An Analysis of Sources Used to Answer Reference Questions

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An Analysis of Sources Used to Answer Reference
Questions
Barbara Costello Reference Librarian Government
Documents Librarian Assistant Professor duPont
Ball Library Stetson University DeLand, Florida
Jane Bradford Reference Librarian Coordinator of
Instruction Associate Professor duPont-Ball
Library Stetson University DeLand, Florida
Robert Lenholt Reference Librarian Electronic
Services Librarian Assistant Professor duPont
Ball Library Stetson University DeLand, Florida

• A presentation for the Ninth Annual
• Reference Research Forum of the
• Research and Statistics Committee of
• MOUSS (Management and Operation of User Service
  Section) of
• RUSA (Reference and User Services Association)
• Sunday, June 22, 2003

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• Introduction
• Background
• Rob Lenholt

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• Stetson University
• Founded in 1883, Stetson is the first private
  university in Florida
• Located in DeLand, Florida -- 25 miles from
  Daytona Beach and 35 miles from Orlando
• 2,100 FTE
• More than 60 majors and minors in the College of
  Arts and Sciences, School of Business
  Administration, and School of Music
• Awards undergraduate and Masters level degrees.

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(No Transcript)
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Greetings From the Gang at Stetsons duPont-Ball
Library
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Reference Librarians
Reference Desk Open 68 hours a week Reference
services are provided by five full-time and two
part-time Librarians. We wish to thank all our
Reference Librarians for assisting in the study.
The desk is manned by only one Librarian per
shift Logging and recording every reference
question and source used was asking a lot from
them but everyone participated and no one
complained.
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Reference Collection
9,587 Printed Reference Titles
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Librarys Database Page
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An Analysis of Sources Used to Answer Reference
Questions

• Research Problem
• To test the hypothesis that print reference
  sources are used much less frequently than
  electronic sources by reference librarians to
  answer patron queries.

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An Analysis of Sources Used to Answer Reference
Questions

• The results of this analysis should provide
• evidence of at least three things
• The extent to which the print reference
  collection is being
• used by reference librarians (what
  percentage of reference questions were answered
  wholly or in part by print reference sources).
• Which items in the print reference collection are
  being used and to what extent?
• What electronic sources are being used
  databases, catalog, web pages?

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Literature Review

• A review of the literature produced no other
  studies that sought to compare the same data we
  collected. Three articles touched on the subject
  of print versus electronic reference sources, but
  none provided the evidence- based results we
  derived.
• Tenopir, Carol and Lisa Ennis, Reference
  Services in the New Millennium University
  Reference Services from 1991 2001, Online, v.
  25, no. 4 (July/August 2001), p. 40-45.
• Smith, Judith and Emma-Jane Templeton, A
  Comparison of the Range and Value of Use of the
  Internet with Traditional Reference Sources in
  Scottish Public Libraries, Journal of
  Information Science, v. 25, no. 1, (1999), p.
  27-33.
• Lynn, Susan, A Comparison of Print vs. WWW-based
  Ready Reference Sources. 1999. Thesis.
  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• A full bibliography of the sources used for the
  review of the literature can be found at
  http//www.stetson.edu/departments/library/ALA2003
  .html

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Methodology Jane Bradford
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This was our High-tech Data Collection Instrument
for the Fall 2002 study
Insert scanned photo of legal pad
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Sample of Spreadsheet Used for Fall 2002 data
compilation
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Top Five Categories of Sources that Emerged
During the Fall 2002 Data Collection Process
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Example of Questions Asked That Resulted in Using
Librarian as a Source Category
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Lessons Learned from Fall 2002 Data Collection
Process and Results

• What We Learned from Fall Term
• Essential to have one person monitoring
  spreadsheet and assigning categories.
• Need a Beta testing period before beginning in
  earnest.
• Need a comments column.
• Make notes of questions and sources during busy
  times at Reference Desk.

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Changes in Data Collection Methodology from Fall
Term to Spring Term

• Spreadsheet filled out at the Reference Desk
• Column on spreadsheet added for comments
• Column on spreadsheet added for gender of
  patron

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Spring 2003 Spreadsheet Sample
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Methodology Data Collected for Fall 2002, Spring
2003, and Combined Data

• Total number of reference questions
• (fall term, spring term, and total of both
  terms)
• Number of sources used to answer each reference
  question
• Totals in the 23 categories of answer sources
• List of specific titles of sources used
• Gender of patrons (for spring term)

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Methodology Statistics Determined with Fall
2002, Spring 2003, and Combined Data

• Percentage of each category of reference source
  used compared to the total number of questions
  asked
• What specific sources were being used and how
  many times each was used
• The percentage of reference questions asked by
  each gender
• The average number of sources used to answer
  reference questions

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• Results of Study
• Barbara Costello

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FALL SEMESTER 2002
Results of Study
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FALL SEMESTER 2002
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SPRING SEMESTER 2003
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SPRING SEMESTER 2003
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Comparison of Study Results by Gender and
University Population by Gender
Study Results by Gender
University Population by Gender
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TOTAL BOTH SEMESTERS
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TOTAL BOTH SEMESTERS
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Librarys Web Page for Journals Holdings
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Sample of Detailed Holdings Information Found on
Journals Pages
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SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS

• Online sources in all categories used to answer
  questions totaled nearly 60.
• The Reference Book category accounted for less
  than 10 of the sources used.
• The total number of reference titles used to
  answer questions is less than 2 of the total
  number of reference titles owned.
• Librarian was a source category used nearly
  one-quarter of the time.

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Online v. Print Resources Used by Reference
Librarians

• Online sources in all categories
• used to answer questions totaled nearly 60 of
  all sources used.
• The Reference Book category accounted for less
  than 10 of all sources used.

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Print Reference Titles Used v. Print Reference
Titles Owned

• Only 1.8 of Reference titles owned were used.
• Implications
• Budget allocation
• Space allocation
• Reduce print collection
• Shift more funding to database purchasing

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LIBRARIAN CATEGORY

• Librarian as source used to answer question
• 23.6, or nearly one-fourth, of all sources used
• Explanation?
• Knowledgeable librarians
• Simple questions
• Implications
• Marketing tool for library
• Training of new librarians

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AREAS FOR ADDITIONAL RESEARCH

• A more detailed analysis of the Librarian as a
  source category
• Conduct a similar study that omitted Librarian
  as a source category, to focus on how the
  librarys collections (print v. online) are being
  used.
• Expand the study to include the initials of the
  reference librarian, making possible an analysis
  of the gender of the librarian v. the gender of
  the patron asking the question.
• Further analysis of print reference works being
  used, possibly through a reshelving study of
  reference books, as a basis for collection
  development decisions.
• An analysis of what students want to know, i.e.,
  what questions are students asking and how can
  library reference services better address the
  students information needs.

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Thank you, Questions and Web Site Information

• Thank you for attending our presentation.
• Questions???
• Want to try this at home?
• The handout lists the URL for our web page, which
  contains
• Contact information
• This presentation in PowerPoint format
• This presentation in Word format
• Complete data tables of our study in Excel format
• Complete bibliography of literature review
• http//www.stetson.edu/departments/library/ALA2003
  .html