The impact of COVID-19 on reference services: a national survey of academic health sciences librarians

Charbonneau, Deborah H.; Vardell, Emily

doi:10.5195/jmla.2022.1322

Cited by 12 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The questionnaire was developed by the authors and pre-tested with members of the target audience before disseminating the survey. The results are part of a larger study to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on academic health sciences library services in the U.S. and changes to reference services have been reported in the literature ( Charbonneau & Vardell, 2022 ). The larger study consisted of 20 survey questions administered as a single survey in March 2021.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies highlight the important role of academic health sciences librarians in providing COVID-related information during the earlier days of the pandemic, such as collaborating with health care providers to collate relevant resources, curating up-to-date COVID-19 guides, and offering reference support to answer questions about treatments, precautions, and vaccines ( Charbonneau & Vardell, 2022 ; Clifton et al, 2021 ; Yu & Mani, 2020 ). A few studies explored the impact of COVID-19 specifically on academic health sciences library instruction services, focusing on the shift to online instruction ( Hickner et al, 2021 ; Patterson & Hull, 2021 ; Shin et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As Radford et al (2021) noted in their study of academic librarian reference services, “it could be argued that COVID-19 prompted an upheaval in academic libraries whose magnitude is unequaled in modern times” (p. 107). While several studies in the extant literature have explored the shift in services at general academic libraries, and other studies have looked at either a specific health sciences library or focused on reference services ( Charbonneau & Vardell, 2022 ) more research is warranted to understand the “upheaval” in academic health sciences libraries and build a fuller understanding specifically of research support and online instruction provided by academic librarians in the health sciences during the pandemic. The current study focuses explicitly on research services and instructional support and explores the realities facing academic health sciences libraries in a post COVID-19 environment.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Health sciences librarian research and instruction services in pandemic information environments

Charbonneau

Vardell

2022

The Journal of Academic Librarianship

Self Cite

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Health sciences librarian research and instruction services in pandemic information environments

Charbonneau

Vardell

2022

The Journal of Academic Librarianship

Self Cite

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“…As Kumar and Gupta (2022) study the restructuring of library resources and services at IIT Delhi library and find that user usage and preferences for electronic resources and services are increasing. Several more studies found that WhatsApp and instant messaging usage frequency among university students increased because of their convenience, speed and textual record (Charbonneau and Vardell, 2022; Tsang and Chiu, 2022; Guo et al. , 2022; Hurley and Warner, 2022; Dempsey et al.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of restructuring resources and services and their utilization in IIT Roorkee library, India

Kumar

Gupta

2023

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PurposeThis paper examines the impact of restructuring on the usage of resources and services in the Indian Institute of Technology library, Roorkee. Library users were approached to know their preferences between an electronic and traditional resources and services. Additionally, the study focused to know the extent of change in users' awareness, dependency, usage, frequency and satisfaction from library resources and services after restructuring these due to the availability of abundance of e-resources.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted survey-based research design, for which a questionnaire was used as the principal instrument for data collection. This questionnaire was distributed to the library users when they physically visited the library. Notably, all the questionnaires distributed were returned, yielding thereby a cent percent response rate. One questionnaire was administrative on the librarian for getting the data regarding the changes made in the subscription of e-resources and services. The collected data were further analyzed with appropriate statistical techniques of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) as chi-square test, mean and standard deviation.FindingsThe results showed that the use of both restructured resources and services had increased, and was found to be helpful for users. Also, the users' dependency on library had increased, showing thereby an upward trend for usage in the future. However, although the users’ awareness, usage and frequency of e-resources and ICT-based services have positively changed, and partially been satisfied, the study suggests that further revision is needed for further strengthening e-resources and services as per user's needs satisfaction.Practical implicationsThis study would create interest in rethinking library resources and services among librarians that tend to respond positively to user satisfaction and library functions; it also provides a strategic position of a library per se for its users in the future. Importantly, the assessment of the usage of restructuring resources and services, vis-a-vis their impact on users, may also serve as a key tool, which possibly could be applied to both public libraries and other types of higher education libraries.Originality/valueMany libraries find it difficult to balance between electronic and printed materials, especially in the fields of science and technology, due to the preferences of the users. Thus far, there have not been too many studies that have looked to assess restructuring of library resources and services, vis-a-vis their impact on library users. Therefore, the results of this study would provide a clear understanding to the library profession as to how users use e-resources and services in the digital age, and how much they are actually influenced by these.

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“…Flier's article acknowledges the economic pressures many libraries faced during the early part of the pandemic, resulting in staffing shortages and limited resources (Flierl, 2019, p. 62). Though some literature has raised discipline-specific concerns in the rapid transition to virtual services (Lapidus, 2022; Charbonneau and Vardell, 2022a, b), there is a gap in literature discussing these approaches in relation to the general library research assistance efforts of this time.…”

Section: Literature/landscape Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Collaborative research services: a peer-led cohort approach

Johnson

Bowline²,

King³

et al. 2023

RSR

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PurposePrior to 2020, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Library's research services spanned multiple service points. Multiple locations were staffed by Library Student Research Assistants (LSRAs) and each location was supervised independently. While efforts to increase collaboration had been underway, much of the work and services remained siloed and often duplicated training and service hours.Design/methodology/approachWith the onset of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), UCLA Library rapidly transitioned from entirely in-person to entirely online services. With multiple service points pivoting, UCLA was redundant to have multiple online desks providing Zoom appointments and that quickly became apparent. Moreover, transitioning in-person student work to remote work was paramount to providing both normal services to users and allowing LSRAs to keep jobs during a time of uncertainty and insecurity.FindingsWhile the authors' original consolidation of services and implementation of shared supervision was a result of the pandemic and primarily involved online services, the authors have maintained this shared approach and collaborative vision in returning to in-person services. For the past year, the authors have offered shared in-person (at two library locations) and online services. As subject-specific library locations begin to reopen their desks, the authors continue to identify ways to leverage shared supervision and a robust referral model for those on-site services while negotiating student staffing and the need for both general and subject-specific services.Originality/valueThe authors present a novel approach to peer-to-peer teaching and learning and research services and shared student worker supervision with services coordinated across multiple locations and disciplines within a large academic library serving a large student population.

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The impact of COVID-19 on reference services: a national survey of academic health sciences librarians

Cited by 12 publications

References 10 publications

Health sciences librarian research and instruction services in pandemic information environments

Health sciences librarian research and instruction services in pandemic information environments

Impact of restructuring resources and services and their utilization in IIT Roorkee library, India

Collaborative research services: a peer-led cohort approach

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