s saw three major events that re-established the value of working with readers: the publication of the first edition of Genreflecting under the editorship of Betty Rosenberg (1982); the establishment of the Chicago-area Adult Reading Roundtable (ARRT) (1984); and the publication of the first edition of Readers’ Advisory Service in the Public Library by Joyce Saricks and Nancy Brown (1989). Although not the only markers for the RA renaissance, each of these three events defined a crucial segment of RA practice. Rosenberg’s book was the first RA tool that examined the intricacies of genre fiction. Many more books would follow this pattern. The establishment of ARRT brought like-minded readers’ advisors together to talk about their work, both the theory and, particularly, the practice of connecting readers to books. The success of ARRT has generated a multitude of other reading-centered groups across the country, fostering a spirit of professional inquiry that has enabled readers’ services to grow in scope and magnitude. Saricks and Brown developed and promulgated the concept of using appeal to make connections between authors and titles. The idea of appeal has been at the center of RA practice ever since and continues to be applied and shaped in new ways.

After twenty-five years it is, perhaps, a time to look at what the challenges might be for readers’ advisors in the next quarter century. In his book The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action, Donald Schon notes that a reflective practitioner allows himself to experience surprise, puzzlement, or confusion in a situation which he finds uncertain or unique. He reflects on the phenomenon before him, and on the prior understandings which have been implicit in his behaviour. He carries out an experiment which serves to generate both a new understanding of the phenomenon and a change in the situation. …When someone reflects-in-action, he becomes a researcher in the practice context.¹

As we look toward the future of readers’ advisory with the goal of becoming reflective practitioners, there are numerous areas that offer us both challenges and opportunities to expand our practice into new areas and to do so in a thoughtful way, responding to new opportunities by considering past practice and applying the lessons learned there to our future practice. Doing so will certainly assure us of the continued success of readers’ advisory services.

The following pages describe some of the potential challenges and opportunities that exist for readers’ advisors in all types of libraries. Some of the items discussed are already being addressed by librarians and libraries in various ways, others less so. In all cases the intent here is to offer these items as a stimulus to further conversation and debate among readers’ advisors. For it is in this sort of professional discourse that new paths can be forged that will keep RA work vital. It is hoped that future entries in this column can examine some of these topics more deeply and make recommendations on directions for the profession. Readers who might be interested in taking on the challenge of writing about any of these topics are encouraged to contact the column editor.

Format-based Readers’ Advisory

The initial focus in the late-twentieth century readers’ advisory renaissance was on fiction reading, and in particular on genre fiction. Next, readers’ advisors began to look at ways to apply the concepts of appeal and the practices developed for working with fiction readers to working with readers of narrative nonfiction. In the past couple of years, RA practitioners have started to consider how to apply these same skills to working with audiobook listeners. In addition to the concerns of story, setting, mood, language, and character, audiobook advisory requires a knowledge and sensitivity to things such as the narrative voice, reading style, where the auditor plans to listen to the recording, and what sort of media format the auditor needs and desires. These new ways of thinking about audiobooks also can apply to working with users interested in help finding music and films. Advisory for films and music will require advisors to take their current knowledge and apply it in new ways, but will also require a reshaping of practice as well. Some questions that could be considered in film and music advisory: How well do the concepts of appeal apply in an aural (but not narrative) or visual world? Does the shorter time investment in a film or music CD mean that the patron has less interest in getting assistance in locating similar works? What sort of tools would be useful for working with viewers and listeners, and do they already exist?

Where is Genre Going?

One of the most challenging aspects of readers’ advisory service is maintaining and building knowledge of genres. Readers’ advisors have long used genre as a means of sorting out and defining a set of precepts that describe a certain style of writing. Knowledge of the appeals of these precepts both within and across genres allows advisors to make better suggestions when working with readers. While the fundamental genres—crime, romance, historical, western, fantasy, and science fiction—all are still important to both readers and to readers’ advisors, the concept of genre is becoming increasingly complex. Writers such as Cormac McCarthy, Mary Doria Russell, Michael Chabon, Audrey Niffenegger, and many others have, as Chabon says, built their “literary house[s] on the borderlands.”² These writers all use elements usually associated with genre fiction in what otherwise would be considered “literary fiction.” The success of titles such Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife (which uses a very literary style to explore the consequences of time travel on a relationship) or Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (with its postapocalyptic setting) have exposed many readers to elements of genres they would not necessarily have tried otherwise. As genre definitions become increasingly blurry, readers’ advisors may be less able to rely on genre as a defining tool in the practice. At the same time, new genres or reading interests are continually developing. Think about the explosion of the “chick-lit” novels in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, or the huge reader interest in what is variously defined as “street-lit” or “urban fiction.” Keeping up with the interests of the reading community has never been more complex or more challenging, and it is likely to continue to be so. The need for good reviews of these materials and of other writing that explores Chabon’s “borderlands” is essential to the ability of the advisor to develop an understanding of these areas and to make useful suggestions to readers. The readers’ advisor of the future must have a willingness to venture into these less-known areas of the reading world and to come back not only alive but also with an appreciation for what readers in these areas enjoy.

RA for Non-English Speakers

As many libraries across the country are finding, the demand for reading, listening, and viewing materials in languages other than English is growing rapidly. Sometimes this interest may reflect the needs of a single group in the community, but, especially in larger urban areas, there may be a variety of non-English speaking communities looking for materials in their libraries. The Queens Public Library in Flushing, New York, collects materials in over forty languages.³ At the Arlington (Va.) Public Library outside of Washington D.C., the adult collection includes materials in ten languages, including Vietnamese, supish, and Chinese.⁴ Increasing demand for foreign language materials places demands on library budgets and selectors, but the challenges raised here are equally important to readers’ advisors. Here we have a segment of the community who are often avid library users, but in many cases we are not able to provide these readers with the same level of service that we can provide our other readers. An obvious challenge faced by advisors here is the ability to discuss the reader’s interests in their own language. Tied to this is the difficulty of locating reviews and synopses of foreign language titles in order to be able to make recommendations. Pat Alter, adult collection development librarian at Arlington Public Library, notes that foreign language periodicals can be a good way to provide non-English readers with materials that meet their reading interests.⁵ Providing reading lists and other readers’ advisory materials in languages other than English may be a way to serve this segment of the reading community. Libraries who are looking at offering readers’ advisory services to non-English speaking readers must also consider whether these readers are more interested in original materials in their language of choice or in translations of materials originally in English into another language. Again, Alter notes that at Arlington Public Library most readers of non-English language materials are looking for original materials, not translations.

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After many discussions and intense scrutiny, the working group of the BRASS Business Reference Sources Committee selected ten recent works as either “outstanding” or “other noteworthy titles.” Out of numerous print and electronic titles under consideration, only these ten fit the established criteria and guidelines. All the works were published after May 2007. All have useful content that make them appropriate selections for medium to large-sized academic and public libraries.

Two of the titles, one on marketing and one on business ethics, were designated “outstanding.” Seven other titles were placed into the other noteworthy titles category. These seven works cover a wide variety of subjects including economics, corporate social responsibility, product and industry reports, management consulting, information technology, and advertising. Brief reviews are included.

Outstanding Titles

The Advanced Dictionary of Marketing: Putting Theory to Use. By Scott Dacko. New York: Oxford Univ. Pr., 2008. 601p. $59.95 (ISBN: 978-0199286003).

The Advanced Dictionary of Marketing is an excellent example of how thoughtful, purposeful organization can increase the amount of information available to the user. The author has created two very helpful thematic indexes at the beginning of the volume. First, the “Table of Applications” allows the researcher to find any term listed in the book and instantly see what subsection of the discipline it falls into. The table also allows the user to scan for concepts associated with one segment simply by running a finger down the column. The segments are marketing strategy, marketing management, consumer behavior, marketing research, marketing modeling, services marketing, retail marketing, online marketing, business-to-business marketing, international marketing, and “other application areas” for the smaller segments. For example, the table shows that “expectancy theory” is used in marketing management, services marketing, and online marketing. The other index is “Searching for Marketing Terms Using Key Words,” which allows the user to find the correct marketing term for a common keyword. By placing both of these indexes at the beginning of the volume, the user is spared a hunt through the dictionary for terms that may not be there or for concepts that don’t apply to the problem.

Each entry in the dictionary is separated into six sections: description, key insights, key words, implications, application areas and further readings, and bibliography. The description is the definition itself; the key insights place the term in a wider context. The implications section illustrates how a term might be used by marketers. The application areas refer the researcher to journal articles or books that detail how the concept would be put to practical use. Finally, the bibliography lists the citations for the definition and discussion of each term. Sources are arranged by order of importance to the discussion rather than alphabetically, thus once again conveying information by organization.

Finally, there is an appendix, “Classification of Key Terms.” All the dictionary’s entries are categorized into one of four areas: law, theory, concept, or effect. The author explains the use of these categories in the introduction, but essentially this classification allows the researcher to see the hierarchy of terms within the discipline of marketing.

This volume is very valuable as a reference source because it gives clear, succinct information about the major concepts, theories, laws, and effects of marketing. It will remain useful as a researcher progresses from novice to expert. However, the value is not limited to researchers because professionals can use the implications section to determine potential practical uses of the concept. The choice between hardback and paperback pricing makes this work affordable for any library. The Advanced Dictionary of Marketing: Putting Theory to Use is highly recommended for every business reference collection.—Diane Campbell, Rider University, Lawrence, New Jersey

Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society. Ed. by Robert W. Kolb. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage, 2008. 5 vols. $795 (ISBN 978-1412916523).

Ethics has always been an important issue in business. However, due to the corporate scandals at Enron and WorldCom and the subsequent passing of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, there has been a resurgence of research interest in business ethics. This encyclopedia reflects this current research interest and emphasizes ethics in strategic management, corporate governance, and organizational culture.

The encyclopedia is an authoritative work compiled by Robert W. Kolb, a prolific writer and a professor for nearly thirty years. Kolb and an editorial board of thirty renowned business scholars invited three hundred scholars and business experts from around the world to write entries in this encyclopedia.

The encyclopedia consists of five volumes and includes nine hundred entries. The entries are arranged in alphabetical order and range from five hundred to eleven thousand words, depending on the topic. Brief essays introduce important personages and organizations; longer essays are written on important terms. Volume 5 also includes an appendix of business ethics periodicals as well as a comprehensive index with cross-references.

The Encyclopedia is available in print or electronic format. The electronic version is available both through Sage eReference and Gale Virtual Reference Library. The electronic version offers access to the eTable of Contents, the eBook Index, and the list of illustrations. In the eTable of Contents, users can either choose a volume or browse a specific part of the encyclopedia starting from the title page. Also available for browsing is the Reader’s Guide, which divides the encyclopedia into twenty-three broad thematic groups. Finally, the eBook Index includes an A–Z browsing section and a simple search box.

The Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society compiles extensive amounts of current business ethics literature into one place. Two criticisms of the online version are that the graphics and charts are not downloadable and that the Reader’s Guide section does not include hyperlinks to the individual entries. But this encyclopedia is an excellent, authoritative background resource for business ethics that is easy to use. The encyclopedia serves as a research tool for business students and provides a good introduction to basic ideas and concepts in business ethics. The information contained in this encyclopedia could lead to a better understanding of the connections between business, ethics, and society. Public and school libraries can also benefit from this work as both students and business owners search for information on this popular topic.—Leticia Camacho, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

Other Noteworthy Titles

The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Complete Reference Guide to Concepts, Codes and Organisations. By Wayne Visser et al. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley, 2008. 535p. $120 (ISBN 978-0470723951).

The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility is the first complete reference on corporate social responsibility (CSR) to be published. The contributors, a mix of academics and practitioners from around the globe, provide a comprehensive and timely resource for anybody interested in CSR. This standard reference was compiled to help managers, consultants, teachers, students, volunteers, and researchers navigate through the terms, codes, and organizations associated with CSR.

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Volunteers have had a major impact on libraries throughout U.S. history. The rapid changes in the information world of the last decade serve as a catalyst for evaluation of library programs including those for volunteers. This article offers a brief history of volunteers in libraries and discusses some of the advantages and disadvantages of instituting a volunteer program as well as implications based on library implementation of new computer technologies. The authors argue that a robust volunteer program will help a library in developing a consultation model of communication, thus providing more effective public services.

The library belongs to our community and everyone in it. The chance for people to contribute their time and interest as volunteers is a way the library acknowledges that this is the community’s library.”¹ Volunteers have experienced a long and fruitful tenure serving American libraries. Their roles and responsibilities have been as diverse as the volunteers themselves. As society continues to experience an information revolution, it is important to reevaluate the role of volunteers in libraries. Libraries must reassess whether it is advantageous to incorporate volunteer programs at all and address issues such as volunteer demographics, motivation, management, work tasks, and reward and recognition. Two things are central in this process: the commitment to synchronizing the volunteer program philosophy with the overarching library mission, and grounding volunteer program structure in solid information and library science theory. Existing technological changes and forecasts for the future must both be taken in account as libraries make judgments about volunteer program structure. As the information services world continues to move toward practice based on users’ needs and the importance of community networking, society will see libraries incorporating more vibrant and expansive volunteer programs.

The History of Volunteers in Libraries

Volunteer efforts are often characterized as the historical cornerstone of library advancement.² Prior to the 1930s, volunteers provided many lending services, especially to homesteaders in the west. Starting nationwide in the 1930s, professional staff coordinated services but volunteers widely operated libraries, and in every community there were many people interested enough in the library movement to devote a considerable amount of their personal time and effort.³

The 1970s marked the union movement in libraries. In the early union movements the main issues of conflict were salary, fringe benefits, grievance procedures, and working conditions. The unions later targeted volunteers, claiming that they usurp paid library positions and serve as replacement workers during strikes.⁴ In 1975, unions rejected the policy of using New York volunteers at circulation desks so libraries could be open on weekends. Soon union contracts forbade the use of volunteers in the New York Public Library system.⁵ The American Library Association (ALA) reacted to the conflicts between employees and volunteers by passing a series of guidelines. The two central principles emanating from these guidelines were that any volunteer program must have the prior approval of the staff and governing body of the library, and that volunteers should not supplant or displace established staff. The problem was (and continues to be) that the guidelines did not specifically address any duties or responsibilities where volunteers may likely violate the guidelines.⁶ Despite this potential barrier erected by ALA, the number of volunteers in libraries ballooned throughout the 1970s, and “volunteer programs were firmly established as a part of the American public library scene by 1980.”⁷

The passage of time has produced great changes in the groups of Americans who participate as volunteers but has not diminished the importance of volunteers in libraries. As recently as twenty-five years ago, volunteers were largely unemployed, middle-class housewives who volunteered during the day and were willing to do mundane tasks. As society changed, this type of volunteer has disappeared. Only about ten percent of the population now fits this traditional volunteer stereotype.⁸ As of the year 2000, 82 percent of all women in the U.S. between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-four were in the workforce.⁹ Yet as characteristics of the library volunteers change, the total numbers of volunteers continue to climb. Alexis de Tocqueville is famous for calling Americans a peculiar people because of their overwhelming willingness to volunteer.¹⁰ The future is sure to contain more and more volunteer service from these “peculiar” Americans.

Volunteers and the Use of Library Computer Technology

If libraries are to continue in their role as powerful information brokers, they must embrace and augment information technology. The libraries competitive niche should be characterized as a hybrid institution containing both books and digital sources.¹¹ However, while staying comfortably abreast of technological developments, libraries need to note that frequent library users say libraries should not be on the cutting edge of technology but just behind in order to help most people. The rapidly changing digital age has in many ways created more confusion than clarity for the average information seeker.¹² Librarians must continue to step forward and engage in understanding technology while also serving as information searching instructors.

This paradigm shift has multiple implications for libraries. Innovative learning programs, such as Helen Blowers’s “Learning 2.0” (designed so that staff at the Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County could learn Web 2.0 skills in only fifteen minutes a day) are now available.¹³ However, even with programs like these, taking on technology still requires time and funding. Learning new technologies and providing quality online service through websites and online reference have become commonplace in many libraries, but finding the funding and time needed to properly support these services might mean that other library services suffer.

Libraries’ efforts to provide online services are recognized as valuable and have a history of being supported by the public. Results of a nationwide survey conducted in the mid-1990s asking Americans about the future of libraries indicate that the majority would rather spend $20 in taxes helping develop a library information service than buy computer disks for home use. Part of the reason for the public support of libraries’ online services is that the business world does not provide easy-to-use and effective services. The help sources of big corporations are often slow, unfriendly, and overused. Increasingly private companies like Columbia House are getting people to browse by not providing categorization and indexing. Business strategies such as this, driven by the idea that the more people browse, the more they buy, highlight the need for libraries to continue developing themselves as a reliable human intermediary for information retrieval.¹⁴ Libraries can stress to their users that they are not profit driven and thus provide necessary information in an objective and efficient manner.¹⁵

One striking example of how libraries’ online services can benefit users is the Internet Public Library (ILP), started in 1995 as a class project through the University of Michigan’s School of Information. The site works as follows: Questions are sent to the site and volunteers tag the ones they want to answer. The questions that are left are called “sludge” and professionals tackle these queries. It is the goal of the library to have all questions answered within one week.16 Positive results of this program include the following: the chance for librarians to explore the Internet as a reference tool and to share that experience; the image of libraries is boosted as the library reaches out to those who do not normally use the library or are not close to a library; and the IPL serves as an important resource where people can ask questions too private to ask in person.¹⁷ The merits of the third result cannot be understated. Elfreda Chatman has conducted a study where she determined that elderly women will refrain from asking vital medical questions if they fear transfer from an assisted-living setting to a nursing home.¹⁸

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This study examines reference transaction quantities reported through the Academic Library Survey of the National Center for Educational Statistics to explore whether, and the extent to which, academic libraries are seeing a decline: the beginnings of a “deserted library.” Data from 2002 and 2004 shows a decline in reference transactions per week on a per-library basis and on a per-student basis, but this decline differs by the type of institution (Carnegie Class). Librarians at master’s institutions have actually seen an increase in the numbers of questions per librarian. ARL institutions’ patterns differ from those of other universities, which calls into question using ARL experiences as indicative of the wider academic universe.

“The Deserted Library”—a headline in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Much commentary, and some research, has addressed the topic of trends in usage of academic libraries. A decline in use of the physical academic library is seen by some commentators as an inevitable result of changes in the information landscape and in student, particularly undergraduate, information-seeking habits.

An underappreciated aspect of this issue is that just as not all libraries are alike, not all academic libraries are alike. True, one organization, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), serves libraries at community, baccalaureate, master’s, doctoral, and research institutions. However, some types of libraries are more often the site of published research than others. Association of Research Libraries (ARL) members are identifiable, organized, and have been committed for decades to extensive data-gathering. That makes their existence (for surveys) and their data a treasure trove for researchers interested in academic library issues. However, is the ARL perspective a reasonable representation of all academic librarianship? How representative is this group? Analysis of data about reference transactions from a much broader data pool suggests that ARL experiences may be disproportionately affecting the representation of the “decline” issue.

Literature Review

Writings on the possible decline in use of academic libraries include anecdotal or personal opinions or perspectives or broad, data-based research. Some authors argue or show that there is a decline; others that there is not. The “decline” expression that crystallized and sparked much of the debate was offered in a 2001 article by a reporter, Scott Carlson. The title and the publication venue say it all—“The Deserted Library,” on the front page of the Chronicle of Higher Education.¹ The Chronicle is the premier news source for academia in general, and is read by administrators and faculty as a key information source for what is going on in their world. A direct counter argument was provided in Library Journal by Andrew Albanese.² Drawing upon his contacts with staff at a number of individual libraries, he argues that usage has increased (although he did not conduct any systematic research to verify the representativeness of these observations).

Charles Martell’s 2005 editorial in the academic library journal portal: Libraries and the Academy presents a neat summary of the issue and uses ARL statistics to argue that reference usage has indeed declined.³ On the other side, in a review written specifically for nonlibrarian academics, Barbara Fister argues against the “myth” of the nonimportance of the physical library in the lives of undergraduates on the basis of personal observations (she is a director at a small, liberal arts college with mainly residential, traditional-aged students).⁴ Currently each side has some data to support its statements about library traffic. The ARL statistics center clearly shows a decline in reference (4.5 percent average annual decline, 1991–2005) and in circulation transactions (1.2 percent decline per year).⁵ On the other hand, a systematic and comprehensive survey of new or renovated academic library facilities showed consistent gains in usage.⁶

Interestingly, an ACRL task force looking into academic libraries’ future did not list a decline in use as one of their top ten assumptions for the future. The following items listed do not seem to anticipate any declines and in fact seem to predict increases: “Distance learning will be an increasingly more common option in higher education, and will coexist but not threaten the traditional bricks-and-mortar model,” “Students and faculty will increasingly demand faster and greater access to services,” and “The demand for technology-related services will grow and require additional funding.”⁷

What is not often a feature of the analysis or a subdivision of the data are the distinctive characteristics of the libraries involved. ARL library researchers and issues are well-represented in library literature. Yet college, university, and research libraries do show distinct differences, and not just in the most elemental and traditional measurement of a “research library”—collection strength. Collection variables represent three (or four) of the five data elements for the membership-defining ARL Index: number of volumes held, number of volumes added (gross), and number of current serials received. The others are total operating expenditures and number of professional plus support staff.⁸

A recent study of library staffing has demonstrated the reality of these by-type differences.⁹ It showed that staffing at doctorate granting institutions (both public and private) differs from those offering only master’s and baccalaureate degrees in ratios of librarians to patrons. Doctoral intensive and doctoral extensive (Carnegie classifications) institutions have the lowest instructional employee to librarian ratios of all institutional types (that is, each librarian potentially serves fewer faculty on average). There are more “other staff” per librarian in doctoral institutions than in master’s or baccalaureate institutions (that is, a smaller percentage of a doctoral institution’s library staff are librarians). Those statements are generally accurate for both public and private institutions. For private doctoral extensive institutions, there are far fewer students per librarian; for public doctoral universities, the student–faculty ratio is more similar to other types of institutions.

From these conclusions it is plausible to assume that library traffic also may well be affected by a library’s specific mission and focus, as well as the characteristics of the library’s parent institution in terms of student body, faculty roles, and its own strategic positioning with respect to physical versus virtual education. Much of this institutional differentiation is reflected in Carnegie institution-type classifications and in “control” classifications (the governance structure of either public, private not-for-profit, or private for-profit).

There is a need for more data to answer the question, is library use really declining? If so, does the decline vary by type of library? This study examines reported reference transactions from 2002 and 2004 (the main dependent variable) and analyzes differences among institution types (the main independent variable).

“Reference transaction” quantification is not unambiguous. The recording of reference transaction volume has existed for quite some time (at least since 1947) with the most important and systemic approach taken in 1976–77 by the Library Administration Division of the American Library Association along with the U.S. Department of Education to determine questions for the “HEGIS/LIBGIS” federal survey.¹⁰ It defined a reference transaction as one that involves “information sources” and the “library staff” (see appendix for the current and original definitions).

Writing about the process of reference transaction tallying has taken several forms. In one form, different variations for sampling are examined for those libraries not engaged in continuous tallying.¹¹ In another, different categorization schemes for transactions are proposed.¹²

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The United States has experienced increased immigration rates since 1990 and public libraries are faced with providing services to immigrants from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds. Which immigrants are the most likely to utilize public library services? This study uses data from the U.S. Current Population Survey from 2002 to compare households of immigrants from various world regions on the use of public libraries in the past month and the past year. Immigrant households’ rates of library use are also compared to households of native-born U.S. citizens.

American public libraries have a long history of service to the foreign-born. While today’s immigrants have much in common in terms of library needs with immigrants from earlier periods, the demographic character of newcomers to this country has changed substantially. For example, one hundred years ago immigrants were predominately European. Today’s immigrants are much more likely to be from Latin America and Asia.¹ Immigration rates have increased since 1990. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, in 2000 immigrants were more than 11% of the U.S. population for the first time since 1930.² By 2004 there were 34.2 million foreign-born residents in the United States, or 12% of the population.³ In addition to immigrants themselves, the 2000 census showed that fully 20% of K–12 students were children of immigrants.⁴ It is undeniable that these numbers of immigrants are having and will continue to have a significant impact on U.S. institutions such as public libraries.

How are public libraries serving such diverse populations? Materials in languages other than English, bilingual and bicultural staff members, literacy instruction, and English-as-a-second-language courses are some of the more common strategies. In addition, libraries can partner with federal Americanization agencies. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has had vendor booths at American Library Association Annual Conferences to promote naturalization and citizenship materials for public libraries. Federal outreach to immigrants through public libraries dates back at least to the World War I era.⁵

Library Use Studies

There have been many studies on characteristics of public library users and nonusers. Lawrence White stated that at least fifty such studies have been conducted since the 1930s. Douglas Zweizig and Brenda Dervin focused on sixteen studies that they identified as truly comparable.⁶ In their analysis of these studies, Zweizig and Dervin concluded that 10–23.5% of U.S. adults use the public library at least once a month, and 21–64% at least once a year.⁷ Most of the studies examined demographic variables as predictors of library use. Of these, education level was consistently the strongest predictor. Socioeconomic variables such as income and occupation were weak predictors, and age was curvilinear (use increased with age to a certain point then decreased). Sex, race, and marital status were not important predictors.⁸ Judith Payne found that the presence of school-aged children and the education process were strong reasons for library use.⁹ Carol Kronus identified family size and county size as influential.¹⁰ Some researchers found nondemographic variables such as attitudes and habits were better predictors of library use than demographic variables.¹¹

Library Use By Immigrants

Studies have also been done on immigrants’ use of public libraries. These generally focused on immigrants from specific geographic regions and located in particular areas of the United States. Most studies of immigrant library users concern Latino immigrants. While the professional literature contains a wide variety of articles detailing experiences of or suggestions for serving immigrant populations, only those providing numerical or statistical data are reviewed here.

Around 1990, Amado Padilla used a focus group to gather perceptions from Latino immigrants in East Palo Alto, California. Only four of the Latinos in the group had used a California library. Padilla did not state the total group size, so it is not possible to determine what proportion this represents. None of the Latinos had used a library in their native country.¹²

Susan Luevano-Molina did a qualitative study on fifty Latino, predominately Mexican, immigrants in Santa Ana, California in 1996. She found these immigrants to have high awareness of libraries in their home countries and in the United States, with half (48%) having used non–U.S. libraries. About half (50%) had also used a public library in Santa Ana. Even 33% of undocumented immigrants in this study had valid library cards. Luevano-Molina reported that in Santa Ana the Latino community considered the library neutral ground where even undocumented immigrants can seek to improve themselves and obtain materials for their children.¹³ For respondents in this study, having school-aged children was the best predictor of library use. In a later book chapter, Luevano-Molina cites a report from the Institute for the Future from 1996 that states that Hispanics and Asians are California’s heaviest public library users.¹⁴

Ninfa Trejo interviewed fifteen families in Arizona in 1996; ten were immigrant Latino families, three were Mexican Americans, and two were white families. In total, seventy-one family members, twenty-six of whom were adults, were interviewed. Only one person of the seventy-one had never used the library, and time since last use of the library ranged from zero to thirty years. The average length of time since last use of the library was two and a half years. All of the families stated that they used the public library, and half of the families had library cards.¹⁵

In 2000, the State Library of North Carolina commissioned a study on the library needs of Hispanics living in North Carolina. From 1,003 telephone interviews, they found that 26% of Hispanic respondents had used the public library at least monthly, with 40% reporting use in the past year. A regression analysis showed the most influential factors in library use were respondent’s belief that he or she lived close to a library, those who rated their English-reading skills more highly, higher education, those that rated their English-speaking skills more highly, and those with children under eighteen years old.¹⁶

Frances Flythe found that, of seventy-one Hispanic immigrants in Durham County, North Carolina, 22% had used the library at some time.¹⁷ In a 2002 study of Latino residents in Missouri, Beth Bala and Denice Adkins conducted forty-one door-to-door interviews and found that 22% of respondents had used the library in the past six months.¹⁸ In general, these studies found that barriers to public library use by Latino immigrants included cultural unfamiliarity with libraries, language barriers due partially to low education and literacy levels, mistrust of government agencies, scheduling conflicts, location-related issues, and cultural conflicts such as silence rules.¹⁹

Concerning library use by Asian immigrants, Sherry Su and Charles Conaway interviewed a sample of 180 elderly Chinese immigrants in the Los Angeles region in 1993. Nearly two-thirds of these respondents (63.3%) reported using the library at some time in the past year, and one-fifth (19.4%) used the library more than monthly. The most common reasons for going to the library were to read materials and to borrow books.²⁰ Padilla found that Korean immigrants were more likely to view libraries as quiet study areas, not places to obtain books and other materials. He stated that Asian immigrants were accepting of “silence” in the library because it echoed cultural traditions from their home countries.²¹

In a multicultural study, Cheryl Metoyer-Duran studied the information-seeking behavior of ethno-linguistic community leaders in California in 1990. She analyzed interviews of 120 leaders from Latino, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and American Indian communities. These leaders were a mix of immigrants and nonimmigrants, with most of the Chinese and Korean respondents born outside the U.S., more than half of the Latinos U.S.–born, and only three of the Japanese born abroad. In rating public libraries as an information source, Chinese (64%) and Japanese (62%) leaders were most likely to rate the library as very good or good (as opposed to average or poor). About half of Latinos (53%) and Koreans (53%) rated the public library as very good or good. As for visiting the public library in the last year, the majority of community leaders had done so: Chinese (83%), Korean (79%), Latino (79%). Japanese leaders were much less likely than other groups to have visited the public library in the past year (33%).²²