The study investigated whether students would prefer mobile instant messaging versus in-person enquiries for reference queries post-COVID-19. A descriptive survey research design was utilized in the ...study. The population consisted of 245 Adeleke University undergraduates that partook in library orientation programme. A descriptive statistic was employed to analyze the data. Findings indicated that the most preferred mobile instant messaging for reference queries by students are WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, default text messenger and Facebook Messenger. However, the most significant problem of using mobile instant messaging for reference queries were discovered to be internet access issues. The study concluded that Adeleke University undergraduate students prefer to utilize mobile instant messaging to make reference queries rather than in-person reference queries post-COVID-19, hence reference librarians should enhance their use of mobile instant messaging to receive reference queries.
RESUMO Introdução: o serviço de referência nas bibliotecas universitárias especializadas em saúde possui determinadas singularidades em razão das características do campo científico do campo das ...Ciências da Saúde, pela interface entre as práticas de ensino e a pesquisa científica, assim como pelo perfil geral e demandas por informação/evidências confiáveis por acadêmicos, docentes/pesquisadores e profissionais. Objetivo: apresentar e discutir as singularidades do serviço de referência nas bibliotecas universitárias especializadas em saúde, assim como os desafios/potencialidades da atuação bibliotecária nesse contexto. Método: O estudo, de caráter teórico, realizou pesquisa exploratória com pesquisa bibliográfica na literatura nacional e internacional da área de Biblioteconomia/Ciência da Informação. Resultados: Os resultados obtidos sinalizam que as singularidades do processo de trabalho nas bibliotecas universitárias são determinadas não apenas pelas idiossincrasias do pessoal da saúde, mas, sobretudo, pelo fato de a saúde humana (física e mental) ser o objeto de estudo e prática da área. Conclusão: Conclui-se que apesar dos desafios relacionados à formação bibliotecária no Brasil e do próprio desenvolvimento de competências/habilidades desejáveis e/ou requisitadas para atuação em saúde, tais elementos não se constituem como um óbice intransponível para a prática profissional com excelência. No entanto, o bibliotecário precisa reconhecer que tais variáveis são intervenientes em sua prática profissional e que a busca por aperfeiçoamento/especialização é uma demanda premente.
Library users evolving information needs and their choice of search methods have changed reference work profoundly. Today s reference librarian must work in a whole new way not only service-focused ...and businesslike, but even entrepreneurial. Murphy innovatively rethinks the philosophy behind current library reference services in this thought-provoking book, which
What Do Reference Librarians Do Now? McAdoo, Monty L.
Evidence based library and information practice,
01/2022, Letnik:
17, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Objective – The primary purpose of this study was to better understand the nature of “reference” and reference transactions.
Methods – This study looked at four years’ of reference transaction (RT) ...data recorded at a small, state-owned university.
Results – The data clearly indicates that the overall number of RT continues to decline. It also reveals that, despite the use of student mentors, librarians are still involved with a majority of RT, regardless of whether or not they require the expertise of a librarian to resolve.
Conclusion – Continuing to be involved with RT which do not require the knowledge or training of a librarian (e.g., directional) can have a diminutive effect on the perceived role, work, and value of librarians. As such, it is suggested that these sorts of questions be addressed by student mentors or staff members. In turn, this will allow librarians to focus on those questions and activities which do require their unique knowledge and skills. Along similar lines, it is also suggested that librarians explore and identify new, non-traditional ways of applying their expertise to student success initiatives and the overall academic life of the institution. With the merger of three libraries, data from this study has been and continues to be used to make informed decisions about the provision of reference services in a new, integrated library environment.
The Cataloging and the Reference and Research Services departments at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's Edith Garland Dupré Library collaborated to create name authority headings for the ...Library of Congress Name Authority File. The project's primary goal was to increase the number of the library's contributions as a Name Authority Cooperative Program participant. The Head of Cataloging determined which Louisiana persons needed name authority headings and compiled a list of names for Reference & Research Services staff to investigate. After using various online resources to collect biographical information, staff submitted their findings via a Google Form. The Head of Cataloging compiled and edited the data using MarcEdit. The non-traditional methods discussed in this article can be incorporated by catalogers at other libraries and institutions to simplify the authority heading creation process.
Reference service, the idea that librarians provide direct assistance to users, has been a central function of libraries for over a century. Today’s libraries are even more complex and intimidating ...to new users than libraries of the past, and the technical and social contexts in which users experience their library’s resources add to this complexity. The availability of a friendly librarian who helps users find materials, search for information on a topic, interpret citations, identify quality information, and format bibliographies has become a standard component of what libraries do. However, changes in technologies, economics, and user populations are causing many libraries to question the need and function of traditional reference services. This book examines how library services meet user needs in the twenty-first century. Many libraries are asking key questions about reference services, such as: Should librarians be on call waiting for users or out in the community promoting the library? Should we assign staff to help users one-on-one or is it more effective to assign them to build and use tools to teach users how to find and evaluate information? Will we continue to purchase commercial reference sources or just use Wikipedia and other free resources on the web? With the proliferation of information available today, how can we help users evaluate search results and select the best resources that they can find? And how do we evaluate the effectiveness of reference services? Through contributions from the leading scholars and practitioners in the field, this volume addresses such issues and how they affect practices in public and academic libraries. In addition, it presents perspectives from the publishing community and the creators of discovery tools. Each section is enhanced by short case studies that highlight real-world practices and experiences.
This case study focuses on the trends of reference management as part of the reference services at “Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati in the last 20 years. The institution aims to adopt reference ...managers such as Zotero, Mendeley or EndNote online in the most common research-related scenarios, whether for the accreditation of an university specialization, the development of a research topic or bibliometric research. Publish or Perish is also explored for the cases of managing citations and research impact analysis.
Students in formal courses are often required to work together on group projects. This article features methods that faculty and students can employ to create the groups. Included are metrics ...students may use to assess their contributions to the group experience as well as the contributions of their peer classmates.
The role of the reference librarian has changed considerably over the past thirty years. Today reference librarians spend as much time on public relations as on answering reference questions and more ...time solving log-in issues than on helping with research. Despite this, there is still a role for reference librarians to play using their research and curation skills. That role involves the digital humanities, particularly text encoding projects following the guidelines of the Text Encoding Initiative Consortium (TEI). One such TEI project is the Rosarium Project, which curates online popular materials about roses.
This article reviews the research literature of three major journals in reference librarianship. The texts of 494 articles were analyzed and classified as research versus nonresearch. Articles such ...as news, commentary, book reviews, editorials, meeting announcements, and opinion pieces were excluded from the analysis. A total number of 162 (30.49%) articles were determined to be research articles and were examined to collect data on numerous variables including but not limited to authorship, affiliation, topic, type of research, data collection, and data analysis techniques.
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