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RUSA/MOUSS Research and Statistics Committee

Saturday January 25, 2003, 9:30-11:00am
Meeting Minutes

Present: Joan Stein, Rochelle Logan, Mary Casserly, Kathy Crowe, Matthew Saxton, Eric Novotny, chair, Sarah J. Hammill, intern;Steve Hiller, visitor, Carolyn Radcliff, visitor.

Visitors and committee members were introduced. The committee roster was distributed and updated.

Review and Approval of the Agenda.

• The agenda was approved without additions.

Approval of the Minutes from ALA Annual.

• The meeting minutes were approved after changing the date from 2001 to 2002 in item 4.

Committee Appointments/Re-appointments.

• Five committee members are up for reappointment in June. Two people will be rotating off, including our sole public library representative.
• The chair will draft a notice encouraging public librarians to become members. Rochelle Logan will post the message to the public library listserv. Visitors were encouraged to fill out a volunteer form and contact the chair if they wished to join the committee.
• The committee discussed the size of the group. It was felt that we could accommodate additional members given the high level of activity.

2003 ALA Annual Conference Meeting.

• The committee meetings in Toronto are scheduled for 9:30-11am, Saturday and Sunday. Location and details to be announced.

Discussion of Reference Research Forum proposals and selection of presenters.

• Three proposals were selected based on the top choices of the committee members: The forum will take place on Sunday June 22

An Analysis of Sources Used to Answer Reference Questions; Jane Bradford, Stetson University

What are they asking: A comparison of question types in chat, e-mail, and in-person reference interactions, Kathleen Kern, Reference Librarian, University of Illinois

Trends in Staffing: Librarians and Paraprofessionals talk about Working the Desk, Jennifer Sweeny, PhD Student, UCLA

• Kathy Crowe and Sarah Hammill agreed to work on publicity, posting messages to listservs and updating the flyer. Matt Saxton will distribute copies of the flyer once they are ready. Rochelle Logan and Joan Stein will assist with set-up the day of the Forum.
• Matt Saxton and Steve Hiller volunteered to do a literature review to see how many of the forum presentations have been published. The chair will attempt to secure a list of all the presentations/presenters from past years.

Reference Research Review.

• Members agreed to review the following publications:

Rochelle Logan: Public Libraries, LJ, School Library Journal

Eric Novotny: RUSQ, Library and Information Science Research

Matt Saxton: Library Quarterly

Mary Casserly: Portal, First Monday, Journal of Academic Librarianship

Rebecca Jackson: College and Research Libraries

Joan Stein: Performance Measurement, Reference Librarian

• Committee members reviewed the rationale and goals of the Reference Research Review. Committee members select significant articles pertaining to reference services from key library science journals. The Reference Research Review is distributed at the Forum, and online at: /ala/rusa/rusaourassoc/rusasections/mouss/mouss.htm
  • Annotations should cover the calendar year 2002 and are due by May 15, 2003. The chair will edit the entries and distribute the draft to committee members for final review.
  • The chair will e-mail criteria for the bibliography to committee members.
  • The committee discussed the format of the Reference Research Review in light of RUSA goals to make committee work more accessible to practitioners. Reviewers were asked to include in their annotations the implications of the research for reference librarians.

  Discussion Forum on the Future of MOUSS.

  • The committee considered the ongoing discussions taking place regarding the future of MOUSS, including the implications of MOUSS becoming the Front Line Reference section.

  The committee reviewed the MOUSS goals and objectives. Eric encouraged members to consider how the committee can continue to support these goals.

  New Business/Announcements.

  • Committee members were urged to investigate how we can find ways to work with other research-oriented groups within RUSA/ALA.
  • The committee discussed the desirability of holding the Reference Research Forum bi-annually. The committee felt strongly that there is sufficient quality research to justify holding the Forum annually
  • Committee members were asked to review our web page and start thinking potential additions and improvements. www.ala.org/Rusa/MOUSS/committees/res/res.html

  Second Committee Meeting at Midwinter.

  • No requirement to attend the second meeting as the committee's business was completed. The chair will review today's meeting with those unable to attend.

  Other Business.

  None.

  Adjournment.

  • Meeting adjourned at 11:10am.

  Respectfully Submitted,

  Sarah J. Hammill