This study aims to identify factors and behaviors associated with user dissatisfaction with a chat reference interaction to provide chat operators with suggestions of behaviors to avoid. The researchers examined 473 transcripts from an academic chat reference consortium from June to December 2016. Transcripts were coded for 13 behaviors that were…

Financial literacy is the ability to understand how money works in a person's day-to-day life: how someone earns money, manages it, invests it, and donates it to help others. As librarians, we must realize that when patrons come to us for guidance in the area of financial literacy, they are trusting us to provide not only reliable information for…

Reference lists from two assignments of psychology students in university-level online distance learning (ODL) were analyzed for number and type of sources and mark achieved. Most referenced were resources relevant to the assignment and provided by instructors. Use changed across assignments: Instructor sources were used more on the first…

Fieldwork exists as a component of many library schools' curricula. Site supervisors, students, and the schools themselves all play a role. A final part of most fieldwork experiences involves the use of an evaluation form filled out by a site supervisor about the student. In this study, forty seven evaluation forms were collected and analyzed…

Internet usage logs captured during self-directed learning sessions were used to determine how undergraduate medical students used five popular sites to locate and access biomedical resources. Students' perceptions of each site's usefulness and reliability were determined through a survey. Google and Wikipedia were the most frequently used sites…

What types of information sources do masters and doctoral (M and D) students at Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) use most, how do the patterns of use differ across subject disciplines and faculties, and to what extent does the Library and Information Services (LIS) keep or provide access to the journals that are mostly used by M and D…

Discusses results of an empirical study of the library reference assistance process that indicate the need to incorporate a select strategy that librarians use in the choice of appropriate information sources. The reference process is examined, a model is presented, and the survey instruments and examples of reference transactions are appended.…

Describes a Delphi study conducted to determine factors that affect the process of routing and assigning reference questions received electronically by digital reference services, both to experts within the service and between services. Fifteen factors were determined, by expert consensus, to be important at the conclusion of this study.…

A pilot study at the University of Arizona library reports improvement in verification of questionable citations by using RLIN and OCLC as reference tools in place of print sources. A further full-scale study is planned. (RAA)

Two knowledge-based systems (KBS) are compared and contrasted; a test, based on 15 typical United States government document reference questions about the federal level of government, measured correct responses and keystroke efficiency. Concludes that there is a need for improvement of KBS in the government information field. (Author/AEF)

This article compares "Current Index to Journals in Education" (CIJE) with "Education Index" by article type and reveals pronounced differences in indexing practices. Implications for educational and interdisciplinary research, reference services, index selection, and library instruction are discussed. (Author)

Examines whether library reference staff are cognizant of newspapers as a potential source of reference information, and explores what happens when library staff members make referrals--often a sign that they do not know the answer to the question themselves. Discusses results of a recent study of public libraries in Canada which revealed that…

Outlines a study to develop methods to assess the quality of digital reference services, test and refine measures and quality standards to describe digital reference services, and to produce a guidebook that describes how to collect and report data for these measures and standards. (Author/AEF)

Using a thorough analytical framework, this study characterizes the questioning behavior on a consumer health-related electronic list. Analysis examines the dedication of the list to questioning; pattern of question asking within a message; type of question; length of answer anticipated; subject of question; combination of type of question and…

Research into both the information needs of engineers engaged in research and development, and the means chosen by engineers to fulfill their information needs are summarized in this condensation of a Master's thesis. Parallel questionnaires were administered in 1981 to 78 engineers at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering…