"is facebook down" trended on Google on October 4, 2021, when Facebook became temporarily globally unavailable. Web users proactively seek information when they encounter issues online. System status dashboards are one way libraries can leverage this behavior to share changes to resources or services and improve transparency, reference…

The ability to navigate the vast ocean of available information and perform reference services in digital environments is an essential component of the job for most of today's reference librarians, especially those working in academic libraries. Reference librarians face a challenge: they must be highly skilled at searching for, locating, and…

The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), located in western New York, strives to deliver the same quality library services to its students and faculty located across the globe as those living in the Rochester area. In addition to an array of distance courses and online programs, RIT also has international campuses located in Kosovo, Croatia,…

After one year of providing virtual reference service through an instant messaging (IM) service, Binghamton University (BU) Libraries, under the purview of its Digital Reference Committee (DRC), undertook a study of collected session transcripts. The goals of this work were to determine who was using the IM service and why; if staffing for the…

This paper will examine the learning needs of millennial students, a generation different from any previous generation, so librarians should adjust their teaching methods to accommodate their needs. Should we, as librarians, consider changing our reference services--the way we present instruction and the materials that we order for the library?…

In this article, the authors discuss how the University of Rochester's two-year ethnographic study reveals what students do on campus and how the library fits in. Under Nancy Fried Foster's guidance, teams of librarians and staff conducted a two-year investigation. The goal: to improve the libraries' reference services, facilities, and web pages…

Herrick Library (Alfred University, Alfred, NY) reference guru of 18 years, Frank McBride, retired recently, leaving a smaller and less experienced staff to collectively handle reference questions. Frank had conscientiously documented much of his experience in a collection of paper files. In this column, the author (Herrick's new coordinator of…

When Kim Taney is not tending 80 workstations on the Webster Public Library's local area network, supervising the pages, working the reference desk, and advising libraries on how to improve teen services, she teaches ballet and choreographs her dance studio's productions. Choreography is a useful skill for someone with such a multifaceted life. As…

A Hunter College librarian, with public library experience, offered a series of drop-in workshops Saturday afternoons open to all students and questions regarding Web or Windows use in the academic year, 2000-2001. The intention of the workshops was to address the continuous needs of students lacking technological and informational literacy. The…

Colleges and universities are integrating information literacy into their undergraduate curricula. Accreditation commissions of higher education are integrating information literacy into their general education standards. Students enrolled in programs that promote information literacy are instructed to utilize library resources and services to…

Describes the development of the Suffolk Cooperative Library System's live, online chat reference service, a pilot project for public libraries in Suffolk County (New York). Topics include chat software selection; a virtual reference collection; marketing; funding; staffing; evaluation; expanded hours of service; email; and extracting data from…

A survey of academic librarians in New York State (n=139) regarding their attitudes toward the Internet as a reference tool creating user and nonuser profiles incorporating gender, age, experience, access, and training. Researchers examined factors contributing to successful Internet use and to nonuse and made recommendations on how to integrate…