Evaluating Reference Service in a Large Academic Library

Elzy, Cheryl; Nourie, Alan; Lancaster, F. W.; Joseph, Kurt M.

doi:10.5860/crl_52_05_454

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…A number of studies (see, e.g., Hernon & McClure, 1986; Elzy, Nourie, Lancaster, & Joseph, 1991) have evaluated the accuracy of reference services. The standard statistic is that reference librarians tend to provide accurate answers about 55% of the time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indicators of accuracy for answers to ready reference questions on the Internet

Frické

Fallis

2003

J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci.

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The Internet is increasingly being used as a source of reference information. Internet users need to be able to distinguish accurate information from inaccurate information. Toward this end, information professionals have published checklists for evaluating information. However, such checklists can be effective only if the proposed indicators of accuracy really do indicate accuracy. This study implements a technique for testing such indicators of accuracy and uses it to test indicators of accuracy for answers to ready reference questions. Many of the commonly proposed indicators of accuracy (e.g., that the Web site does not contain advertising) were not found to be correlated with accuracy. However, the link structure of the Internet can be used to identify Web sites that are more likely to contain accurate reference information.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indicators of accuracy for answers to ready reference questions on the Internet

Frické

Fallis

2003

J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci.

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“…Venkatalakshmi and Sonker (2002) supported the need for accurate responses and they stressed the "right information to the right user at the right time" (p. 1). Elzy, Nourie, Lancaster, and Joseph (1991) advocated for accurate answers, not just an answer acceptable by the patron. Hill, Madarash-Hill, and Bich (2003) found inadequate service related to incomplete responses lacking in possibilities or failing in the provision of an accurate, comprehensive response.…”

Section: Accuracymentioning

confidence: 99%

Effectiveness of Asynchronous Reference Services for Distance Learning Students Within Florida's Community College System

Profeta

2007

Community & Junior College Libraries

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Barriers and Issues 93 Summary of the Known and the Unknown 96 Contributions to the Field 97 3. Methodology 98 Research Methods Employed 98 Specific Procedures Employed 100 Formats for Presenting Results 126 Resources Used 127 Reliability and Validity 128 Summary 130 4. Results 131 Analysis of the Data 131 Responses from the Digital Reference Service Providers 132 Background Details on the Unobtrusive Study 150 Results of the Unobtrusive Study of Asynchronous Reference Services 151 Response Rate 155 Analysis of the Answers 155 Summary of Results 222 5. Conclusion, Implications, Recommendations, and Summary 225 Conclusions 225 Implications 249 Recommendations 251 Summary 261 Appendixes A. Methodology Workflow 272 B. Nova Southeastern University IRB Approval 276 C. Permission from IRCC 277 D. Permission from Library Administrators 278 E. IRB Adult/General Informed Consent [DRSP] 280 F. Checklist for Quality E-mail Reference Responses 282 G. Scoring Quality E-mail Reference Responses 285 H. Expert Panel 287 I. IRB Adult/General Informed Consent [student] 289 Reference List 292 vii List of Tables Academic Degree and Certificate Programs, the standards for the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications (WCET) (1996), set the tenor for quality DL. A subsequent policy report from WCET is entitled the Principles for Electronic Campus Library Services (Southern Regional Education Board, 2002b). The Institute for Higher Education Policy (2000) included the provision of library services in its report, Quality on the Line: Benchmarks for Success in Internet-Based Distance Education. The American Library Association (ALA) and the National University Extension Association (1931) recognized inadequate services to extension students in 1931 when it published a report dealing with the need to support the library needs of DL students. ALA's (2004a) Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services asserted the need for "equivalent" library support and services to all students no matter where their learning takes place (p. 1). Guidelines and standards often helped an organization determine if its service was effective for accrediting standards (Lessin, McGinnis, & Bean, 2002). With assessment measures so diverse, a national example might have helped to provide direction for local needs (Gross, McClure, Hodges, Graham, & Lankes, 2001). During the 1990s, more libraries started to offer DL resources and services comparable to those provided to campus-based students (Mahony, 1993). In 2000, the U.S. Department of Education identified 72% of public postsecondary institutions that offered digital reference via e-mail, including more than 65% of community colleges (Tabs, 2003, pp. 3, 51). Straw (2001) attributed the change to the advances in technology. Library services available to DL students included, but were not limited to, digital reference and instructional services, remote access to online research tools, database and research tutorials, interlibrary loan, and document delivery. Digital reference through (Hernon & McCl...

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“…19 So more recent investigators such as Cheryl Elzy, Alan Nourie, Wilf Lancaster, and Kurt Joseph (1991) have reconsidered this response variable; they implicitly recognize it as continuous. 20 In this study, the authors explicitly recognized the response range as continuous in developing their own scoring method (see table 1).…”

Section: Evaluating System Response and Scoringmentioning

confidence: 99%