Search results

The purpose of this paper is to discover how college students perceive text messaging reference (SMS), chat reference, and face‐to‐face reference services.

The authors administered surveys about chat, text messaging (SMS), and face‐to‐face reference to students enrolled in a one‐credit library skills course. Survey results focus on users' willingness to return, their perceptions of chat and text messaging (SMS) reference, and the reasons they choose to utilize different communication mediums for reference service.

College students value the availability of high‐quality, quick, convenient, personalized reference assistance, regardless of medium used.

Academic libraries can personalize reference services, but also need to offer ways for patrons to ask questions anonymously.

Robust communication contributes to the perceived usefulness and success of library reference services. Effective reference service provided at the point‐of‐need helps build positive student‐librarian relationships.

This study aims to contribute to reference services research by bringing new technology into consideration. It focuses on two technologies (chat and SMS reference) in light of another available method (in‐person reference desk). This study is based on a 2002 study about patron perceptions of chat reference (Ruppel and Fagan), which is compared to the current study's results.

This paper aims to evaluate the performance of a chat reference service implemented at an academic library in a private liberal arts college by gauging its impact on other forms of reference service in terms of usage volume, with a focus on research-related face-to-face reference questions.

Two statistical methods are used, namely, the difference-in-differences method and a simple moving average time series analysis, to analyze both the short-term and long-term impact brought by chat reference.

This study finds that the usage volume of the traditional face-to-face reference is significantly affected by chat reference in its first service year. The long-term analysis suggests that chat reference volume displays a significant declining trend (−2.06 per cent academic month) since its implementation. Yet, its usage volume relative to other reference services remains stable over time.

The findings in this case study will be of value to libraries with similar scale and institutional features that are also interested in assessing their chat reference service. In addition, this paper is the first to apply the difference-in-differences approach in the field of library science, and the two statistical methods adopted in this case study can be readily adapted and applied to other similar volume-based library assessment projects.

This study aims to investigate the different channels reference librarians receive reference inquiries from patrons in university libraries in Nigeria.

A questionnaire was used to collect data on the various channels through which reference librarians received reference inquiries in Nigerian university libraries. The questionnaire was administered using an online method.

It emerged that the face-to-face traditional reference desk was rated as the highest channel through which librarians receive reference inquiries in Nigeria, followed by library Facebook page and phone/short message service (SMS). Instant messaging (IM) and e-mail were identified as the least used channels by the patrons. The challenges mentioned include the absence of policy statements concerning virtual reference services; the lack of information and communications technology (ICT) skills on the part of librarians; slow Internet connectivity; power failures; management’s lack of support for emerging technologies; IM’s limitations; user’s expectations of instant answer; inarticulate requests; and lack of adequate current reference materials.

The findings are from a small sample size; therefore, the findings may not be substantial enough to generalize. Further study is necessary to determine if these results are consistent throughout other university libraries in Nigeria.

The findings will inform university libraries in developing countries that are planning to adopt virtual reference services to deliver reference services to users anywhere, anytime.

In an increasingly competitive field of socially mediated information and knowledge available online, the public library's traditional services are increasingly questioned for relevancy. Drawing on the core premises of contemporary practice theory to ground the methodological and theoretical perspectives, the aim of this paper is to provide the initial “inside” view of traditional public library face‐to‐face reference work from a practice‐based perspective.

The paper includes an ethnographic case study of face‐to‐face reference service in four branches of one urban public library involving 170 hours of participant observation, 24 hours of unobtrusive observation, 480 reference interactions, and 28 participant interviews and analysis of policy documents.

This analysis highlights the structuring and mediating role of objects in the enactment of reference work. A practice‐based typology of reference interactions is introduced which characterizes the types of questions asked, knowledge processes in action, interpersonal communication style and mode of practice. The collective organizing actions of reference work are unpackaged in a non‐hierarchical or flattened plane that recognizes the key actors and dynamics of the practice as it endures across time and space.

Evidence and an approach are introduced to support re‐conceptualizing public library reference work as an epistemic practice.

The use of instant messaging (IM) technology for providing online reference services is increasing by leaps and bounds. This article compares a digital reference service, Morris Messenger, with traditional, face‐to‐face reference, using quantitative and qualitative data from experience with this service at Morris Library, Southern Illinois University. The article addresses differences arising from the medium itself, differences in the categories of reference questions received, using several different categorization schemes, and differences in factors affecting willingness to return, to determine strengths and weaknesses of this medium. Since many libraries are considering implementing such a service, it also describes what it is like for staff to provide reference service this way and suggests ways of addressing some of the challenges of this new medium.

For student reference supervisors and trainers, it is crucial to understand the characteristics of the millennial worker and how we can effectively train student reference employees in virtual reference. The purpose of this paper is to present best practices for training the millennial generation of reference workers on virtual reference.

This paper is a combination of a case study and theoretical approach including a literature review of “computer mediated communication” (CMC) theory as well as Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) best practices. This paper describes the creation of a training manual for the millennial student who works in reference and are the primary respondents to instant messaging.

This project describes why it is necessary to train millennial student reference employees differently than librarians or paraprofessionals when dealing with virtual reference.

This paper presents practical training techniques that are grounded in two major communication theories: politeness theory and CMC theory and applies these theories to the practical training of the millennial student.

The library atmosphere is a very social one with several different types of communication methods. Many academic libraries use student employees to staff some of the high traffic public service points. In order to better treat our patrons and maintain a professional atmosphere, it is critical that we train students to leave behind their student mentality when working and to become more professional. It is a question of re‐conditioning the student employee from their more comfortable social methods of communication to that of what patrons expect.

This paper presents the benefits of having a specific training approach when supervising the millennial student reference worker, particularly when it comes to training for instant messaging/chat reference services.

As “teaching libraries,” many academic libraries are committed to teaching not only in classrooms but also at the reference desk. As reference has expanded to include digital modes of e‐mail and chat, reference librarians are prompted to consider approaches to teaching in these new reference venues in ways that are meaningful to the user. A promising approach to teaching through digital reference is the application of the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards. This paper presents some challenges and benefits of teaching via digital reference. Practical methods for promoting self‐directed learning by examining online instruction, and suggestions for effectively advancing a pedagogy based on the ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards, are offered.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate student use of the reference desk at a residential college, so that academic libraries can better understand the role of in‐person assistance to meet the information needs of students.

Survey respondents answered open‐ended questions related to ways they ask for help in the library; data were coded and analyzed for salient trends. Photo diary entries and interviews with smaller groups of students were also used to illuminate findings.

Students express a need for the kind of help provided by the reference desk in terms of how students use and describe the desk. Usage patterns can also be predicted in terms of class year, gender, and major, indicating a way for the library to provide specific outreach to students who underutilize the reference desk.

The study investigates student use of the reference desk at a single institution. The unique characteristics of the institution might limit the implications that can be drawn from the study's conclusions for institutions that are not residential and do not serve a primarily traditional‐aged college population.

As information and our users move increasingly online, libraries must consider the value of reference desks. Findings at a residential institution demonstrate the value‐added benefit of this service in helping students with their research.

There has been in recent years a surge of interest about new software products that make it possible for libraries to offer assistance to online users via chat. Such software offers far more interactivity than instant messaging programs and allow for a richer experience for both librarian and user. Surveys chat reference services around the globe and analyzes trends in the provision of this new mode of assistance. Also presents discussion of why chat reference service is gathering attention as well as its limitations and drawbacks.