Information and Referral in Reference Services

Definitions of Reference

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Reference services did not become commonplace in libraries until the late s. These services initially began in public libraries. One of the earliest proponents of references services was Samuel Swett Green. He wrote an article titled "Personal Relations Between Librarians and Readers" which had a large impact on the future of reference services.

Until hitherto the communication between the reference librarian and the user are through direct contact. Hence, Utor , defined reference services as a direct personal assistance to readers seeking information. That is during the traditional era. Thus leading to an entirely new era, otherwise known as digital era with different information technologies coming in to aid the work of a reference librarian; changing information sources, reference processes and communication medium. The librarian who staffs the reference desk can usually do the following by virtue of their professional training and experience:.

In the United States , those who staff library reference desks are usually required to have a master's degree in library science [2] from a program accredited by the American Library Association. In many academic libraries, student assistants are used as the primary contact, sometimes at an "information desk. In Sri Lanka , librarians at reference desks typically have master's degrees from the Sri Lankan Library Association's accredited programs.

With the development of the Web, digital reference services are beginning to take over some of the roles of the traditional reference desk in a library. There is disagreement over whether or not this development is desirable or inevitable.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This is not the Wikipedia reference desk; this is the article about reference desks. The Wikipedia reference desk is at Wikipedia: This article includes a list of references , but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Cues must be obtained from voice level and intonation.

The librarian needs to determine quickly the information need, determine whether or not to put the caller on hold or call back, and decide when a call should be referred. Reference by correspondence is another form of reference service, but it has never enjoyed the same popularity as on-site or telephone reference. Much of the correspondence that is received by libraries entails questions that are related to genealogy or special collections. Much of this mail correspondence has been replaced by e-mail inquiries. Most libraries provide e-mail reference service, with policies following those that were already established for telephone and correspondence service.

Reference librarians have found the reference interview to be problematic in the e-mail environment, since the interaction is asynchronous and it may take several days to elicit all of the information that is needed to respond satisfactorily to the inquiry. In many academic institutions, reference librarians offer consultation services by appointment. This provides yet another option to users who need more time with a librarian than is generally available at the reference desk.

In addition, the librarian has an opportunity to prepare for the session in advance. Technology has had a major effect on reference services. Although the growing number of printed indexes made it possible to identify journal articles in many subject areas, the user had to wade through each year's index separately and search by prescribed subject headings or by the name of the author. Card catalogs allowed searching by title, author, and subject, but again, the subject headings were prescribed and users often had to seek the assistance of a librarian to identify the correct heading.

In the s, online databases were available only in the science areas, and they were used primarily in corporate libraries. Their use in academic and public libraries did not become common until the s, when selected staff was trained. By the s, the increase in the number of requests for online searching and the growth in the number of databases required that most reference librarians receive training. The searching was not performed by the user, and often, a fee was charged.

Librarians began to experiment with the notion of end-user searching, but that did not occur until databases became available on CDROM. These databases encompass several years of indexing and offer a variety of searching options.

REFERENCE SERVICES AND INFORMATION ACCESS

Many also include the full text of the article, making searching by keyword rather than prescribed subject heading a powerful tool. The conversion of card catalogs to online catalogs has enabled librarians and users to find books by keyword as well. Modern reference librarians provide a strong link between the highly technological information environment and the user, advising on search strategies that help the user to focus the topic better and evaluate the information even as the user is able to access library catalogs and databases from home, office, and school.

Of the many aspects of human mediated information services, recommending books to library users has long been a function of library services, primarily in public libraries. Librarians interviewed readers to determine their interests, and the readers were also judged on their reading ability.

Following the interview, a list of readings was prepared and mailed to the reader. Readers' advisory services expanded from to A number of articles written during this time exhibited a moralistic tone, assuming that reading recommendations would result in the improvement of readers. After , the readers' advisory function declined, but it is enjoying a resurgence in the early s. The focus is centered on the reader and emphasizes the personal relationship between librarian and reader. The service is less didactic, with librarians viewing themselves as the link between readers and their recreational reading interests.

Forms of readers' advisory services are also offered in other venues, such as Amazon. The former retains data about customers' reading interests to alert them to related books. Storing information about users' preferences jeopardizes their privacy, however, making it difficult for libraries to compete with commercial services. User education, variously called "bibliographic instruction" or "library instruction," has in the past been the purview of academic libraries, but it has since been encompassed by public libraries.

The service, which is generally a part of the reference librarians' responsibilities, is considered to be complementary to desk service. Wilson identifies four periods in the development of user education services. The first, between to , saw slow growth as the focus of librarians was on building collections, not on service. An early pioneer in user education was Azariah Root, who ran a program at Oberlin College between and in order to introduce students to library systems, resources, and the history of the printed word.

Public and academic libraries experimented with instruction through lectures and at the reference desk. The second period identified by Wilson, between and the s, laid the foundation for instructional services. Notable during this time was the Monteith College Library Experiment at Wayne State University, which provided discipline-specific library instruction as an integrated part of the university's curriculum. One of the most significant developments in the s was the shift from tool-based to concept-based instruction, as librarians realized that students needed a systematic way to develop, use, and evaluate a search strategy.

This was also a period during which librarians drew upon learning theories and explored and debated a number of instruction techniques. The third period identified by Wilson occurred in the s, when instruction became an accepted part of public services in libraries. By the fourth period, the posts period, instruction had established itself as a field with its own literature, organizations, theories, and history. Librarians who are involved in instruction regularly draw upon current learning theory and instructional techniques.

The term "information literacy" is widely used to refer to the entire scope of user education. In , the American Association of School Librarians developed Information Power , which outlines standards and guidelines for user education programs in school library media centers. The edition includes information literacy standards for student learning. Sessions are offered in those subject areas that are most heavily used by the public e.

The teaching role of the reference librarian is very important, since it encourages users to use creativity in their searches and to evaluate the results from a critical perspective.

Reference Referral : Reference Services : Products & Services : Minitex

User education can also serve to heighten user awareness of the library. Despite the advances wrought by technology, the structure and organization of reference service has changed little since its inception. Services continue to be tied to the physical desk, requiring that users come into the building for assistance. She experimented with tiered reference service within the building, staffing a service desk with graduate students who were to refer complex questions to a librarian who was available in a consultation office.

In , Anne Lipow offered institutes devoted to "rethinking reference services," at which a number of speakers challenged reference librarians to examine whether or not their current structures best met the needs of users. Tiered models often failed, not because they were without merit or because they were inefficient, but because they were contrary to the deeply ingrained reference librarian value of providing quality service when users need it without barriers and because they required significant training of staff to ensure that inquiries were answered correctly.

Jerry Campbell, the then director of libraries at Duke University, outlined a new role for reference librarians in a controversial article published in the Reference Services Review in Campbell observed that reference service is essentially without a conceptual framework, lacks a clear mission statement, and is cost ineffective. He observed that the model of reference focused on a physical desk could not survive the information age.

Campbell noted that users' expectations of service were changing and that the demand for rapid delivery of information in electronic form was growing. He challenged reference librarians to create a service that is "increasingly electronic and nonbuilding-centered. In an article published in , Chris Ferguson calls for the integration of reference and computing support services into a comprehensive information service for both on-site and remote users.

The line between what is a pure technology question and what is an information question has blurred as they have become intertwined and interdependent.

The Foundations of Modern Reference Service

The concept of tiered service needs to be refined, making intermediate-level service available twenty-four hours a day. Ferguson emphasizes the need in this convergence to retain the values of equity of access, personal service, and services tailored to the individual in ways that are humane and scalable. He calls for reengineering libraries "in ways that bring librarians and technologists together within a common service environment" to meet users' needs in a more effective manner.

Some states and regional library networks offer tiered reference services, which allow reference librarians to refer questions to another level when they do not have the resources to respond to their users' needs. California is a good example of a state that has a strong referral system. Public libraries in the Bay Area could refer questions they were unable to answer to BARC, which drew on the collections of the San Francisco Public Library, as well as numerous sources beyond those walls.

By the mids, public libraries were organized into fifteen systems under the provisions of the California Library Services Act. As part of the act, each of the fifteen systems established a System Reference Center. Considered to be second-level reference, Centers were designed to work with the public libraries in their systems to ensure that the needs of users could be met regardless of physical location and to facilitate document delivery through the member libraries. The Centers provided training to local librarians, focusing on basic services and on those reference tools that are typically held in small public libraries.

Although BARC and SCAN no longer exist, second-level reference service is still operating, and the involved reference centers collaborate in answering inquiries. Many of the referral centers serve all types of libraries.

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They may be funded through state funds, through membership fees, or a combination of the two. The advantages of referral are many, with the strongest being the ability to answer even the most difficult questions received from users.

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Reference service at referral centers is characterized by creativity and the use of a wide range of resources and methods that are not generally employed in traditional reference settings. Personal contacts, organizations, associations, and businesses are often called on to provide answers that are not easily found in printed books or even on the Internet.

Referral center librarians seldom work directly with users; they instead expect that the local librarian has done a thorough reference interview. Referral centers take advantage of the combined strengths of libraries and reference librarians. Resource sharing, collaboration, and cooperation among libraries of all types create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Users who have no time to devote to large research projects have the option of turning to a fee-based reference service. Although not widespread, some large public and academic libraries offer such a service.

Importance of Reference Services for Users

This is considered a value-added service that provides the research requested by the user, along with delivery of the cited documents. Users generally pay an hourly fee, in addition to charges for photocopying and mailing the resulting materials. The primary users of fee-based services are corporations and law firms that do not have their own libraries. They view information as a commodity and consider it worthwhile to pay for the service.

Individuals often use fee-based services on a one-time basis for a special project, such as tracking down genealogy material, researching job opportunities, or seeking funding for college. The advent of e-mail, the World Wide Web, and other new technologies has had a major effect on the provision of reference services.

In the late s, reports indicated that the number of in-person and telephone reference transactions had sharply decreased. The ability of many library users to access information via the web contributed to this decline, as did the growth of commercial services that offer to answer questions on almost any subject without charge.

Many of these services do not employ librarians and rely solely on web resources to provide information. Questions are often taken at face value, with little or no follow-up communication with the inquirer to discover the real information need. Lacking the financial resources of commercial entities and working within the often bureaucratic structures of libraries, reference librarians nevertheless have moved rapidly and tirelessly to offer a variety of information service options to their users.

The combination of users connected to the Internet and a growing emphasis on distance learning places a demand on reference services to expand aggressively beyond the walls of the library. Although a number of Internet companies exist to provide answers to questions, they are not equipped to provide in-depth advice, access to sometimes costly databases that are restricted by licensing agreements, or assistance with complex search strategies. Reference librarians can play a unique role in this area, developing methods with online technologies to assist users with difficult questions, to offer guidance on research strategies, to instruct users in evaluation techniques, and to provide services customized to the users' needs.

Digital reference removes the barriers of time and place, and it masks the internal operations of the library to which users are exposed in an on-site visit. Reference librarians in the early s are experimenting with a variety of new technologies designed to respond to user inquiries.

Reference via e-mail has been practiced since the early s and has expanded to include web forms that guide the user through the inquiry. Software that enables the librarian to work collaboratively with the user and to guide the web browser in providing searching assistance is being applied in some library settings. Susan McGlamery and Steve Coffman write that although it is too early to determine the effectiveness of such web contact center software, it may be readily adaptable to the new reference environment, which uses a number of web resources to answer inquiries.

In an article published in , Coffman notes that a combination of web contact center software and Voice over Internet Protocol VoIP shows promise for reference services. The application would allow the reference librarian to guide the user through web searches and hold a voice conversation through the same web connection, as though they were talking over the telephone. This technology would also solve some of the challenges that the digital environment presents in conducting an effective reference interview.

Joseph Janes , a faculty member in the School of Information at the University of Washington, was one of the first to be involved in digital reference service. In , Janes taught at the University of Michigan and wanted to provide his students with a laboratory for learning and doing reference and at the same time merge the strengths of the traditional, physical library with the virtual and timeless features of the World Wide Web. Janes specializes in researching the use, integration, and effect of digital reference services. A number of other library-based and commercial digital reference services were established beginning in the early s.

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