The Effective Reference Librarian

The Effective Reference Librarian PDF Author: Diana M. Thomas
Publisher: New York : Academic Press
ISBN:
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
Reference functions. Resources for reference work. Evaluating reference sources. Selection aids for reference collections. Desk technique and the library user. Administration. Current and continuing issues. Responsabilities and ethics: the profession's view.

The Effective Reference Librarian

The Effective Reference Librarian PDF Author: Diana M. Thomas
Publisher: New York : Academic Press
ISBN:
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
Reference functions. Resources for reference work. Evaluating reference sources. Selection aids for reference collections. Desk technique and the library user. Administration. Current and continuing issues. Responsabilities and ethics: the profession's view.

Doing the Work of Reference

Doing the Work of Reference PDF Author: Linda S Katz
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317951891
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 410

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Book Description
Become more versatile, competent, and resourceful with these practical suggestions! Becoming a first-class reference librarian demands proficiency in a wide range of skills. Doing the Work of Reference offers sound advice for the full spectrum of your responsibilities. Though many aspects of a reference librarian's work are changing with astonishing speed, the classic principles in this volume will never go out of date. This comprehensive volume begins with hints for orienting yourself to a new job and concludes with ideas for serving the profession. On the way, Doing the Work of Reference covers such diverse topics as working with student assistants, offering reference services to remote users, and keeping up your professional development. In addition, you will find strategies for dealing with technological change--not high-tech information that will become obsolete before the ink is dry, but ways of approaching the process of change that will work today, next week, and ten years from now. Doing the Work of Reference will help you increase your competence in: getting along with other staff members marketing the library to users and faculty handling ephemeral materials keeping students’attention in library instruction courses maintaining good relations with faculty increasing your subject knowledge and much more! This comprehensive guide is an essential handbook for librarians in the trenches. Whether you are a new librarian or a veteran at the reference desk, Doing the Work of Reference will help you burnish your skills.

Evaluation of Reference Services

Evaluation of Reference Services PDF Author: Linda S Katz
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317951271
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
Library authorities address the increasing significance of reference services and the increasing need for evaluation of those services to further ensure professionalism and efficiency.

Continuing Education of Reference Librarians

Continuing Education of Reference Librarians PDF Author: William A. Katz
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9781560240204
Category : Librarians
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
Here is a crucial book on the neglected issue of continuing education of reference librarians. For librarians seeking to enhance and maintain a high level of quality reference work and for managers who must assure that their staffs receive the basics in continuing education, this is essential reading. Continuing Education of Reference Librarians addresses the concerns of all librarians that they must be informed and educated in order to excel in their work. In the first several chapters of this comprehensive volume, on-the-job librarians focus on the increased need for nontraditional approaches to continuing education and training of reference staff. They offer practical ways of making additional training both useful and relatively easy to carry out within the library setting. Teachers of reference offer suggestions for contending with current formal courses, and they also examine the responsibilities of not only the reference librarian but also the bibliographer and faculty member in staying abreast of current trends. Also in this broad-based look at continuing education is a list of critical skills most librarians expect of their reference people, including reference interview techniques, mastery of basic reference sources, and an understanding of new technologies; a review of the most revolutionary change in teaching reference librarianship in the last 100 years--the online search; and a discussion on ethics, including the need for librarians to be aware of the basic documents of the American Library Association, and more importantly, the need to treat all library users equally, in terms of access and service, regardless of status and personal prejudice. Continuing Education of Reference Librarians focuses on specific types of training for librarians. Authorities explain pioneering programs in California and Maryland which deal with teaching basic reference tools to beginning librarians and paraprofessionals. They also discuss the role of multitype networks in continuing education as the most cost and time efficient means available today, and the use of self-directed contract learning as a method that requires long-term planning and rewards in contrast to the immediate results of a short-term plan of education. The management perspective of continuing education is also included. Working library directors offer their observations on sound, inspirational approaches to continuing education. They also examine the critical role department heads play as mentor to beginning reference librarians.

Library Users and Reference Services

Library Users and Reference Services PDF Author: Linda S Katz
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136588027
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 302

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Book Description
This useful book helps reference librarians understand the information seeking needs and behaviors of the diverse groups of people in the communities they serve. With the increasing diversity of the American population, librarians striving to plan and deliver excellent reference services must enhance their understanding of how best to assist many types of individuals and groups, from children to the elderly. Library Users and Reference Services provides much-needed help in this area, delivering strategies and methods to aid readers in their quest for increasingly effective service for all members of the communities in which they work.Library Users and Reference Services is divided into four sections of chapters which cover a broad range of topics to assist readers in planning and delivering appropriate services. Section One explores customer service, economics of information, and marketing as key concepts useful in studying information needs of specific groups in the population. Section Two focuses on scholars and students in three broad academic disciplines: science, humanities, and social sciences. Section Three covers groups with special characteristics such as age, economic standing, gender, or profession. Section Four discusses evaluation and provides guidance in the use of the most widely accepted measures for assessing reference effectiveness.The book’s final chapter explores redesigning reference services for the future, providing a glimpse of how such services may change. Library Users and Reference Services is a practical guide to help readers understand the many issues related to serving diverse populations in a community. Reference librarians and graduate library school students and faculty will learn more effective ways to help a heterogeneous public with the help of this new book.

Philosophies of Reference Service

Philosophies of Reference Service PDF Author: Celia Hales-Mabry
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780789003713
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
In Philosophies of Reference Service, reference librarians share with you their reflective thinking about what they do as service providers. An important addition to the personal and occupational library of anyone in reference services, this book discusses the origins of reference service, its founding principles, the pleasures and pitfalls of the reference encounter, delivering high-quality service, and much, much more In a clever juxtaposition of the fundamentals of reference service provision with top-notch thinking about the role of the reference librarian and what makes a reference unit effective, Philosophies of Reference Service advocates for continuing familiarity with books in the reference section, recognizing the diversity of service users, and using collegiality in the work environment to boost productivity. It discusses why reference service should move toward instructing people in mediums, not systems, as well as: achieving consistency in reference service through "shared values" the concept of tiered reference services (based on survey research) the little-discussed "art" of reference desk scheduling the importance of knowing your user and making appropriate accommodations partnerships in reference services techniques for conducting reference rovering the advantages of print fostering widely grounded research through reference service why reference librarians share with the corporate world many of the same desired outcomes with regard to service provision Designed to assist readers in defining and developing their own approaches to reference service delivery, Philosophies of Reference Service offers reference librarians insight, practical knowledge, and guidelines for keeping on top of new reference techniques, establishing a partnership between the library and the user population, and maximizing the helpful nature of reference service.

Reading and the Reference Librarian

Reading and the Reference Librarian PDF Author: Juris Dilevko
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786480459
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
Reference librarians are no longer expected to know much about the information they find; they are merely expected to find it. Technological competency rather than knowledge has become the order of the day. In many respects, reference service has become a matter of typing search terms into a library's online catalog or a web search engine and providing the patron with the results of the search. Calling for a re-intellectualization of reference librarianship, this book suggests another approach to providing quality reference service--reading. The authors surveyed both academic reference librarians and public library reference personnel in the United States and Canada about their reading habits. From the 950 responses, the authors present findings about the extent to which librarians read newspapers, periodicals, fiction and nonfiction, and recount and analyze stories about how reading has made them better librarians. The authors also report that North American professors in the humanities and social sciences believe that the best reference librarians are those who have wide-ranging, subject-based knowledge as opposed to the type of process-based, functional knowledge that is increasingly dominating the curricula of many Library and Information Science programs.

Providing Reference Services

Providing Reference Services PDF Author: John Gottfried
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442279125
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 169

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Book Description
Providing Reference Services: A Practical Guide for Librarians was written with the working librarian in mind; it focuses on specific methods and information to help foster effective, exceptional results. Topics covered include: Reference services: basic information and background Reference resources and tutorials Organizing and providing services Staffing and performance management Forming helpful partnerships (internal and external) The future of reference Readers will come away with a solid foundation in reference services. They will have the knowledge to update or restructure an existing reference program, or to create a program from the ground up. Individual chapters and subsections provide constructive tips and advice for specific reference issues. Taken as a whole, this book provides a valuable, inclusive source of information for all major aspects of reference service. Providing Reference Services is an appropriate resource for nearly all librarians in public-service positions, especially those with reference responsibilities, whether they are working reference librarians at any level of experience, reference supervisors, or administrators with oversight of reference services. The content is relevant to academic, public, school, and special libraries—any library or organization, in fact, that offers reference or research assistance.

Managing the Twenty-First Century Reference Department

Managing the Twenty-First Century Reference Department PDF Author: Linda S Katz
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317955552
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
Learn the skills needed to update and manage a reference department that efficiently meets the needs of clients today—and tomorrow! Managing the Twenty-First Century Reference Department: Challenges and Prospects provides librarians with the knowledge and skills they need to manage an effective reference service. Full of useful and practical ideas, this book presents successful methods for recruiting and retaining capable reference department staff and management, training new employees and adapting current services to an evolving field. Expert practitioners address the changing role of the reference library worker and how longstanding traditions and practices can be re-evaluated and re-applied. The information in this book is ideal for librarians and students of library studies looking to take their skills to the next level. Reference departments continue to evolve as the number of applicants qualified to run them declines. Managing the Twenty-First Century Reference Department: Challenges and Prospects explores the dynamics of leadership and management as well as a variety of other characteristics needed in a Head of Reference. It recognizes the increasing need for visionary leaders who can deal with shrinking budgets, soaring costs, expensive electronic resources, and high user expectations and provides you with practical advice on finding, training, and keeping these individuals. In addition to the training and recruitment techniques documented in this book, you will find extensive information on: setting and achieving goals creating and maintaining a positive work environment how to deliver quality services how to improve job satisfaction for library staff problem solving strategies the importance of communication making your reference department task- and employee-centered Managing the Twenty-First Century Reference Department: Challenges and Prospects also provides an inside look at Oregon State University’s Valley Library’s new management model. The library’s information professionals detail this new model’s current function, potential hazards, and multiple advantages. The user-friendly information documented in this chapter and in the book as a whole makes Managing the Twenty-First Century Reference Department: Challenges and Prospects an essential read for any librarian or student of library studies looking to meet the demands of an increasingly technical field.

The Role of the Academic Reference Librarian

The Role of the Academic Reference Librarian PDF Author: Jo Bell Whitlatch
Publisher: Praeger
ISBN: 0313266344
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This volume examining key factors related to successful reference service practices provides librarians with an important and significantly different perspective on the reference process. Author Jo Bell Whitlatch describes the major factors that need to be considered to obtain a comprehensive view of the reference process in academic libraries, arguing that the understanding of the reference process can be enhanced by borrowing from current research in other disciplines that place an increasing emphasis on service organizations rather than on manufacturing organizations. The book identifies major studies and theories related to how people who are served participate in organizations. Further, Whitlatch discusses how such studies can contribute to an understanding of the academic reference librarian's role. In addition, the study that constitutes a central part of The Role of the Academic Reference Librarian reports on the results of testing parts of a model of the reference process. The material presented here is drawn from four principal sources: the literature on reference service; broader literature on service organizations from the disciplines of business, psychology, and sociology; the author's professional experience; and a detailed study of reference encounters in five academic libraries that assesses reference service effectiveness by focusing on the librarian's perception of the quality of service, the library users' perception of the quality of service, and whether or not the information sought was located. Included are tables and figures that graphically enhance the text. For academic librarians and library researchers, the volume will serve as a guide to designing studies of reference services that will add to the present understanding of the subject. Graduate students in library and information science will find this handbook indispensable for the successful practice of reference services.