Evaluating documents reference service and the implications for improvement

Journal of Government Information

Volumn 23, Issue 1, 1996, Pages 49-70

  Parker, June D ^a  

^a EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Government publications use; Reference service evaluation; Wisconsin Ohio Reference Evaluation Program

Indexed keywords

EID: 0029704896     PISSN: 13520237     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/1352-0237(95)00038-0     Document Type: Article

References (60)

1. 1. Terry L. Weech, "The Use of Government Publications: A Selected Review of the Literature," Government Publication Review 5 (1978):177-84.
2. 2. Beth Postema and Terry L. Weech, "The Use of Government Publications: A Twelve-Year Perspective," Government Publications Review 18 (May/June 1991):223-38.
3. 3. Margaret A. Renton, "Government Publications: A Comparative Use Study," Government Publications Review 18 (July/August 1991):353-70.
4. 4. Christopher W. Nolan, "Undergraduate Use of Government Documents in the Social Sciences," Government Publications Review 13 (1986):418; Jean L. Sears and Marilyn K. Moody, "Government Documents Use by Superintendent of Documents Number Areas." Government Publications Review 11 (March/April 1984):104-05.
5. 4. Christopher W. Nolan, "Undergraduate Use of Government Documents in the Social Sciences," Government Publications Review 13 (1986):418; Jean L. Sears and Marilyn K. Moody, "Government Documents Use by Superintendent of Documents Number Areas." Government Publications Review 11 (March/April 1984):104-05.
6. 5. Kevin L. Cook, "Gathering Useful Circulation Data in the Documents Department," RQ 25 (Winter 1985):224; Paula D. Watson and Kathleen M. Heim, "Patterns of Access and Circulation in a Depository Document Collection Under Fall Bibliographic Control," Government Publications Review 11 (July/August 1984):276; Renton, "Government Publications," 356.
7. 5. Kevin L. Cook, "Gathering Useful Circulation Data in the Documents Department," RQ 25 (Winter 1985):224; Paula D. Watson and Kathleen M. Heim, "Patterns of Access and Circulation in a Depository Document Collection Under Fall Bibliographic Control," Government Publications Review 11 (July/August 1984):276; Renton, "Government Publications," 356.
8. 5. Kevin L. Cook, "Gathering Useful Circulation Data in the Documents Department," RQ 25 (Winter 1985):224; Paula D. Watson and Kathleen M. Heim, "Patterns of Access and Circulation in a Depository Document Collection Under Fall Bibliographic Control," Government Publications Review 11 (July/August 1984):276; Renton, "Government Publications," 356.
9. 6. Nolan, "Undergraduate Use," 418; Renton, "Government Publications," 357.
10. 6. Nolan, "Undergraduate Use," 418; Renton, "Government Publications," 357.
11. 7. Cook, "Gathering Useful Circulating Data," 224; Watson and Heim, "Patterns of Access," 277; Renton, "Government Publications," 357.
12. 7. Cook, "Gathering Useful Circulating Data," 224; Watson and Heim, "Patterns of Access," 277; Renton, "Government Publications," 357.
13. 7. Cook, "Gathering Useful Circulating Data," 224; Watson and Heim, "Patterns of Access," 277; Renton, "Government Publications," 357.
14. 8. Marilyn Wilson, "Faculty Use of Government Publications at Trinity University," Texas Library Journal 49 (1973):76; Dawn McCaghy and Gary R. Purcell, "Faculty Use of Government Publications," College and Research Libraries 33 (January 1972):8; Peter Hernon and Sara Lou Williams, "University Faculty and Federal Documents: Use Patterns," Government Publications Review 3 (1976):94, 99, 102.
15. 8. Marilyn Wilson, "Faculty Use of Government Publications at Trinity University," Texas Library Journal 49 (1973):76; Dawn McCaghy and Gary R. Purcell, "Faculty Use of Government Publications," College and Research Libraries 33 (January 1972):8; Peter Hernon and Sara Lou Williams, "University Faculty and Federal Documents: Use Patterns," Government Publications Review 3 (1976):94, 99, 102.
16. 8. Marilyn Wilson, "Faculty Use of Government Publications at Trinity University," Texas Library Journal 49 (1973):76; Dawn McCaghy and Gary R. Purcell, "Faculty Use of Government Publications," College and Research Libraries 33 (January 1972):8; Peter Hernon and Sara Lou Williams, "University Faculty and Federal Documents: Use Patterns," Government Publications Review 3 (1976):94, 99, 102.
17. 9. Rebecca L. Hubbard and Freda A. Burks, "Use of Government Publications by Students in an Academic Depository Institution," Current Studies in Librarianship 12 (Spring/Fall 1988):52; Emily Jean Fraser and William H. Fisher, "Use of Federal Government Documents by Science and Engineering Faculty," Government Publications Review 14 (1987):38; Hernon and Williams, "University Faculty and Federal Documents," 95. (Watson and Heim had found majors were evenly distributed, "Patterns of Access," 277.)
18. 9. Rebecca L. Hubbard and Freda A. Burks, "Use of Government Publications by Students in an Academic Depository Institution," Current Studies in Librarianship 12 (Spring/Fall 1988):52; Emily Jean Fraser and William H. Fisher, "Use of Federal Government Documents by Science and Engineering Faculty," Government Publications Review 14 (1987):38; Hernon and Williams, "University Faculty and Federal Documents," 95. (Watson and Heim had found majors were evenly distributed, "Patterns of Access," 277.)
19. 9. Rebecca L. Hubbard and Freda A. Burks, "Use of Government Publications by Students in an Academic Depository Institution," Current Studies in Librarianship 12 (Spring/Fall 1988):52; Emily Jean Fraser and William H. Fisher, "Use of Federal Government Documents by Science and Engineering Faculty," Government Publications Review 14 (1987):38; Hernon and Williams, "University Faculty and Federal Documents," 95. (Watson and Heim had found majors were evenly distributed, "Patterns of Access," 277.)
20. 10. Sears and Moody, "Government Documents Use," 104; Kevin L. Cook, "Circulation and In-Library Use of Government Publications," Journal of Academic Librarianship 11 (July 1985):149; Renton, "Government Publications," 356.
21. 10. Sears and Moody, "Government Documents Use," 104; Kevin L. Cook, "Circulation and In-Library Use of Government Publications," Journal of Academic Librarianship 11 (July 1985):149; Renton, "Government Publications," 356.
22. 10. Sears and Moody, "Government Documents Use," 104; Kevin L. Cook, "Circulation and In-Library Use of Government Publications," Journal of Academic Librarianship 11 (July 1985):149; Renton, "Government Publications," 356.
23. 11. Cook, "Gathering Useful Circulation Data," 226. 227; Watson and Heim, "Patterns of Access," 279; Sears and Moody, "Government Documents Use," 105.
24. 11. Cook, "Gathering Useful Circulation Data," 226. 227; Watson and Heim, "Patterns of Access," 279; Sears and Moody, "Government Documents Use," 105.
25. 11. Cook, "Gathering Useful Circulation Data," 226. 227; Watson and Heim, "Patterns of Access," 279; Sears and Moody, "Government Documents Use," 105.
26. 12. Richard W. Trueswell, "Some Behavioral Patterns of Library Users: The 80/20 Rule," Wilson Library Bulletin 43 (January 1969):458-61.
27. 13. Peter Hernon and Charles R. McClure, Unobtrusive Testing and Library Reference Services (Norwood, NJ:Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1987), 11.
28. 14. Nolan, "Undergraduate Use," 419, 425.
29. 15. George W. Whitbeck and Peter Hernon, "Attitudes of Librarians Toward the Servicing and Use of Government Publications: A Survey of Federal Depositories in Four Midwestern States," Government Publications Review 4 (1977):192.
30. 16. Marjorie Murfin and Gary Gugelchuk, "Development and Testing of a Reference Transaction Assessment Instrument," College and Research Libraries 48 (July 1987):314-38.
31. 17. Patricia Hults, "Reference Evaluation: An Overview," Reference Librarian No. 38 (1992):141-50.
32. 18. Charles R. McClure and Peter Hernon, Improving the Quality of Reference Service for Government Publications, ALA Studies in Librarianship No. 10 (Chicago: American Library Association, 1983), 57.
33. 19. McClure and Hernon, Improving the Quality, 12; Thomas Childers, "Scouting the Perimeters of Unobstrusive Study of Reference," in Evaluation of Public Services and Public Services Personnel, ed. Bryce Allen (Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois. Graduate School of Library and Information Science, 1991), 29.
34. 19. McClure and Hernon, Improving the Quality, 12; Thomas Childers, "Scouting the Perimeters of Unobstrusive Study of Reference," in Evaluation of Public Services and Public Services Personnel, ed. Bryce Allen (Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois. Graduate School of Library and Information Science, 1991), 29.
35. 20. McClure and Hernon, Improving the Quality, 42.
36. 21. McClure and Hernon, 47, 52, 91, 66, 67.
37. 22. Hernon and McClure, Unobstrusive Testing, 75.
38. 23. Charles A. Bunge, "Gathering and Using Patron and Librarian Perceptions of Question-Answering Success," in Evaluation of Public Services and Public Services Personnel, ed. Bryce Allen (Urbana-Champaign, IL: University of Illinois, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, 1991), 62.
39. 24. Charles A. Bunge and Marjorie E. Murfin, "Reference Questions - Data from the Field," RQ 27 (Fall 1987):15.
40. 25. Marjorie E. Murfin and Gary Gugelchuk, "Development and Testing of a Reference Transaction Assessment Instrument," College and Research Libraries 48 (July 1987):314-38.
41. 26. Murfin and Gugelchuk, 317, 330. Information about the development of the forms is also available in Charles A. Bunge, "Factors Related to Reference Question Answering Success: The Development of a Data-Gathering Form." RQ 24 (Summer 1985):482-86.
42. 26. Murfin and Gugelchuk, 317, 330. Information about the development of the forms is also available in Charles A. Bunge, "Factors Related to Reference Question Answering Success: The Development of a Data-Gathering Form." RQ 24 (Summer 1985):482-86.
43. 27. Murfin and Gugelchuk. "Development and Testing." 319.
44. 28. Murfin and Gugelchuk, 321.
45. 29. Bunge, "Gathering and Using," 66, 68.
46. 30. Bunge and Murfin, "Reference Questions - Data," 17; Bunge, "Gathering and Using." 69-71.
47. 30. Bunge and Murfin, "Reference Questions - Data," 17; Bunge, "Gathering and Using." 69-71.
48. 31. Bunge, "Gathering and Using," 70, 74.
49. 32. Bunge, 75.
50. 33. Thomas Kinney and Gary Cornwell, "GPO Cataloging Records in the Online Catalog: Indications for the Reference Librarian," Reference Librarian No. 32 (1991):271, 272. According to the recent survey reported in J. D. Young, "Report on the Electronic Capabilities Survey," Administrative Notes (November 25, 1994):15, 47 percent of the academic depository library respondents currently load GPO cataloging records into an online catalog.
51. 33. Thomas Kinney and Gary Cornwell, "GPO Cataloging Records in the Online Catalog: Indications for the Reference Librarian," Reference Librarian No. 32 (1991):271, 272. According to the recent survey reported in J. D. Young, "Report on the Electronic Capabilities Survey," Administrative Notes (November 25, 1994):15, 47 percent of the academic depository library respondents currently load GPO cataloging records into an online catalog.
52. 34. Business ProQuest (CD-ROMs and software) (Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, Inc.).
53. 35. Kenneth D. Crews, "The Accuracy of Reference Service: Variables for Research and Implementation," Library & Information Science Research 10 (July-September 1988):332.
54. 36. Pete Hernon, Use of Government Publications by Social Scientists, Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1979, 40; Steven D. Zink, "Clio's Blindspot: Historians' Underutilization of United States Government Publications in Historical Research," Government Publications Review 13 (January-February 1986):67-78; Nolan, "Undergraduate Use," 418.
55. 36. Pete Hernon, Use of Government Publications by Social Scientists, Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1979, 40; Steven D. Zink, "Clio's Blindspot: Historians' Underutilization of United States Government Publications in Historical Research," Government Publications Review 13 (January-February 1986):67-78; Nolan, "Undergraduate Use," 418.
56. 36. Pete Hernon, Use of Government Publications by Social Scientists, Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1979, 40; Steven D. Zink, "Clio's Blindspot: Historians' Underutilization of United States Government Publications in Historical Research," Government Publications Review 13 (January-February 1986):67-78; Nolan, "Undergraduate Use," 418.
57. 37. McClure and Hernon, "Improving the Quality," 43.
58. 38. Charles R. McClure and Peter Hernon, Users of Academic and Public GPO Depository Libraries (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1989), 43.
59. 39. A study of the use of paraprofessionals at reference desks as evaluated by the Wisconsin-Ohio Reference Evaluation program reported in Marjorie E. Murfin and Charles A. Bunge, "Paraprofessionals at the Reference Desk," The Journal of Academic Librarianship 114 (March 1988):10-14, found that there was a significant difference in users reporting that they had found exactly what was wanted when helped by a paraprofessional. Success rate measured 60.4 percent when users were helped by a professional librarian and 50.5 percent when they were helped by a paraprofessional, as derived from responses to 1,521 transactions involving 147 paraprofessionals and 749 professionals. This outcome had a Chi-square value of 9.49 and a significance level of .002. In the libraries where paraprofessional staff were nearly as successful as the professional librarians, the paraprofessionals searched with the user rather than directed, handled less complex questions, and consulted more frequently. Small values in some of the cells prevented meaningful significance testing of the differences in professionals' and nonprofessionals' success rate and in this documents department; however, this particular evaluation tool is designed to point out areas that might need attention as well as parts of service that are functioning well rather than give absolute answers. The yardstick used in this department was the presence of a large decrease in success rate for various factors or a much larger than average occurrence of a particular problem.
60. 40. McClure and Hernon, Improving the Quality, 111.