The imposed query: Implications for library service evaluation

Reference and User Services Quarterly

Volumn 37, Issue 3, 1998, Pages 290-299

  Gross, Melissa ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0001242212     PISSN: 10949054     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (74)

1. Melissa Gross, "The Imposed Query," RQ 35 (Winter 1995): 236-43.
2. Ralph Gers and Lille J. Seward, "Improving Reference Performance: Results of a Statewide Survey," Library Journal 110 (1985): 32-35; Herbert Goldhor, "The Patron's Side of Public Library Reference Questions," Public Library Quarterly 1 (1979): 35-49; Ronald R. Powell, "An Investigation of the Relationship between Reference Collection Size and Other Reference Factors and Success in Answering Reference Questions," in Success in Answering Reference Questions: Two Studies (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1987).
3. Ralph Gers and Lille J. Seward, "Improving Reference Performance: Results of a Statewide Survey," Library Journal 110 (1985): 32-35; Herbert Goldhor, "The Patron's Side of Public Library Reference Questions," Public Library Quarterly 1 (1979): 35-49; Ronald R. Powell, "An Investigation of the Relationship between Reference Collection Size and Other Reference Factors and Success in Answering Reference Questions," in Success in Answering Reference Questions: Two Studies (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1987).
4. Ralph Gers and Lille J. Seward, "Improving Reference Performance: Results of a Statewide Survey," Library Journal 110 (1985): 32-35; Herbert Goldhor, "The Patron's Side of Public Library Reference Questions," Public Library Quarterly 1 (1979): 35-49; Ronald R. Powell, "An Investigation of the Relationship between Reference Collection Size and Other Reference Factors and Success in Answering Reference Questions," in Success in Answering Reference Questions: Two Studies (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow, 1987).
5. Kenneth D. Crews, "The Accuracy of Reference Service: Variables for Research and Implementation," LISR 10 (1988): 331-55.
6. Nicholas J. Belkin, "Anomalous States of Knowledge As a Basis for Information Retrieval," Canadian Journal of Information Science 5 (1980): 136-39; Brenda Dervin and Patricia Dewdney, "Neutral Questioning: A New Approach to the Reference Interview," RQ 25 (Summer 1986): 507-13; Robert S. Taylor, "The Process of Asking Questions," American Documentation 13 (Oct. 1962): 391-96.
7. Nicholas J. Belkin, "Anomalous States of Knowledge As a Basis for Information Retrieval," Canadian Journal of Information Science 5 (1980): 136-39; Brenda Dervin and Patricia Dewdney, "Neutral Questioning: A New Approach to the Reference Interview," RQ 25 (Summer 1986): 507-13; Robert S. Taylor, "The Process of Asking Questions," American Documentation 13 (Oct. 1962): 391-96.
8. Nicholas J. Belkin, "Anomalous States of Knowledge As a Basis for Information Retrieval," Canadian Journal of Information Science 5 (1980): 136-39; Brenda Dervin and Patricia Dewdney, "Neutral Questioning: A New Approach to the Reference Interview," RQ 25 (Summer 1986): 507-13; Robert S. Taylor, "The Process of Asking Questions," American Documentation 13 (Oct. 1962): 391-96.
9. Gross, "Imposed Query," 237-38.
10. Carol Kuhlthau, Seeking Meaning: A Process Approach to Library and Information Services (Norwood, N.J.: Ablex, 1993).
11. Gross, "Imposed Query," 239, 240.
12. Ibid., 238.
13. Constance Ann Mellon, Naturalistic Inquiry for Library Science: Methods and Applications for Research, Evaluation, and Teaching (New York: Greenwood, 1990).
14. Gers and Seward, "Improving Reference Performance," 34.
15. The question of the subjectivity of relevance judgments will be explored later in this article, but this position also follows from Dervin's sense-making model, in which questions and answers are seen as highly personal constructions that occur in a specific time and space.
16. Dervin and Dewdney, "Neutral Questioning," 507.
17. Thomas J. Allen, Managing the Flow of Technology: Technology Transfer and the Dissemination of Technological Information within the Research and Development Organization (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Pr., 1979); Sue Stone, "Humanities Scholars: Information Needs and Uses," Journal of Documentation 38 (Dec. 1982): 292-312; H. P. Hogeweg-de Haart, "Characteristics of Social Science Information: A Selective Review of the Literature. Part II," Social Science Information Studies 4 (1984): 15-30; Elfreda A. Chatman, "The Information World of Low-Skilled Workers." Library and Information Science Research 9 (1987): 265-83; Prudence W. Dalrymple, "CD-ROM MEDLINE Use and Users: Information Transfer in the Clinical Setting," Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 78 (July 1990): 224-32.
18. Thomas J. Allen, Managing the Flow of Technology: Technology Transfer and the Dissemination of Technological Information within the Research and Development Organization (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Pr., 1979); Sue Stone, "Humanities Scholars: Information Needs and Uses," Journal of Documentation 38 (Dec. 1982): 292-312; H. P. Hogeweg-de Haart, "Characteristics of Social Science Information: A Selective Review of the Literature. Part II," Social Science Information Studies 4 (1984): 15-30; Elfreda A. Chatman, "The Information World of Low-Skilled Workers." Library and Information Science Research 9 (1987): 265-83; Prudence W. Dalrymple, "CD-ROM MEDLINE Use and Users: Information Transfer in the Clinical Setting," Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 78 (July 1990): 224-32.
19. Thomas J. Allen, Managing the Flow of Technology: Technology Transfer and the Dissemination of Technological Information within the Research and Development Organization (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Pr., 1979); Sue Stone, "Humanities Scholars: Information Needs and Uses," Journal of Documentation 38 (Dec. 1982): 292-312; H. P. Hogeweg-de Haart, "Characteristics of Social Science Information: A Selective Review of the Literature. Part II," Social Science Information Studies 4 (1984): 15-30; Elfreda A. Chatman, "The Information World of Low-Skilled Workers." Library and Information Science Research 9 (1987): 265-83; Prudence W. Dalrymple, "CD-ROM MEDLINE Use and Users: Information Transfer in the Clinical Setting," Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 78 (July 1990): 224-32.
20. Thomas J. Allen, Managing the Flow of Technology: Technology Transfer and the Dissemination of Technological Information within the Research and Development Organization (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Pr., 1979); Sue Stone, "Humanities Scholars: Information Needs and Uses," Journal of Documentation 38 (Dec. 1982): 292-312; H. P. Hogeweg-de Haart, "Characteristics of Social Science Information: A Selective Review of the Literature. Part II," Social Science Information Studies 4 (1984): 15-30; Elfreda A. Chatman, "The Information World of Low-Skilled Workers." Library and Information Science Research 9 (1987): 265-83; Prudence W. Dalrymple, "CD-ROM MEDLINE Use and Users: Information Transfer in the Clinical Setting," Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 78 (July 1990): 224-32.
21. Thomas J. Allen, Managing the Flow of Technology: Technology Transfer and the Dissemination of Technological Information within the Research and Development Organization (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Pr., 1979); Sue Stone, "Humanities Scholars: Information Needs and Uses," Journal of Documentation 38 (Dec. 1982): 292-312; H. P. Hogeweg-de Haart, "Characteristics of Social Science Information: A Selective Review of the Literature. Part II," Social Science Information Studies 4 (1984): 15-30; Elfreda A. Chatman, "The Information World of Low-Skilled Workers." Library and Information Science Research 9 (1987): 265-83; Prudence W. Dalrymple, "CD-ROM MEDLINE Use and Users: Information Transfer in the Clinical Setting," Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 78 (July 1990): 224-32.
22. Won Moo Hurth and Kwang Chung Kim, "Methodological Problems in Cross Cultural Research: A Korean Immigrant Study in the United States," California Sociologist 4 (Winter 1981): 17-33; Salvador Guerena, "Community Analysis and Needs Assessment," in Latino Librarianship: A Handbook for Professionals, ed. Salvador Guerena (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1990); G. Edward Evans, "Needs Analysis and Collection Development of Culturally Diverse Populations," Collection Building 11 (1992): 16-27.
23. Won Moo Hurth and Kwang Chung Kim, "Methodological Problems in Cross Cultural Research: A Korean Immigrant Study in the United States," California Sociologist 4 (Winter 1981): 17-33; Salvador Guerena, "Community Analysis and Needs Assessment," in Latino Librarianship: A Handbook for Professionals, ed. Salvador Guerena (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1990); G. Edward Evans, "Needs Analysis and Collection Development of Culturally Diverse Populations," Collection Building 11 (1992): 16-27.
24. Won Moo Hurth and Kwang Chung Kim, "Methodological Problems in Cross Cultural Research: A Korean Immigrant Study in the United States," California Sociologist 4 (Winter 1981): 17-33; Salvador Guerena, "Community Analysis and Needs Assessment," in Latino Librarianship: A Handbook for Professionals, ed. Salvador Guerena (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 1990); G. Edward Evans, "Needs Analysis and Collection Development of Culturally Diverse Populations," Collection Building 11 (1992): 16-27.
25. Brenda Dervin and Michael Nilan, "Information Needs and Uses," Annual Review of Information Science and Technology 21 (1986): 3-33.
26. Robert S. Taylor, "Question-Negotiation and Information Seeking in Libraries," College & Research Libraries 29 (1968): 178-94; T. D. Wilson, "On User Studies and Information Needs," Journal of Documentation 37 (Mar. 1981): 3-15; James Krikelas, "Information Seeking Behavior Patterns and Concepts," Drexel Library Quarterly 19 (Spring 1983): 5-20.
27. Robert S. Taylor, "Question-Negotiation and Information Seeking in Libraries," College & Research Libraries 29 (1968): 178-94; T. D. Wilson, "On User Studies and Information Needs," Journal of Documentation 37 (Mar. 1981): 3-15; James Krikelas, "Information Seeking Behavior Patterns and Concepts," Drexel Library Quarterly 19 (Spring 1983): 5-20.
28. Robert S. Taylor, "Question-Negotiation and Information Seeking in Libraries," College & Research Libraries 29 (1968): 178-94; T. D. Wilson, "On User Studies and Information Needs," Journal of Documentation 37 (Mar. 1981): 3-15; James Krikelas, "Information Seeking Behavior Patterns and Concepts," Drexel Library Quarterly 19 (Spring 1983): 5-20.
29. Allen, Managing the Flow of Technology; Krikelas, "Information Seeking," 10, 16.
30. Cheryl Metoyer-Duran, Gatekeepers in Ethnolinguistic Communities (Norwood, N.J.: Ablex, 1993).
31. Allen, Managing the Flow of Technology.
32. Nancy A. Van House and others, Output Measures for Public Libraries: A Manual of Standardized Procedures, 2d ed. (Chicago: ALA, 1987), 1-2.
33. Douglas Zweizig and Eleanor Jo Rodget, Output Measures for Public Libraries (Chicago: ALA, 1982); Van House and others, Output Measures; Virginia A. Walter, Output Measures for Public Library Services to Children: A Manual of Standardized Procedures (Chicago: ALA, 1992); Virginia A. Walter, Output Measures and More: Planning and Evaluating Public Library Services for Young Adults (Chicago: ALA, 1995).
34. Douglas Zweizig and Eleanor Jo Rodget, Output Measures for Public Libraries (Chicago: ALA, 1982); Van House and others, Output Measures; Virginia A. Walter, Output Measures for Public Library Services to Children: A Manual of Standardized Procedures (Chicago: ALA, 1992); Virginia A. Walter, Output Measures and More: Planning and Evaluating Public Library Services for Young Adults (Chicago: ALA, 1995).
35. Douglas Zweizig and Eleanor Jo Rodget, Output Measures for Public Libraries (Chicago: ALA, 1982); Van House and others, Output Measures; Virginia A. Walter, Output Measures for Public Library Services to Children: A Manual of Standardized Procedures (Chicago: ALA, 1992); Virginia A. Walter, Output Measures and More: Planning and Evaluating Public Library Services for Young Adults (Chicago: ALA, 1995).
36. Douglas Zweizig and Eleanor Jo Rodget, Output Measures for Public Libraries (Chicago: ALA, 1982); Van House and others, Output Measures; Virginia A. Walter, Output Measures for Public Library Services to Children: A Manual of Standardized Procedures (Chicago: ALA, 1992); Virginia A. Walter, Output Measures and More: Planning and Evaluating Public Library Services for Young Adults (Chicago: ALA, 1995).
37. Nancy A. Van House, Beth T. Weil, and Charles R. McClure, Measuring Academic Library Performance.: A Practical Approach (Chicago: ALA, 1990).
38. Van House and others, Output Measures, 1-2.
39. Choong Han Kim and Robert David Little, Public Library Users and Uses: A Market Research Handbook (Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1987).
40. Ibid., 31.
41. Melissa Gross, "Imposed Queries in the School Library Media Center: A Descriptive Study" (Ph.D. diss., University of California, Los Angeles, 1998).
42. Van House and others, Output Measures, 69, Walter, Output Measures for Public Library Services to Children, 51; Walter, Output Measures and More, 70.
43. Van House and others, Output Measures, 69, Walter, Output Measures for Public Library Services to Children, 51; Walter, Output Measures and More, 70.
44. Van House and others, Output Measures, 69, Walter, Output Measures for Public Library Services to Children, 51; Walter, Output Measures and More, 70.
45. Walter, Output Measures for Public Library Services to Children, 47; Walter, Output Measures and More, 67.
46. Walter, Output Measures for Public Library Services to Children, 47; Walter, Output Measures and More, 67.
47. Rosemarie Riechel, Reference Services for Children and Young Adults (Hamden, Conn.: Library Professional Publications, 1991).
48. Janice N. Harrington, "Reference Service in the Children's Department: A Case Study," Public Library Quarterly 6 (Fall 1985): 66-75.
49. Melissa Gross, "Pilot Study on the Prevalence of Imposed Queries in a School Library Media Center," School Library Media Quarterly (Spring 1997): 157-66; Gross, "Imposed Queries in the School Library Media Center."
50. Melissa Gross, "Pilot Study on the Prevalence of Imposed Queries in a School Library Media Center," School Library Media Quarterly (Spring 1997): 157-66; Gross, "Imposed Queries in the School Library Media Center."
51. Cyrill Cleverdon, Report on the Testing and Analysis of an Investigation into the Comparative Efficiency of Indexing Systems (Cranfield, Engl.: ASLIB Cranfield Research Project, 1962).
52. A. M. Rees and T. Saracevic, "The Measurability of Relevance," Proceedings of the American Documentation Institute 3 (1966): 225-34; Patrick Wilson, "Situational Relevance," Information Storage and Retrieval 9 (1973): 457-71; William S. Cooper, "A Definition of Relevance for Information Retrieval," Information Storage and Retrieval 7 (1971): 19-37; D. A. Kemp, "Relevance, Pertinence, and Information System Development," Information Storage and Retrieval 10 (1974): 37-47; M. Eisenberg and L. Schamber, "Relevance: The Search for a Definition," Proceedings of the ASIS Annual Meeting 25 (1988): 164-68; Linda Schamber, Michael B. Eisenberg, and Michael S. Milan, "A Re-examination of Relevance: Toward a Dynamic Situational Definition," Information Processing & Management 26 (1990): 755-76.
53. A. M. Rees and T. Saracevic, "The Measurability of Relevance," Proceedings of the American Documentation Institute 3 (1966): 225-34; Patrick Wilson, "Situational Relevance," Information Storage and Retrieval 9 (1973): 457-71; William S. Cooper, "A Definition of Relevance for Information Retrieval," Information Storage and Retrieval 7 (1971): 19-37; D. A. Kemp, "Relevance, Pertinence, and Information System Development," Information Storage and Retrieval 10 (1974): 37-47; M. Eisenberg and L. Schamber, "Relevance: The Search for a Definition," Proceedings of the ASIS Annual Meeting 25 (1988): 164-68; Linda Schamber, Michael B. Eisenberg, and Michael S. Milan, "A Re-examination of Relevance: Toward a Dynamic Situational Definition," Information Processing & Management 26 (1990): 755-76.
54. A. M. Rees and T. Saracevic, "The Measurability of Relevance," Proceedings of the American Documentation Institute 3 (1966): 225-34; Patrick Wilson, "Situational Relevance," Information Storage and Retrieval 9 (1973): 457-71; William S. Cooper, "A Definition of Relevance for Information Retrieval," Information Storage and Retrieval 7 (1971): 19-37; D. A. Kemp, "Relevance, Pertinence, and Information System Development," Information Storage and Retrieval 10 (1974): 37-47; M. Eisenberg and L. Schamber, "Relevance: The Search for a Definition," Proceedings of the ASIS Annual Meeting 25 (1988): 164-68; Linda Schamber, Michael B. Eisenberg, and Michael S. Milan, "A Re-examination of Relevance: Toward a Dynamic Situational Definition," Information Processing & Management 26 (1990): 755-76.
55. A. M. Rees and T. Saracevic, "The Measurability of Relevance," Proceedings of the American Documentation Institute 3 (1966): 225-34; Patrick Wilson, "Situational Relevance," Information Storage and Retrieval 9 (1973): 457-71; William S. Cooper, "A Definition of Relevance for Information Retrieval," Information Storage and Retrieval 7 (1971): 19-37; D. A. Kemp, "Relevance, Pertinence, and Information System Development," Information Storage and Retrieval 10 (1974): 37-47; M. Eisenberg and L. Schamber, "Relevance: The Search for a Definition," Proceedings of the ASIS Annual Meeting 25 (1988): 164-68; Linda Schamber, Michael B. Eisenberg, and Michael S. Milan, "A Re-examination of Relevance: Toward a Dynamic Situational Definition," Information Processing & Management 26 (1990): 755-76.
56. A. M. Rees and T. Saracevic, "The Measurability of Relevance," Proceedings of the American Documentation Institute 3 (1966): 225-34; Patrick Wilson, "Situational Relevance," Information Storage and Retrieval 9 (1973): 457-71; William S. Cooper, "A Definition of Relevance for Information Retrieval," Information Storage and Retrieval 7 (1971): 19-37; D. A. Kemp, "Relevance, Pertinence, and Information System Development," Information Storage and Retrieval 10 (1974): 37-47; M. Eisenberg and L. Schamber, "Relevance: The Search for a Definition," Proceedings of the ASIS Annual Meeting 25 (1988): 164-68; Linda Schamber, Michael B. Eisenberg, and Michael S. Milan, "A Re-examination of Relevance: Toward a Dynamic Situational Definition," Information Processing & Management 26 (1990): 755-76.
57. A. M. Rees and T. Saracevic, "The Measurability of Relevance," Proceedings of the American Documentation Institute 3 (1966): 225-34; Patrick Wilson, "Situational Relevance," Information Storage and Retrieval 9 (1973): 457-71; William S. Cooper, "A Definition of Relevance for Information Retrieval," Information Storage and Retrieval 7 (1971): 19-37; D. A. Kemp, "Relevance, Pertinence, and Information System Development," Information Storage and Retrieval 10 (1974): 37-47; M. Eisenberg and L. Schamber, "Relevance: The Search for a Definition," Proceedings of the ASIS Annual Meeting 25 (1988): 164-68; Linda Schamber, Michael B. Eisenberg, and Michael S. Milan, "A Re-examination of Relevance: Toward a Dynamic Situational Definition," Information Processing & Management 26 (1990): 755-76.
58. Don R. Swanson, "Subjective versus Objective Relevance in Bibliographic Retrieval Systems," Library Quarterly 56 (1986): 389-98; Stephen P. Harter, "Psychological Relevance and Information Science," Journal of the American Society for Information Science 43 (1992): 602-15.
59. Don R. Swanson, "Subjective versus Objective Relevance in Bibliographic Retrieval Systems," Library Quarterly 56 (1986): 389-98; Stephen P. Harter, "Psychological Relevance and Information Science," Journal of the American Society for Information Science 43 (1992): 602-15.
60. Swanson, "Subjective versus Objective Relevance," 390-91.
61. Dervin and Nilan, "Information Needs," 13.
62. Cleverdon, Report, 51.
63. Abraham Bookstein, "Relevance," Journal of the American Society for Information Science 30 (1979): 269-73; Dervin and Dewdney, "Neutral Questioning, 13; Schamber, Eisenberg, and Nilan, "Reexammation of Relevance," 755, 774.
64. Abraham Bookstein, "Relevance," Journal of the American Society for Information Science 30 (1979): 269-73; Dervin and Dewdney, "Neutral Questioning, 13; Schamber, Eisenberg, and Nilan, "Reexammation of Relevance," 755, 774.
65. Abraham Bookstein, "Relevance," Journal of the American Society for Information Science 30 (1979): 269-73; Dervin and Dewdney, "Neutral Questioning, 13; Schamber, Eisenberg, and Nilan, "Reexammation of Relevance," 755, 774.
66. Gordon C. Barhydt, "The Effectiveness of Non-User Relevance Assessments," Journal of Documentation 29 (June 1967): 146-49.
67. Joseph W. Janes and Renee McKinney, "Relevance Judgments of Actual Users and Secondary Judges: A Comparative Study," Library Quarterly 62 (1992): 150-68; Joseph W. Janes, "Other People's Judgments: A Comparison of Users' and Others' Judgments of Document Relevance, Topicality, and Utility," Journal of the American Society for Information Science 45 (1994): 160-71.
68. Joseph W. Janes and Renee McKinney, "Relevance Judgments of Actual Users and Secondary Judges: A Comparative Study," Library Quarterly 62 (1992): 150-68; Joseph W. Janes, "Other People's Judgments: A Comparison of Users' and Others' Judgments of Document Relevance, Topicality, and Utility," Journal of the American Society for Information Science 45 (1994): 160-71.
69. Janes and McKinney, "Relevance Judgments," 166.
70. Ibid., 162.
71. Janes, "Other People's Judgments," 164.
72. Ibid., 165.
73. Tefko Saracevic, "Relevance: A Review of and a Framework for the Thinking on the Notion in Information Science," Journal of the American Society for Information Science 26 (1975): 321-43.
74. Gross, "Imposed Query," 240.