This unobtrusive study conducted at the Brigham Young University Library was designed to determine whether reference questions are appropriately referred by student and paraprofessional assistants. Issues addressed included: (1) the percentage of questions assistants cannot answer themselves that are referred to professionals; (2) the percentage…

Intended for librarians familiar with basic online searching techniques and various vendor protocols, this manual describes and illustrates the policies, record-keeping, and forms used by the online services department of the Woodward Library at Austin Peay State University (APSU). Where specific examples are used, they are given with DIALOG…

A summary and four papers from a symposium, held at the 1974 American Library Association Conference, dealing with the feasibility and desirability of measuring reference service. (PF)

Question analysis and search strategy development were broken down into nine steps for answering reference questions. These steps were examined for possible mechanization of the answering process. Such automation was not proved feasible. (LS)

The University of Denver Libraries employed SCORE (Service Components Reliability and Efficiency), a cost analysis technique, to measure effectiveness and cost of reference activity. This report examines the results and the problems encountered in application of this methodology. A reference model, designed as a flow chart, was developed by…

Librarians must be alert to the local information needs of library users, and must also develop library instruction programs to help patrons make more effective use of the library. (LS)

The subject specialist in a university library selects materials, provides reference service to the university community, gives instruction in library use, locates and makes available less commonly used materials, etc. (Author)

This report describes a study undertaken to identify the types of telephoned reference questions received by the Languages Centre of the Metropolitan Toronto Library. In April 1980 two samples of one-week's duration were taken from reference staff records indicating the number of telephone calls in or about a particular language and the day on…

Using simulated reference questions and a search exercise in a standardized list of subject headings, this test assesses several major skills of reference librarians: question analysis, selection of appropriate source, actual use of the source, and selection of appropriate subject terms. It also provides a means of determining the attitudes of…

Designed to assist legislators and legislative staff in using the New York State Library more effectively, this handbook provides a description of what the library is, what it has to offer, and how to use it. Specifically, sections are devoted to (1) the Library itself--general facts, descriptions, locations; (2) special services for the…

Intended to aid college instructors in need of library and bibliographic instruction presentations, this report describes a program which was designed by reference librarians at the University of Nebraska at Omaha to introduce beginning undergraduate students to the use of the university library and its resources. The report presents background…

This review summarizes findings derived from recent literature concerning the influences of online reference services on interlibrary loans; staffing, scheduling, and budgeting; library acquisition; library visibility and use; physical floor space; and the image of the reference department, the librarians, and the library as a whole. Eleven…

This paper discusses the future effects of information technology on libraries and library services, emphasizing the roles of online retrieval systems and electronic processes involving published literature. The following aspects are examined: line charges and terminal costs, a comprehensive electronic journal system, interlibrary loans,…

The objectives of the study were to determine the extent and nature of unmet needs of users of reference and research library resources and to propose measures to meet those needs. Data on research library use were collected by 3 questionnaires sent to 4 groups of users: 1) all faculty members of 4-year public and private institutions of higher…