Discussion Group on Reference Work Report

University, Academic and Research Libraries report

Q1.
A1.
Types of reference departments:
I. a. the reference department is the library. All questions are taken and worked on by different teams or specialists.
b. separate reference department concerned only with reference service. Staffed by high level professionals

II. The reference department is part of the Central Library.
a. Some reference departments are constituted as a Division in which case they report directly to the Director.
b. Others are merely a desk located at the Users larger department or at the Technology department.
c. Sometimes the reference department is located at each of the branches and altogether divorced from the Main Reference Department located at the Central Library.(This pattern is the most commonly seen in the United States) in Academic libraries, of course.

Q2.
A2. Services offered:
Some libraries reported no levels they said that they treat each patron according to his/her information needs.

Some libraries (medical ones) report several levels depending on whether the students are undergraduate or graduates or whether the patron is a doctor or staff. (Some reported offering Current Awareness services) Some libraries report a wider array of services done at the reference desk; Government Publications reference work ( we have a separate department and we send the questions there) or initial verification of Interlibrary Loan requests (we have a separate Information retrieval department), than others.

some libraries provide the usual: non-circulating reference collection books; CD-ROM databases and PC's with either/or/and outside connections to the Internet.

Q3
A3 Positive aspects:
Usually the medical libraries report the arrangement of a specialized team as a positive citing high level of service. They see as negative the aboundance of databases and the quality control issue (this reported by libraries grouped under I a and b)

Positive aspects reported by libraries grouped under II a,b, and c are: provides the patron with efficient and fast information services which in turn makes for good reputation for libraries and librarians. The boundaries are becoming slurred most of the librarians who staff the desk are subject specialists and can provide more help.

Negatives are:librarians cannot be accomplished bibliographers as well as good reference librarians or good online searchers and provide services to patrons.

Summaries from participating libraries

Ministry of Culture. Estonian Academic Library
Separate Reference Department
Reference services provided in the reading rooms and by phone. Electronic reference provided in the Internet Room
Comments: Open stacks in reference permits theft of materials. Crowded.

Leiden University Medical Center. Walaeus Library
The Library is the Reference Department
Reference services provided after patrons are scanned at the information desk to determine what level of expertise is demanded.
Services are help with OPAC's, CD-ROMS, databases.

Leiter Benutzung und Fachreferent Naturwissenschaften Stadt-und Universitaetsbibliothek Bern.
The City and University Library of Bern. (Foundation not city-run)
Under the Users Services the reference desk is located in loans and reading rooms.
Online database searches (CD_ROM's and Internet) done by 2 subject specialists, mostly in humanities and social sciences
Refererence services are mostly help with the OPAC's. In the Catalog room.
Comments: the subject specialists spend too little time doing reference to be adept at it.

Rutgers University
Each branch manages its own reference department.
The New Brunswick model reorganized the reference department functions as teams: Information Technology, Instructional, Access, Collection Development and Management.
Services: integrated reference services in general reference and government publications; initial verification of interlibrary loan requests; instructional programs; maintenance of reference collections. Reference by telephone and electronically.
Levels of service: patrons are scanned at the information desk to determine what level of expertise or help is needed.
Comments: reference librarians are bibliographers as well. This has advantage for users but spread the librarians too thin.

Brandeis University. Goldfarb Library
The Public Services division is divided into Reference Services and The Science Library?
Reference department has a flat organizational model (as opposed to a hierarchical one?) six librarians reporting to the Associate Director for Public Services.
Reference services are one-on-one reference assistance by phone and in-person, instructional classes, pathfinders and user's guides
Reference offers guidance in the use of resources not information.
Tiered model of personal reference: information desk manned by graduate students scan the questions and send it to the appropriate librarian.
Comments: key to the model is the well-trained graduate student, who will staff the desk while the librarians are busy with higher-level questions.

Koc University Library. Istinye. Istanbul
This is the central library serving a small private University therefore the library is not open to the public, althought it serves paying members.
The reference department is one of three departments; the others being the Reader Services and Library Outreach Division and the Bibliographic and Reference Services Division.
Reference Services: OPAC's, Internet, and CD-ROM databases; personalized information, ILL services, reserves.
One of the reference librarians is attached to the Ministry of Higher Education and Documentation Center in charge of ILL services nationwide.

Tallim University. Educational Sciences Library
Reference department under the director of libraries
Reference services: reports no levels. Customary reference services in person, by phone, fax, email, and in future by the Virtual Reference Desk on the WWW.
Comments: too little experience in electronic materials; staff has difficulties adapting to changes in the profession; customers poor knowledge of foreign languages; lack of pedagogical facilities; budget constraints; available professional pool is small.

University of Colorado at Boulder. University Libraries
Cu has 12 llibraries each with their own reference departments.
Reference services are tailored to primary clientele (students, faculty, staff).
Various services are added depending on the perceived needs of the primary clientele; not all libraries offer the same services, obviously
A diversity of services are offered as deemed applicable to the Libraries's role as a research library open to the public.
Advantages: Services are tailored to patrons. In a sense each reference department within each library is a special library within the construct of academic organization.
Need for subject specialization is not critical.