Observations on the WEB DuBois Library Reference Desk. On 2 March 2006, thanks to the graciousness of Beth Lang, I had the opportunity to observe the

Transcription

1 Grant Gigee Professor Terry Plum Library and Information Science March 2006 Observations on the WEB DuBois Library Reference Desk On 2 March 2006, thanks to the graciousness of Beth Lang, I had the opportunity to observe the reference desk at the newly remodeled WEB DuBois Library, which is the main library of the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus, in turn the largest school of the UMass System and of the Five Colleges. Naturally, UMass is a part of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), and combined campus libraries hold over three-million volumes with an annual circulation of over four-hundred thousand volumes 1. Over the course of two hours in the early afternoon, I observed four of the professional staff: Pamela Juengling, Leonard Adams, Beth Lang, and James Kelly. The reference desk is located on the basement level, alongside the Learning Commons, a recent addition designed to [bring] together library, technology, and other campus services in an environment that fosters informal, collaborative work, and social interaction. 2 I was told the number of technical questions has gone down considerably since the addition of a technical support desk. Behind the desk sits a short bookcase, full of apparently neglected ready-reference materials, and to the side are two sets of shelves holding selections of the library s reference collection the remainder being found primarily on the twenty-first floor, away from any catalogs or copiers. I noticed students seated all about the reference books, but rarely actually in the aisles using the books. I felt the architecture of the reference desk could be better. From the outside, it resembles an office cubicle open to, but not facing, the reference area. However, the desk is clearly labeled with a 1 University of Massachusetts Amherst - Association of Research Libraries Data UMass Amherst Libraries. U of Mass. Amherst, 10 Mar < 2 UMass Amherst Learning Commons. UMass Amherst Libraries. U of Mass. Amherst, 10 Mar <

2 Gigee 2 hanging sign painted in UMass maroon, so I was able to find it quickly on my first visit. There seems to be no easy way for both patrons and librarians to simultaneously view the monitors without adopting interesting postures. Also, one of the two librarians is seated facing away from the actual reference books in order to survey the vast sea of computers. How telephone calls are handled struck me as rather interesting. At first, a phone call rings up to four times at the left side of the desk, but if not promptly answered, the call is diverted to the right side for up to four more rings. Should neither phone be answered, the call is diverted again to the reference office. Thus, the reference librarians are not forced to choose between patrons at hand and patrons on the line. However, anyone unfortunate enough to call at a busy time will be left wondering whether anyone will answer the phone. Bopp & Smith 3 do not discuss telephone etiquette, but the generally accepted practice in business is to answer the phone after exactly two rings. A quick search of LISA 4 reveals no articles on the topic, so it may be the library profession as a whole does not share my concern. I worked at first with Juengling and Adams, and Juengling was happy to discuss the reference desk and the library in general with me. Over the course of the hour, it seemed to me that she has developed a technique that works for her. Juengling s strength lies in a willingness to instruct patrons and to verify they have understood. For the first reference question, the patron was looking for a book, The Possessive Investment in Whiteness 5. A check of the online catalog revealed the book was checked out, so Juengling explained the four college library system and inter-library loan, wrapping up by asking the patron whether she had been able to follow along. What could have been a brief answer became a more substantial interaction as she seized the opportunity to provide instruction in the use of the library. 3 Richard E. Bopp, and Linda C. Smith. Reference and Information Services. 3rd ed. (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2001). 4 LISA: Library and Information Science Abstracts. CSA, 10 Mar < 5 George Lipsitz. The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit from Identity Politics. (Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1998).

3 Gigee 3 A second patron provided a bit more substance in the form of a question regarding the connection between small arms in foreign (ie, non-us) countries and economic development. With some probing, it was determined that his interest lay primarily in political science, and Juengling entered keywords into International Political Science Abstracts 6, hoping to discover the subjects relevant to the question. She suggested the topic was really about violence rather than small arms, but the patron insisted on his own term. During the search, Juengling asked Adams for his opinion, and he mentioned he had been searching as well, using the Database Locator, 7 looking under the heading Law and Political Science. He recommended the database Academic Search Premier 8, but neither librarian found a quick answer, so Juengling concluded the interaction by reviewing the steps taken and verifying he could reproduce the search. The patron seemed to learn quickly, so I suspect he had not considered the availability of online databases and seeing them used gave him new insight into the problem. Following the interaction, the three of us discussed the difficulty in conducting interdisciplinary searches, the need for understanding the correct subjects, and the occasional need for referral. The last reference interaction with Juengling involved a patron verifying a citation to a journal article. She had already tried Google Scholar 9 with little success. Juengling began with the library catalog, using significant words as keywords, but could not find an exact match. She then moved on to e- Journals, 10 explaining that particular service is a collection of electronic journal subscriptions held by the library. A keyword search of the journal title yielded a possible match, but further searching failed to provide an exact match because the volume number did not correspond correctly with the cited year. The 6 International Political Science Abstracts. EBSCO, 10 Mar < 7 Database Locator. UMass Amherst Libraries. U of Mass. Amherst, 10 Mar < 8 Academic Search Premier. EBSCO, 10 Mar < 9 Google Scholar. Google, 10 Mar < 10 Find e-journal. UMass Amherst Digital Library. U of Mass. Amherst, 10 Mar <

4 Gigee 4 conclusion reached was that the citation was in some way incorrect and that the source should be reexamined in hopes of discovering new information. What surprised me about the interaction lay in what Juengling did not try: the Citation Linker, (aka UMLinks ), which uses the SFX service provided by Ex Libris 11. I did not have the opportunity to ask about her choice as the first hour was complete and she had other duties to attend to. For the second hour, I worked with Lang and Kelly, and the amount of activity was much lower. Interaction four was a straightforward question regarding a journal article, but what made the interaction interesting was not the question, but the patron. He was an elderly gentleman with stereotypical mannerisms and Lang took some time leading him through the library catalog, the four-college catalog, and inter-library loan. Unlike Juengling working with students, Lang spent less time teaching the patron to use the library s services and more time simply explaining what she was doing and assisting him to get the required information input into the computer system. Understandably, he was not entirely certain where to find various library departments and needed detailed instructions regarding where to go. The lesson I took from the interaction is that there are many types of patrons, each requiring different styles of interaction. In this patron s case, a great deal of patience was required to go at his pace without frustration and without skipping steps. Finally, a scholar verifying references for his publication took about an hour of Kelly s time with the fifth question. He not only had a lengthy list, but some of his citations consisted of only a name and a year. The patron had the decency to joke about the time required to hunt down all of his sources, understanding the situation and the need for expert assistance. Once again, the specter of interdisciplinary research raised its head. As previously mentioned, the architecture of the desk posed problems, and there was no opportunity for me to squeeze in as well, so it was difficult following all of the twists in the search. However, I did speak with Kelly afterward and confirmed that Academic Search Premier 12 and JSTOR SFX. Ex Libris, 10 Mar < 12 Academic Search Premier.

5 Gigee 5 were used heavily, as well as WorldCat 14, but the highlight of the search involved the use of Google Scholar 15. It turned out that enough citations could be found online to gather sufficient information to find the needed references and to construct a proper bibliography. Kelly attributed his success partly to his knowledge of record structure due to being a cataloger and partly to Google s provision of powerful new tools for digital reference. I was rather impressed by the breadth and depth of knowledge required of both men to conduct the search so quickly and with such success. Thus, I spent two hours noting my observations regarding five separate patrons asking five separate questions, none of which involved a student asking for ready information nor for three articles for a shortly-due paper. Each interaction required a genuine commitment of time in order to instruct, to conduct an in-depth search, or both. I am told that it was not a typical afternoon, but I felt it was time well-spent. I saw a diverse population with a wide range of abilities served by four librarians, each with their own personalities and styles. Additionally, I was able to observe the physical layout of a reference desk with all of its associated notes, records, and supplies. As an aside, it seems that reference librarians cannot turn off their professional habits. To pass the time between questions, we discussed librarianship, and Juengling instructed me in aspects of the library system that might not be immediately apparent to an outside observer. Also, it bothered her that she could not immediately call to mind the details of the upcoming ACRL conference 16 at the Mullins Center, so she searched for a few minutes with marginal success and finally ed me the details a couple days later. 13 JSTOR. JSTOR, 10 Mar < 14 WorldCat. OCLC, 10 Mar < 15 Google Scholar. 16 ACRL New England Chapter 2006 Conference Details. ACRL New England Chapter. ACRL/NEC, 10 Mar <

6 Gigee 6 Works Cited Academic Search Premier. EBSCO, 10 Mar < ACRL New England Chapter 2006 Conference Details. ACRL New England Chapter. ACRL/NEC, 10 Mar < Bopp, Richard E., and Linda C. Smith. Reference and Information Services: An Introduction. 3rd ed. (Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2001). Lipsitz, George. The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit from Identity Politics. (Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1998). Google Scholar. Google, 10 Mar < International Political Science Abstracts. EBSCO, 10 Mar < JSTOR. JSTOR, 10 Mar < LISA: Library and Information Science Abstracts. CSA, 10 Mar < SFX. Ex Libris, 10 Mar < Find e-journal. UMass Amherst Digital Library. U of Massachusetts Amherst, 10 Mar < Database Locator. UMass Amherst Libraries. U of Massachusetts Amherst, 10 Mar < UMass Amherst Learning Commons. UMass Amherst Libraries. U of Massachusetts Amherst, 10 Mar < University of Massachusetts Amherst - Association of Research Libraries Data UMass Amherst Libraries. U of Massachusetts Amherst, 10 Mar < WorldCat. OCLC, 10 Mar <