Midterms Flashcards
• Heart of library operations and represent the public face of access
to information.
• Are essential as they provide a means for library users to efficiently and accurately access information.
Reference and Information Services
Historical Background:
What happened during early history?
•Librarians concentrated on
acquiring and organizing materials
•Library users were expected to find what they needed independently.
Historical Background:
What happened during 1976?
Reference service is generally attributed to Samuel Swett Green
Who is the father of Reference Services?
Samuel Swett Green
Historical Background:
What happened during 1876?
• Samuel Green, librarian of the
Worcester Free Public Library in
Massachusetts, develops the concept of
librarians assisting users in book selection.
• Samuel Swett Green published the first article on helping
patrons use the library.
What did Samuel Swett Green state in American Library Journal?
“Personal intercourse and relations between librarians and readers are useful in all libraries.”
Historical Background:
What happened during 1915?
• At the 37th meeting of the American Library Association, William Warner Bishop defines reference work as “the service rendered by a librarian in aid of some sort of study.”
• Bishop emphasizes that reference work is an organized effort to make the most expeditious and fruitful use of library books.
Who is William Warner Bishop?
Superintendent of the Reading Room of the Library of Congress
Historical Background:
What happened during 1923?
• Charles Williamson’s report, “Training
for Library Service: A Report Prepared for the Carnegie Corporation of New York, “ further develops the idea of reference service.
• Williamson’s work underscored the importance of specialized training for librarians, emphasizing that effective reference service requires a deep understanding of various informational resources.
• Report aimed to prepare librarians to assist users more effectively, equipping them with the knowledge and skills necessary to navigate complex information landscapes.
What is included in Charles Williamson’s report, “Training for Library Service: A Report Prepared for the Carnegie Corporation of New York”?
Report includes a course description for reference work, covering standard reference works, encyclopedias, dictionaries, indexes, and more.
Which authors contributed to the refinement of the reference librarian’s role?
Various authors, including:
William A. Katz (2001)
Linda C. Smith and Melissa A. Wong
(2016),
How did William A. Katz contribute to the refinement of the reference librarian’s role?
Emphasized the importance of
developing critical thinking skills and
adaptability among reference librarians
How did Linda C. Smith and Melissa A. Wong contribute to the refinement of the reference librarian’s role?
Further explored the integration of technology in reference services, advocating for librarians to embrace new tools and platforms that enhance user access and engagement.
Historical Background:
What happened during the 21st century?
• The core mission of reference service remains the same – assisting individual users.
• Reference librarians interact with patrons on a one-to-one basis, whether in person or virtually.
• Advancements in technology, such as the telephone, email, chat, and instant messaging (IM) reference, expand the ways librarians provide assistance.
• Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter also become channels for reference services.
• May be either a book or periodical (or its electronic equivalent) that contains useful facts and information.
• Used to find particular pieces of information, rather than read from beginning to end.
Reference Work
•Defined to include the professional advice and assistance.
• Establishing the contact between reader and book by personal service
Reference Service
The major objectives of providing reference services to
its users are:
(8)
- To protect and arrange the collection.
- To present the collection before the readers.
- To have trained and professional librarians.
- To encourage coordination between employees and readers.
- To save the time of the reader.
- To conduct the fact-finding research.
- To develop the library.
- To maximize use of reference services.
Reference Librarian performs 4 functions:
• INSTRUCTING the readers in a ways of the library
• ASSISTING the reader with his queries
• AIDING the reader in the selection of good works
• PROMOTING the library within the community
• Process of answering questions to satisfy the information requirements of the user.
• Process of satisfying, specific, recurrent information needs.
Reference process
8 Basic Steps in Reference Process
- Identification of the essential information in the request of a library user.
- Determine whether any clarification or amplification of the query is required.
- Refine the statement of the user and transform the query statement of the user into subject descriptors/keywords.
- Formulate a search strategy.
- Mentally identify categories of reference tools likely to contain the type of information needed.
- Selection of a specific title in which to begin searching for an answer to the query.
- Location of an answer within the pages of the specific title(s)/database(s) selected.
- Selection of an answer.
Process of determining whether any clarification or amplification of the query is required.
• Reference librarian’s task is to translate the patron’s question into one that can be answered with the library’s resources.
Reference Interview
Line of action formulated for searching the information.
Search strategy
Who created and updated the “Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers” which list five important elements, or stages, of the reference interview.
Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) of the American Library Association
5 Elements or stages of “Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers”
Approachability
Interest
Listening/ Inquiring
Searching
Follow up (RUSA 2004)
Element of Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers:
• Matter of good hospitality, you want to make the patron feel that she or he can ask you a question
Approachability
Element of “Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers”:
• You want to appear interested in the question that the patron asks.
Interested
Element of Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers:
• We are ready to ask patron clarifying questions which will get us to the heart of their reference need and listen to their responses.
Listening/ Inquiring
Element of Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers:
• Is considered RUSA’s fourth stage of the reference interview
Searching
Element of Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers:
• Final stage in the RUSA Guidelines for a good reference interview when the reference session is winding down.
Follow up (RUSA 2004)
Offer several good suggestions for how to interact with patrons to ensure that they find the most relevant and useful material for their questions.
RUSA’s “Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers”
An intermediate step between the patron’s question and the ideal resource to answer that question.
Reference Interview
“Father” of librarianship in India,
S. R. Ranganathan (1931)
5 Laws of Library Science
- Books are for use.
- Every person his or her book.
- Every book its reader.
- Save the time of the reader.
- The library is a growing organism
What is the most applicable Ranganathan’s laws to the reference interview?
4th Law
Involves a series of steps to effectively find information or resources.
Searching procedure
Searching procedure: (5)
- Identify
- Find
- Evaluate
- Apply
- Acknowledge
Searching procedure:
• Develop your topic
• Identify Keywords
Identify
Searching procedure:
• Catalog
• Indexes
• Internet
Find
Searching procedure:
• Author
• Date of Publication
Evaluate
Searching procedure:
• Organize
Apply
Searching procedure:
• Cite your sources
Acknowledge
Book designed by the arrangement and treatment of its subject matter to be consulted for definitive items of information than to be read consecutively.
Reference Sources
Stated that, a good reference sources answers the questions and a poor reference source fails to answer the question.
William Katz (2002)
We evaluate reference sources because:
(4)
• To get accurate information
• To get the best materials
• To get the high-quality collections
• To get the best value for your money
Evaluating for Purchase:
(4)
• Flyers & Catalogs
• Bookstores & Larger Libraries
• Exhibits
• Reviews
The reputation and credentials of the
publisher and author.
Authority
Copy right of the book or the most recent update of the resources.
Currency
2 different issues of Currency
Publication Date
The Content
The target audience of the sources
Audience
•The entries must be consistent.
•They should reinforce one another and should not contradict each information.
Accuracy
Check if the sources are easy to use
Accessibility
Evaluating Print Resources:
• Author =
• Title =
• Volume =
• Edition =
• Series =
• Date of Publication =
• Place of Publication =
• Foreword or Preface
• Instructions for use
• Table of Contents
• Glossary
• Text
• Appendix
• Index
Additional Criteria for Evaluating Print Resources: (10)
• Scope
• Details
• Completeness
• Purpose
• Clarity
• Organization
• Understandability
• Arrangement
• Index and Cross References
• Special Features
Provides answers to brief facts, statistical information, background information, or directs you to additional information sources.
Basic Reference Sources
Standard works that are used to locate specific types of information.
Reference Sources
Examples of reference source
• Dictionarie
• Encyclopedias
• Handbooks
• Yearbooks
• Almanac• Directories
• Biographical and geographical sources
•Specifically designed to provide required information quickly and in the most convenient form.
•Specially compiled to provide answers to any type of queries that might bev raised by the user of a library
Reference books
Essential component of academic research, serving as a comprehensive list of documents.
Bibliography
3 Types of Bibliographies
Annotated
Enumerative
Descriptive
Includes summaries and evaluations of sources.
Annotated
Lists works based on author, subject, or date.
Enumerative
Focuses on physical characteristics like paper and binding.
Descriptive
2 Types of Annotated Bibliographies:
Descriptive or Informative
Analytical or Critical
It explains the main arguments and conclusions of the author without evaluating them
Descriptive or Informative
This type not only summarizes the source but also analyzes it by evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the author’s arguments.
Analytical or Critical
4 Types of Enumerative Bibliographies:
National Bibliography
Personal Bibliography
Corporate Bibliography
Subject Bibliography
5 Steps in Writing a Bibliography:
- KEEP TRACK of your sources
- GATHER information for each source
- LOCATE bibliographic information
- FORMAT your bibliography
- ORGANIZE the list alphabetically
Functions of Bibliographies:
(6)
• Documentation
• Attribution and Credit
• Verification and Quality Control
• Further Reading and Exploration
• Preservation of Knowledge
• Intellectual Dialogue and Scholarship
Importance of Bibliographic Service: (4)
• PROVIDE organized access to a wide range of resources.
• AID in proper citation and referencing.
• PRESERVE and archive knowledge.
• FACILITATE the dissemination of research.
3 Types of Bibliography Styles:
• MLA Works Cited
• APA Reference List
• Chicago Bibliography Style
•Indicators or locators that assist one to find information.
• Systematic guides to location of words, concepts and other information items in books, periodicals or other publications.
• Consists of a series of entries appearing in alphabetical order to enable users to find information with references to show where each item is located.
Index/Indexes
5 Types of Indexes:
• By Arrangement
• ALPHABETICAL INDEX
• CLASSIFIED INDEX
• CONCORDANCE
• NUMERICAL OR SERIAL ORDER INDEX
Index based on the orderly principle of the alphabet.
ALPHABETICAL INDEX
Index which follows a predetermined scheme in which subjects are arranged in a specified system of relationships.
CLASSIFIED INDEX
Alphabetical index to all the principal words in a single text or in a multi-volume work of a single author with a pointer at which each word occurs.
CONCORDANCE
Patent-number index/table index
NUMERICAL OR SERIAL ORDER INDEX
• A person who does indexing or prepares indexes.
• Noted for their orderliness; they usually are orderly minded with the
capacity to take pains, having clear thought processes and meticulously careful.
• Analyzes a document and tags it with subject and other descriptors based on his/her understanding of what the user would search under.
Indexer
Purpose of Indexes
• Needed to provide effective shortcuts to needed information, without an index, the retrieval of information will be difficult.
Brief objective summary of the essential content of a book, article, speech, report, dissertation or other works that present the main points in the same order as the original but have no independent literary value.
Abstract
Functions of Abstracts: (4)
• ASSIST readers in deciding whether or not to read a full text.
• ENABLE users to note the important findings on a topic.
• ALLOW librarians/readers to locate information quickly and to crossreference.
• SAVE TIME because researchers can have a clear overview of a document without having to read the entire text.
