Understanding Reference Transactions: Transforming an Art into a Science (Library and Information Science, 2) - Hardcover

Saxton, Matthew Locke; Richardson, John V., Jr

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0125877803 ISBN 13: 9780125877800

Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited, 2002

Synopsis

The goal of this book is to improve reference service in libraries and information centers, by improving the accuracy of answering capabilities. The authors provide a detailed analysis of the question-answering process and methods of evaluating the completeness, usefulness, user satisfaction, and accuracy of the information provided. This is an important contribution to library studies, and it will be a useful textbook for teaching references courses in library schools. Powerful research models help explain what is happening in the reference transaction. It encompasses a comprehensive review of the research literature. It offers a unique systems analysis of the reference transaction and includes a detailed appendix of the concepts, operational definitions, and research variables used to measure outcomes as well as statistical results from all known prior studies.

About this title

About the Authors

Matthew Saxton is an assistant professor at the Information School of the University of Washington. His career as a reference librarian includes working in academic, public, and special libraries. His research into reference service evaluation includes meta-analysis of previous studies and exploring the multi-level nature of data on reference service. He is a regular speaker at the RUSA National Institute. He received his doctoral degree in library and information science from UCLA.

John V. Richardson Jr. is professor of library and information science in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research specializes in two areas: general reference work, but especially knowledge-based applications and virtual libraries, and the history of education for librarianship. Recently, he has been working on two major studies: a biographical study of N. K. Krupskaya, L. B. Khavkina, and G. Derman during the formative era of Soviet education for librarianship (i.e., 1910-1928). The second study derives from the first; there is a scholarly need for a current bi-lingual dictionary of Russian-English LIS terminology. The author of eleven books, more than two-dozen nationally refereed articles and more than one hundred book reviews, he has won numerous awards from the Association for Library and Information Science Education and the American Library Association.

From the Back Cover

Each year, millions of questions are asked in public libraries and information centers around the world. However, despite the digital revolution, little has been done to improve the answering capabilities of these institutions. Therefore, improving accuracy rates and maintaining and increasing user satisfaction rates are top priorities.

Understanding Reference Transactions discusses how reference research developed in the twentieth century and presents the current status of reference research. The book reports on a meta-analysis of research findings and a new model of question negotiation, and looks at research findings related to influences upon accuracy, satisfaction, and utility. Many practitioners feel that they learn little about the process of question-answering during their studies, and most of what they know is an art they pick up as they work day to day. By creating models of the reference transaction supported by empirical evidence, the authors hope to advance the understanding of question-answering to a science.

Key Features:
* Powerful research models help explain what is happening in the reference transaction.
* Encompasses a comprehensive review of the research literature.
* Offers a unique systems analysis of the reference transaction.
* Includes a detailed appendix of the concepts, operational definitions, and research variables used to measure outcomes as well as statistical results from all known prior studies.

A Volume in the Library and Information Science Series

Edition details

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0125877803
• ISBN 13: 9780125877800
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 232