Discusses the use of electronic mail for reference services and investigates systems in health sciences libraries and in academic libraries. The use of electronic mail for services including interlibrary loan, online search requests, literature searches, photocopies or other document delivery, reference questions, and purchase requests is…

Reviews the developments of the 1960s that laid the groundwork for computer-assisted literature searching (CALS), the establishment of CALS as a major research tool in the 1970s, and the advent of end-user online CALS programs in the 1980s. The impact of CD-ROM products on librarians and students, future prospects, and global concerns affecting…

Discussion of job satisfaction and the level of job performance focuses on the effect of automation on job satisfaction among reference librarians. The influence of stress is discussed, a job strain model is explained, and examples of how to design a job to reduce the stress caused by automation are given. (12 references) (LRW)

Presents norms for reference desk staffing based on 1988-89 statistics from over 100 libraries in the United States and Canada and compares results with an earlier study based on 1978-79 statistics. Data are reported on gate count, reference transactions, person-hours at the reference desk, and workload. (five references) (MES)

Explores the significance of expert system design for library reference services and library education, focusing on model logic and modeling for query analysis. The approaches of some graduate library schools are reviewed. Appendices included a decision-support module, a reference module component, and a typology of queries and reference tools.…

Transaction-log data for total, author, title, and subject searches were collected for three semesters at Southeast Missouri State University to ascertain whether total searches, subject searches, and subject percentage of total searches have any predictive value for marshaling personnel resources for reference-desk service. Findings raise…

Examines users' accounts of asking reference questions in Canadian public or academic libraries. Discusses problems, including failure to conduct a reference interview, unmonitored referral, and failure to ask follow-up questions; and considers how the availability of electronic resources, including the Web, has changed reference transactions and…

During the 2000-2001 academic year, the General Libraries of the University at Buffalo conducted a pilot project to assess feasibility of providing reference through instant messaging. Describes the project, its implementation, the software used, staffing issues, and publicity efforts. Discusses results of the project in terms of user…

Describes a survey of midsized academic libraries that measured the departmental relationship between librarians who provide reference services and librarians who provide instructional services. Discusses satisfaction levels with various organizational arrangements as well as pros and cons of integrated or separate reference and instruction…

Discusses reference-use statistics in academic libraries. Highlights include new functions and resources, limits of traditional counting methods, ranking the sources, the Internet's impact on instruction, computer-assisted versus one-on-one instruction, and creative solutions to reference services. (AEF)

Discusses how traditional work of academic reference librarians has been impacted by access to electronic publications on the World Wide Web. Describes how librarians are using the Web to create publications for in-house library users and remote users through HTML documents that provide access to Web and other electronic resources. (Author/LRW)

Discusses library reference services. Topics include the historical development of reference services; instruction in library use, particularly in college and university libraries; guidance; information and referral services and how they differ from traditional question-answering service; and future concerns, including user fees and the planning…

This preliminary study was designed to benchmark patron perceptions of reference desk services at academic health science libraries, using a standard questionnaire. Responses were compared to determine the library that provided the highest-quality service overall and along five service dimensions. All libraries were rated very favorably, but none…

This longitudinal study examined the library use patterns of 1,046 undergraduate students during their first three years of college. The significant changes in library use patterns have implications for the redesign of academic library services, including reference and bibliographic instruction. (Author/LRW)

Reports on results of an exploratory study of perceptions of collections by librarians in an academic library that provides both traditional and networked information services. Five librarians from a Midwestern university library were interviewed. Findings indicated an uncertainty about the virtual world in two particular areas: collection and…