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.

Reference Librarianship & Justice

Reference Librarianship & Justice PDF Author: Kate Adler
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781634000512
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
"Explores the praxis, history and practice of reference librarianship in the context of social justice"--

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

Get Book Here

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.

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.

An Introduction to Reference Services in Academic Libraries

An Introduction to Reference Services in Academic Libraries PDF Author: Elizabeth Connor
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136802487
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
An introductory text on various aspects of reference services that requires your students to think!An Introduction to Reference Services in Academic Libraries is a comprehensive textbook that presents compelling case studies and thought-provoking essays that teach the principles of reference services. Eighteen authorities from private and public ac

An Introduction to Reference Services in Academic Libraries

An Introduction to Reference Services in Academic Libraries PDF Author: Elizabeth Connor
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 078902957X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
An Introduction to Reference Services in Academic Libraries is a comprehensive textbook that presents compelling case studies and thought-provoking essays that teach the principles of reference services. Eighteen authorities from private and public academic libraries around the United States offer unique perspectives and solid information in an active learning format that requires students to think and learn. The book provides a stimulating starting point for those learning about planning, managing, and evaluating reference services. Each chapter is thoroughly referenced, and many have charts and activities to help spark student engagement in the learning process. Over 30 tables and figures make complex information easy to access and understand.

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.

The Reference Librarian and Implications of Mediation

The Reference Librarian and Implications of Mediation PDF Author: M. Keith Ewing
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000759148
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
This book, first published in 1992, examines the reference librarian's role as a connecting link between information seekers and the resources they need. It provides the best approaches to providing resolutions or guidance to the appropriate resources. It analyses librarians’ reference skills, communication abilities, accuracy in responding to specific inquiries, and sensitivity to various groups such as paraprofessionals and non-traditional patrons. This provocative book encourages librarians to go beyond merely providing an answer or resource to helping clients better understand the physical surroundings, the social or educational context, and the ethical, political and economic climate in which the process takes place.

Doing the Work of Reference

Doing the Work of Reference PDF Author: Linda S Katz
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317951905
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 398

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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.

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.

The Role of the Academic Librarian

The Role of the Academic Librarian PDF Author: Anne Langley
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 1780630603
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
This book covers the practical side of being an academic librarian – a role that has undergone a large degree of change in recent years. It outlines and describes the skills necessary to succeed in these large, and often complex, organisations. The book includes tools and techniques for an academic librarian for managing time, meetings, projects, publishing and research, communications (paper and electronic), the basics of supervision, and how to work in a large organisation. The impact of the growth of electronic formats on the role of the academic librarian are discussed in detail. Explains how, in practical terms, to stay organised, communicate successfully, network and navigate through an often politicised environment Applies business practices to the field of librarianship Shows how to use organisational behaviour techniques to manage yourself and your work