Information and Reference Services:

What is the best model?Courtney Mlinar

April 2013

Reference everywhere

Trends:

Reference everywhere Merging service points

Trends:

Reference everywhere Merging service points Tiered or stratified staffing

Trends:

Reference everywhere Merging service points Tiered or stratified staffing Embedded liaison librarians

Trends:

Reference everywhere Merging service points Tiered or stratified staffing Embedded liaison librarians Change agents

Trends:

Reference everywhere Merging service points Tiered or stratified staffing Embedded liaison librarians Change agents Virtual services and resources

Trends:

Reference everywhere Merging service points Tiered or stratified staffing Embedded liaison librarians Change agents Virtual services and resources Makerspaces

Trends:

Reference everywhere Merging service points Tiered or stratified staffing Embedded liaison librarians Change agents Virtual services and resources Makerspaces Mobile apps to extend library branding

Trends:

Mobile database apps:

Quiet study areas Circulation and Access Collaborative meeting spaces Cataloging, classification of information Collection Development Reference and Instruction

Traditional core functions:

Symbiotic relationship with community of users (Tyckoson 2001)

Bricks and clicks Meet unique info needs of community Organize info within collections and beyond Streamline access to key info Reach out to address key issues of

community

Traditional Role:

Books are for use Every reader his book Every book its reader Save the time of the reader The library is a growing organism

The Five Laws of Library Science-Ranganathan

Flipped classroom Scholarly communication Open access Big data Globalization Mobile learning MOOCs

Trends in HE:

Social learning Participatory content Group reports in video formats Peer-grading Hybrid flipped classroom

Trends in Learning:

Our users’ anthropology:

What is a Help Desk?

Model chosen reflects values of institution: Process over information (centered on

bibliographic instruction) Information over process (centered on

answering specific question)

Most institutions use combo of two models

Different ModelsDifferent Values

Instruction on using library1

Answer patron inquiries Aid patron in selecting resources Promote library to demonstrate its value

within the community

Ref Librarian Duties: (Green 1876)

Traditional reference desk model (emphasis on library as place- come to us for help)

Teaching library model – no desk, instructional librarian duties

Tiered model – (Brandeis) grad students / paraprofessionals staff one desk with circ, in-depth questions referred to another desk or office2

Virtual model – chat, call center, text help users locate resources or answer questions, not in-depth

1990s Models:

The students already know how to use technology…

Students don’t need help with online resources…

Everything on the internet is true… We don’t need a library- we have Google… The book is dead…

Misconceptions…

2007: 422,400 2009: 1,052,800 2011: 3,000,000 2012: 15,000,000

ISBN Numbers Issued per year US: http://zenhabits.net/seth/

Faculty struggling with rapidly changing environment of scholarly communication

Millennial students who can’t tell difference between web site and online scholarly journal

Everyone struggling with technology and ethical use of information

Reality:

What is needed?

2 tiered Service Cluster:On call -Consultation Model

offering Outreach and

Instruction Services provided by a

Personal or Liaison Librarian or Informationist

Vision 2013:

Service clusters with Main Hub Main hub for directional, circulation,

technology, ready reference questions (Start here if you don’t know where to go)

Service clusters include:Visible, easily accessible Ask a Librarian Area Located adjacent to non-quiet areas

(Information Commons) Clustered by subject assignment

2 Tiered Services

Excellent customer service Professional development3

Team environment as partner with reference Staffed with reference at beginning of term Administrative support Collaboration across all library departments

Main hub:

On call- available when not in meetings, teaching, consultations

Welcome wagon Linger and learn setup Work on same side of desk, side by side (let

them drive while you coach) Additional area adjacent to office for group

consultations (breakfast bar setup) Consultations in offices, roving, in faculty

departments, administrator’s offices Shared calendar to communicate schedules

On call / Consultation Services:

“Moving librarians from reference desks into…discovery spaces does not kill them off! It changes their roles on campus and makes them more …responsive to the multiplicity and complexity reflected in research on most academic campuses.”4

Reflects changing roles of reference:

Discovery spaces nearby Ask a Librarian area:

Makerspaces Writing Center Media Studio Technology Services Faculty Commons

Additional Service Clusters:Teaching, Learning, Discovery, Collaboration

New faculty orientations Partnerships with campus organizations and

initiatives, academic affairs Faculty development presentations FYE, grad school activities Instruction at point of need Members of key faculty committees such as

Curriculum, Professional Development, Technology

Outreach:

Faculty and student buy-in: User success-centered Referrals from users Network Connect researchers with similar topics Grassroots pervasive transliteracy

Start conversations:

Teaching and learning partnerships Guest lecturers included in syllabi Online videos and tutorials included in

course content Help at point of need within the course Links to LibGuides, tutorials Assistance with instructional design Active member of curriculum committee Frequent presenter for faculty development

Robust Presence in Curriculum and Instruction:

Build trust (go to person) Create working relationship Librarians, not libraries – value (human

factor) Team of informationists Curriculum consultant for faculty Dedicated to faculty and student success

Personalized services:5

Share the process Think aloud Let them drive Praise their progress

“Show, don’t tell”6

Amaze and delight:

“I spent 4 hours last night looking for articles and you helped me find 45 in 20 minutes!”

“I have worked at 5 major research universities and never had a librarian help me with my research before!”

“I thought I had to give up a class lecture to fit library instruction into my course calendar!”

“I didn’t know they did that!”

“A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library.”

― Shelby Foote

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/24846.Shelby_Foote

“The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.”

― Albert Einstein

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9810.Albert_Einstein

“Librarians, not libraries!”-Janet Schneider, FHSLA 2013

1. Rieh SY. Changing reference service environment: a review of perspectives from managers, librarians, and users. J Acad Lib 1999;25:178-86.

2. Tumbleson BE, Burke JJ. Embedded librarianship is job one: building on instructional synergies. Pub Serv Quart 2010;6:225-36.

3. RUSA Task Force on Professional Competencies. Professional competencies for reference and user services librarians. RUSA Guidelines 2003. www.ala.org/rusa/resources/guidelines/professional. Accessed April 22, 2013.

4. Aguilar P, Keating K, Schadl S, Van Reenen J. Reference as outreach: meeting users where they are. J Lib Admin 2011;51:343-58.

5. Nunn B, Ruane E. Marketing gets personal: promoting reference staff to reach users. J Libr Admin 2011;51:291-300.

6. Oakleaf M, VanScoy A. Instructional strategies for digital reference: methods to facilitate student learning. Ref & User Serv Quart 2010;49:380-90.

References:

Courtney Mlinar

http://www.slideshare.net/mlinarklar

Contact me:mlinarklar@yahoo.com

Thank you!