Fourteen scholarly papers and eight abstracts comprise the content of the twenty-second annual Brick & Click Libraries Conference, held annually at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri. The proceedings, authored by academic librarians and presented at the conference, portray the contemporary and future face of…

Reference lists from two assignments of psychology students in university-level online distance learning (ODL) were analyzed for number and type of sources and mark achieved. Most referenced were resources relevant to the assignment and provided by instructors. Use changed across assignments: Instructor sources were used more on the first…

The core duties of the reference librarian inherently mandate that the work environment is not unlike a kaleidoscope: Students and faculty revolve within and around the library, and reference and public services workers do the same; every move temporarily redesigning the library, its collections, and even its very role on campus into something…

In spring semester 2009, two of the authors taught LIB 5020--Information Sources & Services to graduate library science students at Appalachian State University. The course covers information seeking patterns and provides an overview of reference services. The course is also designed to examine and evaluate library reference materials and…

What types of information sources do masters and doctoral (M and D) students at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) use most, how do the patterns of use differ across subject disciplines and faculties, and to what extent does the Library and Information Services (LIS) keep or provide access to the journals that are mostly used by M and D…

Kids ask the darndest questions. And sometimes they ask them in the darndest places, including online information systems that were not designed to answer them. There is a reason for this continuing phenomenon, and an important lesson in it for school library media specialists and other educators. To understand the phenomenon at hand, imagine an…

Discusses library Web sites and explains some of the benefits when libraries make their sites into reference portals, linking them to other useful Web sites. Topics include print versus Web information sources; limitations of search engines; what Web sites to include, including criteria for inclusions; and organizing the sites. (LRW)

The Perseus Digital Library (PDL), under continuous development since 1987, is one of the primary digital resources for the humanities. A summary of the PDL genesis and current status is given and the multifaceted and longitudinal evaluation effort is described. A brief synthesis of results is provided and reflections on the evaluation along with…

Suggests that current conditions are nearly ideal for the effective meta-assessment of online reference services (ORS), in part because expected patterns and modes of service have not yet been established for emerging and evolving online environments, and in part because the distance between theory and practice regarding reference service in…

Reports on the current state of reference services on the World Wide Web and explains what a Web-based reference service is. Describes several models of handling requests, and explores the impact of these services on traditional reference services. Concludes that, to date, Web-based services have had little impact on traditional reference…

Describes the development by the Alexandria Digital Library of a gazetteer (dictionary of geographic names) composed of a Gazetteer Content Standard, a Feature Type Thesaurus, and an operational interactive gazetteer service. Illustrates the use of this tool in a georeferenced digital library and relates progress in working with Federal agencies…

Describes the development of the Collaborative Digital Reference Service (CDRS) by the Library of Congress and partner libraries that provides professional reference service to users through an international digital network of libraries. Discusses the benefits of searching library collections rather than just Internet sources and considers future…

Librarians cannot distribute their collections electronically until the problems of intellectual property and free-and-equal access are resolved. Libraries must overcome restrictions of "virtual libraries" thereby making copyrighted texts freely available. Libraries must be promoted as places where readers freely consult both copyrighted…

Discussion of electronic access to information focuses on a study conducted at the library of the College of William and Mary that used 40 reference desk questions to assess the value of printed sources, CD-ROMs, databases, and the World Wide Web. Also discusses the reference librarian as omnipaedia. (LRW)

Includes three articles that consider the effects of the Internet on public library reference services. Highlights include the reliability of Internet information sources, its timeliness as a tool for information access and dissemination, the Internet as change agent for libraries; reference publishing, helping the searcher refine requests, and an…