ALA meeting announcement

[Ann Okerson <aokerson@pantheon.yale.edu>]

Not quite on licensing but an excellent-sounding forum.  The Moderators

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>From ncolborn@iusb.edu Sat Jun 17 12:05:16 2000
Date: Sat, 17 Jun 2000 11:04:48 -0500
From: "Nancy Colborn" <ncolborn@iusb.edu>
Subject: ALA meeting announcement


**Apologies for duplication, cross-posted**

The RUSA MOUSS
Research and Statistics Committee
presents its
Sixth Annual Reference Research Forum*

Monday, July 10, 2000=20
2:00 - 4:00 pm
Swissotel, GR BB III=20

Four research projects in the field of reference services will be
presented by their authors, with a discussion following.  This year the
presenters are:

"The Library Visit Study" by Kirsti Nilsen, Lecturer, University of
Western Ontario and Catherine Sheldrick Ross, Professor, University of
Western Ontario

This is the second phase of a study of the reference transaction from the
users' perspective. Phase one, based on users' accounts collected in
public and academic libraries in the early 1900s, was reported in RQ,
Public Libraries, and Reference and User Services Quarterly. Since that
first data collection period, there have been reductions in library
staffing levels and increases in the availability of electronic reference
sources. The purpose of the second phase of the research is to investigate
what difference, if any, such changes have made in the ways in which
reference service is provided and experienced. Specifically we want to
examine, from the perspective of the user, the role of electronic sources,
including the Internet, in the reference transaction. The second phase of
the study is based on more than 150 Library Visit accounts collected by
MLIS students between September 1998 and April 2000. During this time of
transition, the Internet became recognized in the library literature as an
increasingly important reference source despite its well-recognized
problems of reliability and cognitive authority. In this presentation, we
examine the following questions: How, if at all, has the availability of
the Internet changed the way that library staff respond to users'
questions? How satisfied are users with the help they receive? Building on
the findings of phase one, this presentation will report, from the users'
perspective, on the post-Internet situation at the reference desk.

"Electronic Mail Reference Services in the Public Library" by Beth A.  
Garnsey Reference Librarian, Baldwin (MI) Public Library and Ronald R.  
Powell, Professor, Library and Information Science Program, Wayne State
University

Although electronic mail reference services are increasingly being offered
by public libraries, little information about these services has been
reported.  An exploratory survey was conducted to examine public library
e-mail reference services and the patrons who use them. Data collection
techniques included a questionnaire mailed to participating libraries and
a Web-based questionnaire completed by library patrons.  Data gathered
included: 1) information on the provision and administration of e-mail
reference services provided by public libraries across the United States,
2) characteristics of public library e-mail reference patrons and their
satisfaction with the service they received, and 3) classification of
e-mail reference questions received by public libraries.

"The Quality of Reference 2000" by Jennifer Sweeney, Library Analyst, 
University of California, Davis

Rapid emergence of web-based information products and corresponding shifts
in user behavior have transformed traditional academic reference service.  
A recent study of reference service at University of California, Davis
libraries explored emerging issues affecting service quality and
effectiveness, and attempted to validate those factors with surveys,
interviews, and = quantitative data.  Study methodology, results, and
implications for the future will be presented.

"Imposed Queries in the Adult Room: Preliminary Findings from a Survey of 
Thirteen Libraries" by Melissa Gross, Assistant Professor, School of 
Information Studies, Florida State University

In providing library services, the assumption is that the user's
information need is his or her own However, the imposed query model makes
explicit that user behavior includes seeking information to resolve
questions that belong to someone else.  The work reported here reveals
that, in a reference satisfaction survey performed in 13 public libraries,
25 percent of the respondents were in the library on behalf of someone
else.  While 14 categories of imposers were revealed, the majority of the
individuals who reported seeking information for someone else were in the
library on behalf of an employer, an instructor, a spouse, or a child.

* The Research Forum is listed in the ALA program as a RUSA/MOUSS 
committee meeting.


Nancy Wootton Colborn
Reference Librarian, Coordinator of
   Staff Development and Public Relations
Schurz Library
Indiana University South Bend
219.237.4321 (ph)
219.237.4472 (fx)
ncolborn@iusb.edu
www.iusb.edu/~ncolborn