What Students Really do in the Library: An Observational Study

The authors observed 730 collegiate students in the library and recorded their study (or non-study) activities. Approximately 60% of behaviors were study related. The most commonly observed behavior was reading print material (18.8%). The second most common behavior was the use of social media (11.4%). These results have implications for understanding how students learn and study in the pervasive digital world.     

Knowledge Maps and the Work of Academic Librarians in an Interdisciplinary Environment

This article describes a method that academic librarians can use to help established scholars and doctoral students become more cognizant of interdisciplinary approaches to their academic fields and areas. This method centers around the creation of knowledge maps: visually oriented aids tracing intellectual connections and linkages between and among various fields and areas that allow students and professors to get a good sense of emerging trends in a given academic specialty. Many professors want librarians to be proactive when it comes to suggesting new perspectives and new ways of seeing their research questions. Knowledge maps can be used by librarians as information-literacy tools in the facilitation of interdisciplinary knowledge among academic researchers. In addition, the creation of knowledge maps by librarians can be seen as a component of the changing nature of reference librarianship—a job that is becoming more intellectualized through one-on-one consultations between students, professors, and librarians.     

Adding Value at the Desk: How Technology and User Expectations are Changing Reference Work

The notion of what reference service ought to be continues to change as technology provides new ways to interact with users and alters their expectations of the library and librarians. As new tools for interaction become available, it is critical that librarians continuously evaluate their effectiveness at providing users with a valuable service that meets the needs of the community being served. By assessing tools and techniques in light of user expectations and satisfaction, librarians can come up with unique service programs that also incorporate their own knowledge and interpersonal skills.     

Delivering and Assessing Music Reference Services

The nature of music collections and their use means that patrons have always required specialized guidance from librarians to access what they need. Currently, library patrons' expectations are growing as collections and their delivery modes evolve. Music reference services must adapt to effectively address these needs. This article examines the challenges to delivering effective music reference service, the basics of reference assessment, and how assessment models such LibQual+, the Wisconsin-Ohio Reference Evaluation Program, and the Reference Effort Assessment Data Scale can help librarians build patron-centered music reference services.     

Use It or Lose It! Results of a Use Study of the Print Sources in an Academic Library Reference Collection

This article describes a use study of a reference collection, which found that 7.1% of total volumes in the reference collection were used over the course of the fall semester.     

A Brief History of Reference Assessment: No Easy Solutions

The author discusses the different methods of reference assessment that have been tried in libraries over the years to help improve service, justify the existence of the service itself, train new staff, and counter declining statistics.     

Hidden Gems: Creative Artists and Historical Society Libraries and Archives

Creative artists frequently turn to academic or public libraries for research. Rarely do they seem to turn to historical society libraries and archives. This article describes three benefits of using historical society libraries and archives to creative artists: the collections themselves, the different ways artists use the collections, and the staff expertise available at these institutions. It explores why resources at historical society libraries and archives may be underutilized. The role of reference librarians in promoting historical society repositories is discussed, and suggestions for reference providers (at historical societies and other types of institutions) are offered.     

Staffing an Information Desk for Maximum Responsiveness and Effectiveness in Meeting Research and Computing Needs in an Academic Library

Once widely accepted as a librarian-staffed research hub in academic libraries, the reference desk has become a source of wide-ranging debate. Desks have been reconfigured, combined, and in some cases eliminated. In many libraries, the traditional Reference Desk has evolved into the Information Desk to provide immediate answers to preliminary research and computing questions at a visible service point. In its new incarnation, some have questioned the necessity of librarian service at the desk. However, although transaction content has changed over the years, librarians continue to be indispensable at the desk, providing instruction and ensuring consistent, patron-centered service to meet users’ immediate needs.     

Evolving,Not Extinct: Music Reference in the 21st Century

As reference work changes dramatically due to computer technology, tangible reference collections are disappearing from academic libraries in many fields. Such is not the case in music research libraries, however. While many important online music reference resources exist, many print resources remain vitally important, and because of limited funding, they are unlikely to be digitized soon. Music libraries and music reference collections are currently a combination of traditional and online resources, enhanced by human expertise. This beneficial combination should be maintained.     

Deconstructing Plagiarism: International Students and Textual Borrowing Practices

This article reviews studies from various disciplines on plagiarism as a cross-cultural issue and examines cultural, educational, and linguistic factors that may influence the textual borrowing practices of international students. The reasons international students may employ inappropriate source use are complex and attempts to address and combat plagiarism in higher education must take into account multiple factors. Recommendations are made for ways in which academic libraries can assist international students with understanding plagiarism through orientations, instruction, reference service, and web-based guides and tutorials.