MOUSS Research and Statistics Committee
presents the
Eighth Annual Reference Research Forum
A Comparison of Questions Asked in Face-to-Face, Chat, and E-mail
Reference Interactions by Charlotte Ford, Reference Librarian,
Birmingham-Southern College Library, ceford@indiana.edu.
Many libraries are experiencing an increase in the number of computer-mediated
reference interactions and a simultaneous decline in the number of in-person
reference interactions. In this changing environment, it is crucial for us to
understand how these types of interactions differ from each other. A key part
of this involves understanding the types of questions that library users are
asking online as compared to the types of questions they ask in face-to-face
encounters. I will discuss the results of an analysis of reference questions
asked via each medium in over 300 reference interactions that took place in
a single library in 2001. The results of chi-square tests done to check for
significance of selected differences across media will also be presented and
the implications of these differences discussed.
Search and Rescue: Repair Strategies of Remote Users Searching the
Online Catalog by Nancy Turner, Electronic Resources Librarian,
Syracuse University Library, nbturner@library.syr.edu
and Susan Beck, Head, Reference and Research Services, New Mexico State
University Library, susabeck@lib.NMSU.Edu
Transactions logs from this library’s online catalog indicate that half
of the searches are conducted beyond the boundaries of the physical reference
desk areas. Without direct assistance from library staff, how do users search
the catalog? When presented with results sets of zero or several thousand hits,
how do they repair their search queries? Analyzing transaction logs allows us
to virtually “peek” at search behavior and use the results to inform
and improve our own reference and instruction techniques.
Bibliography
What are Undergraduates Thinking? Implications for the Reference Interview
by Ethelene Whitmire, Assistant Professor, School of Information Studies,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, ewhitmire@facstaff.wisc.edu
How do undergraduates handle ill-structured questions when completing a term
paper assignment? Interviews with fifteen undergraduates revealed that students
at various stages of intellectual development exhibited different information
seeking behavior patterns when searching for information in general, on the
Web, and using the library’s online public access catalog (OPAC). Implications
of these findings for reference and information services are discussed.
Sunday, June 16, 2002 f 1:30 - 3:30 pm
Georgia World Congress Center Room A403
Call for Proposals
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