An Analysis of Sources Used to Answer Reference Questions

1. An Analysis of Sources Used to Answer Reference Questions 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 Barbara Costello Reference Librarian Government Documents Librarian Assistant Professor duPont Ball Library Stetson University DeLand, Florida Robert Lenholt Reference Librarian Electronic Services 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

2. Introduction & Background Rob Lenholt

3. 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.

4. The duPont-Ball library Holdings • 338,000 volumes • 353,000 microforms • 9100+ unique periodicals titles

5. Greetings From the Gang at Stetson’s duPont-Ball Library

6. 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.

7. Reference Collection 9,587 Printed Reference Titles

8. Library’s Database Page

9. 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.

10. 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?

11. 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

12. Methodology Jane Bradford

13. This was our High-tech Data Collection Instrument for the Fall 2002 study Insert scanned photo of legal pad

14. Sample of Spreadsheet Used for Fall 2002 data compilation

15. Top Five Categories of Sources that Emerged During the Fall 2002 Data Collection Process

16. Example of Questions Asked That Resulted in Using Librarian as a Source Category

17. 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.

18. 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

19. Spring 2003 Spreadsheet Sample

20. 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)

21. 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

22. Results of Study Barbara Costello

23. FALL SEMESTER 2002 Results of Study

24. FALL SEMESTER 2002

25. SPRING SEMESTER 2003

26. SPRING SEMESTER 2003

27. Comparison of Study Results by Gender and University Population by Gender Study Results by Gender University Population by Gender

28. TOTAL – BOTH SEMESTERS

29. TOTAL – BOTH SEMESTERS

30. Library’s Web Page for Journals Holdings

31. Sample of Detailed Holdings Information Found on Journals Pages

32. 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.

33. 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.

34. 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

35. 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

36. 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 library’s 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.

37. 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