The Nuts,Bolts, and Teaching Opportunities of Real-Time Reference

ABSTRACT

Since the implementation of its instant messaging reference service in the 2000-2001 academic year, the librarians at the University at Buffalo (UB) have succeeded in creating a vital presence for virtual reference. The Instant Librarian chat service, open 57 hours per week during the fall and spring semesters, supplements the traditional face-to-face and e-mail reference services available at UB. Real-time reference using AOL Instant Messenger addresses the expectations of a well-informed population of UB users comfortable with the conveniences enjoyed via the Internet, such as file sharing and instant messaging. Librarians at UB use Instant Librarian to their advantage by employing active learning techniques, while answering both simple and complex questions. A chat session is a unique way to reach a patron who normally would not come into the library for help. In the chatroom, the librarian creates a positive teaching environment, prompting repeat visits and even in-person follow-up research consultations. This paper describes the nuts and bolts of UB's chat reference service and illustrates ways UB librarians attempt to incorporate teaching strategies within the online environment. The first section discusses issues such as staff training, technology/software problems, marketing/publicity matters, and the methodology and purpose of a user survey. The second section addresses the instruction element of UB's Instant Librarian. Librarians take advantage of the online environment to promote self-directed learning. The paper also includes a literature review highlighting published articles, books, and surveys that examine the significant facets of a real-time reference service.     

Challenges Faced by Reference Librarians in Familiarizing Adult Students with the Computerized Library of Today: The Cuesta College Experience

Summary

Adult students face several challenges in their encounters with the new computerized library of today. Having been out of school for several years many adult students are unfamiliar with the computerized revolution that has taken place within the library. Reference librarians on the other hand, face several challenges in helping adult students become familiarized with the new technologies. This article discusses some of the challenges both adult students and reference librarians face at Cuesta College, a mid-size community college in San Luis Obispo, California. Successful techniques for addressing some of these challenges are also exemplified.     

Material-Mind-Method: On the Teaching of Reference beyond the Lecture: In-Class Hands-On Contact with Reference Sources

ABSTRACT

Reference librarians need to know how to use a vast array of reference sources. How do they acquire this knowledge? How can students arrive at their entry level positions with an arsenal of known sources and strategies for advancing this knowledge? Various strategies can be employed to provide students with options on how to launch their understanding for how and when to use specific sources. This column provides examples of how to incorporate active learning activities devoted to providing students in a group setting with options on how to begin and share their learning about reference sources.     

数字图书馆参考咨询服务的实践与研究

介绍数字图书馆参考咨询服务平台的开发与建立，开展数字化参考服务的方法，对数字图书馆参考咨询服务效果的统计与分析，最后对如何提高数字图书馆参考服务的质量和水平提出若干意见。     

“图书馆学研究”课程教学的改革与创新

中山大学信息管理系“图书馆学研究”课程任课教师本“只有创新的教学才能培养创新人才”的改革理念，在“图书馆学研究”课程的教学中进行了一系列教学改革，其中包括：邀请国内外专家学者共同参与，开展突出图书馆学术研究的重点，难点和热点的模块式专题教学，并创举性地设立图书馆学专业课程奖学金。     

Telephone Calls Received at an Academic Library's Reference Desk: A New Analysis

ABSTRACT

It has been established that much of the assistance provided to library patrons at reference desks does not require the knowledge and expertise of a professional librarian. Is the same thing true of the telephone calls received at reference desks in academic libraries? This article reports the results of one academic librarian's reference desk transaction log analysis which focuses on the categories of assistance provided to patrons who called the library's reference desk.     

Librarians Flip for Students: Teaching Searching Skills to Medical Students Using a Flipped Classroom Approach

This article describes the development of a flipped classroom instructional module designed by librarians to teach first- and second-year medical students how to search the literature and find evidence-based articles. The pre-class module consists of an online component that includes reading, videos, and exercises relating to a clinical case. The in-class sessions, designed to reinforce important concepts, include various interactive activities. The specifics of designing both components are included for other health sciences librarians interested in presenting similar instruction. Challenges encountered, particularly in the live sessions, are detailed, as are the results of evaluations submitted by the students, who largely enjoyed the online component. Future plans are contingent on solving technical problems encountered during the in-class sessions.     

Ethical Considerations in Classification Practice: A Case Study Using Creationism and Intelligent Design

This article re-visits a scenario from 1987: a university president required a library director to reclassify some materials into a science classification. The author looks at the prominence of the Code of Ethics of the American Library Association in the general library literature and in classification and cataloging practice literature. The issue of censorship is also discussed. The author then reviews classification for Creationism and Intelligent design and some decision-making processes one could use when deciding on the professional ethics of such a request, concluding that in some cases the ethical action might indeed be to go ahead with the reclassification.     

A Close Encounter Model for Reference Services to Adult Learners: The Value of Flexibility and Variance

Summary

Every reference encounter is an instructional encounter. Reference services to adult learners must be as flexible as the learners' technological savvy and learning styles. Furthermore, a variety of instructional methods must be used. This study presents survey results of a sample graduate student population which is outside the mainstream of traditional college students. We present a Close Encounter Model of reference services to meet this population.     

Instructing College Students on the Ethics of Information Use at the Reference Desk: A Guide and Literature Review

As educators and members of the academic community, reference librarians should take a proactive stance toward instructing students about the ethics of information use. The authors summarize the best practices found in the existing library literature, consider the context of ethical information use from a global perspective, and make an argument for the role of librarians. Our goal is to provide a guide for librarians attempting to successfully integrate ethical issues, such as intellectual property and academic integrity, into their reference instruction.     

高校图书馆支持大学生科技创新的研究与实践

以典型案例阐述高校图书馆如何借助文献资源优势和专业人力资源优势,开展大学生创新创业项目的调查分析、创新创业项目检索档案的建立、创新创业项目的个性化服务等实践支持大学生科技创新活动。     

民族院校图书馆参考咨询工作探讨

本文结合广西民族学院图书馆的实际 ,对民族院校图书馆参考咨询工作的现状作了介绍。讨论了民族院校图书馆如何围绕馆藏特色和专业设置等特点为少数民族读者开展参考咨询工作的问题 ,并对其远景作出展望。     

国家科学图书馆咨询知识库的研究与实践

指出咨询知识库是供用户查询知识并获取参考的服务平台,按照收录咨询案例的来源可划分为原始型、选择型、FAQ型和整合型.介绍国家科学图书馆咨询知识库的建设目标、内容组织方法、内容管理流程和系统功能框架,在对其应用效果进行评价的基础上,从更新机制、完善机制、激励机制、分析反馈机制和智能咨询等方面提出后续建设思路.     

Combining History of Medicine and Library Instruction: An Innovative Approach to Teaching Database Searching to Medical Students

Library faculty members at the Health Sciences Library at the LSU Health Shreveport campus offer a database searching class for third-year medical students during their surgery rotation. For a number of years, students completed “ten-minute clinical challenges,” but the instructors decided to replace the clinical challenges with innovative exercises using The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus to emphasize concepts learned. The Surgical Papyrus is an online resource that is part of the National Library of Medicine's “Turning the Pages” digital initiative. In addition, vintage surgical instruments and historic books are displayed in the classroom to enhance the learning experience.     

The Internet Public Library as a Teaching Tool for Shockingly Traditional Reference Skills

SUMMARY

The Internet Public Library is an experimental educational initiative of the University of Michigan School of Information. The author, a Michigan alumna, argues that the Internet Public Library can play a role in the education of reference librarians, with particular attention to the traditional reference skills it fosters. She discusses her own experience with the IPL and QRC, its digital reference tool, as a library student, positing that the value of the IPL lies in the way it renders individual aspects of the reference process explicit and forces its users to examine them piece by piece.     

Reference Services to Police Officer Students at the School of Police Staff and Command,Traffic Institute,Northwestern University

Summary

This paper focuses on the reference services provided by librarians at the Transportation Library for the police officer students enrolled in the School of Police Staff and Command, Traffic Institute, Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois). Although this program is unique, the wealth of experience gained over several years can be useful for others who are planning and implementing services for adult learners within an academic environment. The Transportation Library's unusual organizational culture—a corporate library within an academic setting- and a variety of clients necessitates “changing gears” and services to meet the needs of each group.     

图书馆泛在参考咨询服务探析

图书馆用户泛在化,集中型参考咨询部门设置的缺陷是提出泛在参考咨询服务的缘由.图书馆泛在参考咨询服务呈现智能答疑、多中心的自然获取、任何人都能得到答案的特征,其内容框架设计为分层式和分布式参考咨询服务的复合.可从重组业务机构、提升馆员整体素养、积极运用新技术、加入联合参考咨询服务项目与构筑知识社区等途径优化图书馆泛在参考咨询服务.     

略论高校图书馆事业与人文社会科学研究的互动发展

阐述了近年来我国高等教育事业、高校图书馆及高校人文社会科学研究的发展形势，对高校图书馆与人文社会科学研究的互动关系进行了分析，并对高校图书馆进一步加强为人文社会科学研究服务工作提出了几点措施。     

Three Times a Study: Business Students and the Library

Revisiting a study performed 30 years ago, researchers at three institutions surveyed undergraduate and graduate students in marketing courses to determine their attitudes toward and knowledge of library services and collections. Results found that 21st-century students are more likely to believe in the importance of library research, to have had library instruction, and to use Web sites and Internet search engines to begin their research. However, they are less likely to read business periodicals. Faced with a list of information sources, they are generally able to pick out a useful resource, although not always the most efficient. Implications for library service to business students are discussed.     

论我国图书馆学研究中对国外成果的借鉴

对国外图书馆学成果的学习和借鉴是中国图书馆学发展的一条捷径。文章对我国图书馆学研究借鉴国外成果的情况进行了简要总结，分析了我们在今后的图书馆学研究中为什么必须继续坚持有选择地、批判地吸收和借鉴国外图书馆学成果的原因。