Academic librarians have embraced tools such as e-mail or chat that allow them to deliver reference services virtually, but not many studies have advocated for using social networking sites (SNS) as a medium for answering user questions. Even as reference departments field fewer questions requiring in-depth resources or responses, librarians have…

There has been longstanding debate about whether the level of complexity of questions received at reference desks and via online chat services requires a librarian's expertise. Continued decreases in the number and complexity of reference questions have all but ended the debate; many academic libraries no longer staff service points with…

In Japan, only a few public libraries provide e-mail reference services. To help public libraries start e-mail reference services, the authors investigated reference questions received by libraries via e-mail and traditional face-to-face services. The authors found that research questions are more frequently observed among e-mail questions and…

In 2012, "U.S. News & World Report" ranked nineteen institutions on its Up-and-Coming national universities list. The universities were put on the list based on rankings from experts in higher education administration. The experts were asked to identify institutions that had implemented innovative ideas in the areas of academics,…

This article examines the topic of genocide and other world conflicts as they are addressed by reference works. Topics of human aggression are treated by multidisciplinary research, and an awareness of the multiple angles of approach aids the process of directing students to sources. The article discusses definitions and standard organizational…

Genre is a hot issue in readers' advisory (RA) circles right now. Many people are looking at how genre functions and morphs. Studying a genre is not a new idea. Over two decades ago, and even longer in less formal ways, librarians began gathering to study genres--asking such questions as in what genre does this book fit and why, what are its…

The more than 4,000 "chats" received by the University of Central Florida's (UCF) Ask-A-Librarian digital reference service are the subject of this practitioner-based, descriptive case study. Question content from chats received during four semesters between January 2005 and May 2006 are categorized and plotted, by semester, to show the…

A brief description of the reasons for and methods employed in arriving at an expansion of the Library of Congress classes PT 2600-2688. (Author)

Designed to acquaint students with the facilities and resources of the North Dakota State University (NDSU) Library, this library manual is divided into 24 chapters: (1) The Main Library; (2) Reference Room; (3) Periodical Indexes; (4) Infotrac Academic Index; (5) Abstracts and Two-Step Indexes; (6) Locating Periodicals; (7) Newspaper Indexes and…

A simplified scheme for cataloging and classifying state and municipal documents is now in use at the State University of New York at Albany, employing double Cutter numbers to designate documents by state and agency. A consistent scheme for subject and state Cuttering makes possible both subject and agency approaches. (2 references) (Author/DH)

Developed to provide a programmed instruction tutorial for student assistant shelvers in the General Reference Division at San Diego State University (SDSU) Library, this manual presents five teaching units: (1) an introduction to the resources and services available in General Reference, which includes reference materials for all fields in the…

An explanation of the federal government's Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) and how it relates to commercial business publications commonly used as tools by the reference librarian. (JAB)

Ranganathan believed that effective reference service depended on the intuitive "flair" of the librarian and on the use of an analyticosynthetic classification scheme. (Author)

The first lecture on some experiences in library surveys and classification concludes that reclassification or acceptance of the Library of Congress system provides an opportunity for librarians to reevaluate their organizational patterns of work, to make clear decisions about policies of work and to remove deadwood from the collections. The…

Discusses the training of professional and paraprofessional staff who do reference work in public, academic, and school libraries. The source-centered teaching approach versus teaching the search process is discussed, user needs are considered, and the use of Dewey Decimal Classification to teach the organization of the collection is described.…