Self-Directed,Contract Learning for the Reference Librarian

Earlier articles on continuing education for reference librarians describe the major methods used and their shortcomings. The premise of this article is that reference librarians will be able to make the greatest gain in their continuing education if they develop a long-range plan instead of relying on isolated, sporadic, unrelated or unvalidated activities. Self-directed contract learning can be the cornerstone of a long-range plan for continuing education. This article reviews the earlier literature, describes the eight steps of the contract learning process and presents serveral sample contracts. It describes the experiential learning model and learning styles. It also expands on the steps of identifying learning needs and resources by describing specific competencies for reference librarians and by listing a wide range of available learning resources.     

Expanding Reference through Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning Videos

Academic librarians have utilized video tutorials for many years, however, the videos may not be useful or usefully shared. Cognitive theory of multimedia learning (CTML) provides evidence-based design principles for librarians to create instructional videos that can expand reference support. Meaningful learning through video can be uniquely integrated into students' academic experience. The author applied CTML to videos on course assignments and then utilized the learning management system to send them to students enrolled in the course. This study builds upon the evidence-based conclusions of CTML and contributes an innovative way to integrate reference into the student experience. This is an important contribution as librarians seek to scale and expand reference support to in-person, online, and hybrid learning environments.     

Adult Learning Theory and Reference Services: Consonances and Potentials

Summary

There is a long history of exchange between librarians and adult educators. This history not only points to previous successes but also highlights a tension of defining an appropriate focus within libraries for the provision of adult education. The similarities between contemporary adult education thought and reference services can provide some interesting possibilities in looking toward the future of reference in a digital age, both in terms of service and professional development.     

Training Temporary Reference Staff for Maximized Learning: A Case Study

This paper will discuss the 2018 redesign of the University of Michigan Library's Ask a Librarian reference service. The library's tiered reference model relies heavily on the support of graduate student and part-time staff — a temporary workforce that is expectably vulnerable to high turnover. As such, a training program must consider the vast knowledge required of staff to prepare them for providing reference service, provide ongoing support/training, and be sensitive to the constraints, responsibilities, and roles of these employees, who are often first and foremost, full-time students and/or individuals working multiple jobs. The training redesign focused on the creation of an interactive, online learning component that could also provide a knowledge base of support for staff to continually refer to, while engaged learning activities were emphasized during limited in-person training sessions to reinforce training and offer opportunities to build camaraderie between new staff and their fellow colleagues.     

Reference Costs and Reference Services:

No abstract available for this article.     

Reference

THE COLLECTOR'S GUIDE TO ANTIQUARIAN BOOKSTORES compiled by liodoc Press, Inc. (New York: Macmillan, 1984---$20.75)

TELECOM FACTB00K 1985 (Television Digest, 1836 Jefferson PI., Washington, D.C. 20036---$59.00, paper)

LAW AND LEGAL INFORMATION DIRECTORY edited by Paul and Steven Wasserman (Detroit: Gale Research, 1984---$225)

HANDBOOK OF THE NATIONS compiled by the National Foreign Assessment Center, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (Detroit: Gale Research, 1984---$64.00)     

Reference

No abstract available for this article.     

Reference

INSIDE U.S. BUSINESS: A CONCISE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LEADING INDUSTRIES by Philip Mattera (Homewood, IL: Dow Jones-Irwin, 1987—price not given)

DICTIONARY OF COMPUTERS, INFORMATION PROCESSING & TELECOMMUNICATIONS by Jerry Rosenberg (New York: John Wiley, 1987—$18.95, paper, with a hardback available as well)     

Reference

TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS AND SERVICES DIRECTORY —ISSUE TWO, edited by John Schmittroth Jr. and Martin Connors (Detroit, Mich.: Gale Research, 1984--$170.00 for the first edition, being issued in three parts, paper)

THE BOOK PUBLISHING ANNUAL: HIGHLIGHTS, ANALYSES & TRENDS (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1984---$49.95)

THE COMPUTER AND BUSINESS EQUIPMENT INDUSTRY MARKETING DATA BOOK (Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers Association, 311 First Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001--price not given, paper)

THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACT OF VIDEOTEX, TELETEXT AND COMPUTERS: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY, by Roberto Valdez, et al., and THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACT OF TELEPHONES by Elena Pernia, et al. (Honolulu, Hi.: East-West Center, 1984--price not given, but cost covers reproduction and postage, paper)

WHAT'S IN PRINT: THE SUBJECT GUIDE TO MICROCOMPUTER MAGAZINES, by W.H. Wallace (Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania: TAB Books, 1984--price not given, paper)

DICTIONARY OF NEW INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ACRONYMS, by M. Gordon, et al. (London: Kogan Page/Detroit: Gale Research, 1984--$56.00)

THE VIDEOTEX MARKETPLACE (Bethesda, Md.: Phillips Publishing, 1984--$97.00, paper)

A VIDEOTEX/TELETEXT BIBLIOGRAPHY (Videotex Industry Association, 1901 Ft. Myer Drive, Suite 200, Rosslyn, VA 22209--$25.00, paper)

AUDIO VIDEO MARKET PLACE: A MULTIMEDIA GUIDE 1984 (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1984--$45.00 paper)

THE INTERACTIVE CABLE TV HANDBOOK (Bethesda, Md.: Phillips Publishing, 1984--$97.00, paper)

COMPUTERIZED LITERATURE SEARCHING: RESEARCH STRATEGIES AND DATABASES, by Charles L. Gilreath (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 1984--$25.00)     

开发高校科技期刊资源，为市场提供信息咨询服务

开发高校科技期刊资源，为市场提供信息咨询服务刘吉庆Ａｂｓｔｒａｃｔ：ＴｈｅｍａｒｋｅｔｅｃｏｎｏｍｙｈａｓｂｅｃｏｍｅａｂａｓｉｃｏｒｉｅｎｔａｔｉｏｎｏｆＣｈｉｎｅｓｅｅｃｏｎｏｍｉｃｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔ．Ｗｈｅｒｅｖｅｒｔｈｅｒｅｉｓａｍａｒｋ...     

Evaluating Reference Services and Reference Personnel:

There is a large literature on the evaluation of reference services and reference personnel. This bibliographic essay discusses a wide variety of items from that literature, organized around a series of questions that might be considered a model for the reference evaluation process.     

Making Room for a Learning Commons Space: Lessons in Weeding a Reference Collection Through Collaboration and Planning

This article describes the process designed to systematically weed two community college library reference collections in preparation for potential funding of a learning commons space. The author explains the methodology used to help facilitate the reassessment of nearly 10,000 reference titles by librarian liaisons. The goal of the project was to consistently capture each title’s weeding status designation along with required bibliographic data while stopping short of executing the weeding itself. Details about the process and consequences of the resulting category breakdowns are described in detail. The article lists key success factors such as working with teams from different departments to help manage the day-to-day procedures. Practical suggestions are offered about the use of collaborative tools, about methods for transmitting support data to liaison librarians to enable quick decisions, about goal setting, and about establishing consistent means of data collection.     

Learning from Our Mistakes: Reflections on Customer Service and How to Improve It at the Reference Desk

Libraries have to compete with a barrage of online resources for patrons’ attention and with other campus departments for scarce funding and resources. In this competitive environment, customer service is one of the best strategies librarians can employ. Satisfied patrons will continue to use our services, thereby providing support for libraries’ budget requests. Even though librarians understand the importance of customer service, we do not always succeed in putting it into practice. Drawing on experiences from teaching a reference course, the author reviews examples of poor service and offers some ideas and guidelines for improving service on the front lines.     

Reference Staffing

Abstract

In spring 2006, 404 medium-sized academic libraries participated in a survey to determine their reference-staffing practices. A medium-sized academic library is one affiliated with a bachelor's degree granting institution where the FTE enrollment is 3,000-9,999. Libraries reported their type of service model, number of questions asked, number of staff, variety of service points, types of staff utilized, hours and other factors used to make staffing decisions.

What are the staffing practices in reference departments at medium-sized academic libraries? How many reference and non-reference librarians are scheduled to work at reference service points? How many questions are typically asked during a week? Are students or support staff utilized? What type of model is most prevalent-one central desk with one librarian, several distributed desks with one or more staff members, a tiered service model or something else? What factors do reference managers consider when determining the hours and types of staff scheduled? These questions, and more, are explored in this report.