Integrating Information Literacy Issues into Virtual Reference Services'

1
Integrating Information Literacy Issues into
Virtual Reference Services.
2

• Introduction
• The extension of Internet leading to an
  information society 
• The unambiguous focus on reference service as
  ready reference
• We suggest considerations to change the focus of
  research based on implementing research in
  information literacy into virtual reference
  services in the public libraries
• Recommendations for improvement
• Future research perspectives

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• The Progress of Technology
• The extension of Internet
• Focus on the quality of ready reference
• factual, user satisfaction and relations between
  the organisation and the performance of the
  librarians
• Recent articles
• a shift from answering simple users questions to
  focusing on instruction or information literacy
  (Tyckoson 2003 Janes 2003)

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• Definition of Reference Service
• Green (1876) emphasizing to teach the users how
  to use the library
• Persons who use a popular library for purposes
  of investigation generally need a great deal of
  assistance.
• Moore (1996) and Ferguson (1997) the core service
  is to answer peoples question
• Mackenzie Owen (1996) emphasizing support and use
  of information

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• Methods for Supporting the Users
• Personal assistance
• Help / support
• Subject guides
• Instruction

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• Consequenses for Research and Practice
• Improved conditions for non-professional
  information seeking
• problems finding the appropriate information for
  their information need.
• Focus on critical thinking
• How can we, in virtual reference services,
• apply instruction
• help users find relevant information and
• help them to evaluate this information

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• The Categories of Services
• Information services
• Value adding services
• Communication services
• Transaction services

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Categories of Reference Services on Library Web
Sites
Fig. 1 Categories of Reference Services
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• Definition of the Services I
• Information Services
• to retrieve sorted and classified information on
  demand
• Inclusion of resources
• Organisation of resources
• Collection policy
• Selection criteria

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• Definition of the Services II
• Value-adding Services
• Emphasis on librarian expertise
• Emphasis on users selection of information
  resources
• Annotations
• Search facility
• Help Facilities
• Instruction

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• Definition of the Services III
• Communication Services
• to interact with individuals or groups of
  people
• Ask the librarian service
• Discussion fora

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• Definition of the Services IV
• Transaction Services
• to aquire products or services on-line or to
  submit data
• Reservations
• Renewals
• Proposals
• Etc.

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• Library Instruction
• Library tours
• Orientations
• Catalogue
• Classroom
• Workshops
• Individual / groups

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Information Literacy
Fig. 2 Information literacy models
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• Information Literacy in Academic Libraries
• Collaboration with faculty
• Web-based tutorials
• (Dewald 1999a)
• Course-related
• Active learning
• Collaborative
• More than one medium
• Clear objectives
• Concepts
• Ask-the-librarian

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• Learning underlying Information Literacy
• Constructivism
• Experience
• Inquiry
• Information seeking
• Construction
• Motivation
• Interaction

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• Web-Based Learning
• Technology
• Flexibility
• Absence of dialogue
• Development of the learning environment
• Too often, our sense of what we can accomplish
  in our instructional program is overblown.
  Perhaps we think that, once taught, they will be
  fine on their own. On the other hand, we know
  that the information landscape is constantly and
  rapidly changing.(Lipow 2003)

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Information Literacy in Public Libraries 1
Fig. 3 The inequalities between users of academic
and public libraries
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• Information Literacy in Public Libraries 2
• Research study (Johnson 2002)
• Demonstrates that most research is related to
  academic libraries
• ..sustained instructional contact does not
  generally exist in the public library where
  populations are diverse and it is difficult to
  identify a commonality of backgrounds among
  users. The focus in the public library is on the
  independent individual library user and his or
  her unique needs" (Grassian 2001)
• A Danish qualitative study (Larsen 2002)

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• Information Literacy in Public Libraries 3
• Open society (Robinson Bawden 2001)
• Daily life information seeking / problem solving
  (Savolainen 1995)
• Critical thinking (Kuhlthau 1993)
• Basic charges of education
• Learn in dynamic situations
• Manage information overload
• Find meaning in numerous and diverse messages
• Construct a personal understanding

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Information Literacy and Reference Services in
Public Libraries 1
Fig. 4 Stages in Development of Virtual Reference
Services in Public Libraries
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• Information Literacy and
• Reference Services in Public Libraries 2
• We identify the skills for users of information
  in public libraries as extracted from figure (2)
  to be
• Recognition of information need
• Construct strategies for locating information
• Search /Collection /Location and access
• Interpretation /Evaluate and extract
• Use of information
• Excluding the following
• Communication
• Presentation
• Process-evaluation

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• Information Literacy and
• Reference Services in Public Libraries 3
• No subject specialists
• Generic skills
• Select, evaluate, organize and present resources
  in their proper context
• Collaboration with the educational system

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• Information Literacy and
• Reference Services in Public Libraries 4
• Communication services
• Ask-a-librarian
• Information need
• Acknowledgement of uncertainty and encouraging
  support
• Archive
• Short description of the search process

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• Conclusion
• Instruction for promotion of information literacy
  is inappropriate in public libraries
• Reference services should prioritize the support
  of critical thinking in users evaluating and use
  of information
• For these purposes librarians should concentrate
  on
• Selection, evaluation, organization, and
  annotations
• Help facilities
• Archives of answers
• Openness in collection policy and criteria for
  selection, annotations, etc.
• Holistic view in development of services
• Holistic view in future research

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• Example from a Browsable Catalogue
• Rock
• Disco, Grunge, Rock'n roll, Rockabilly, Surf
  Country Bluegrass, Barndance, Country blues,
  Folk, Hillbilly, Skiffle, Squaredance, Tex-mex
  Rhythm Blues Urban blues, Jump blues, New
  Orleans, Barrelhouse Soul Soul - vokal, Soul -
  instrumental, Funk Metal Black metal, Death
  metal, Gothic rock, Heavy metal, Heavy metal -
  vokal, Heavy rock, Neoklassisk heavy, Power
  metal, Punk, Ska, Støjrock, Trash metal
  ReggaeBluebeat, Dancehall, Drum'n'bass, Dub,
  Jamaica, Lovers rock, Ragamuffin, Ragga, Reggae -
  vokal, Rock steady, Roots reggae, Ska
  www.silkeborgbibliotek.dk/basil/musik/rock.html

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• Example illustrating Daily Life Situations
• Your life
• Guidance, advice and support through key events
  in your life (12 themes)
• Having a baby
• Key facts for people who are thinking about
  having a baby, have just had one, or are
  expecting.
• Having a baby
• Starting a new school
• Advice to help you select the right school for
  your child.
• Starting a new school
• http//www.ukonline.gov.uk/YourLife/YourLife/fs/en
  

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• Example of a Life Circle illustrating Daily Life
  Situations

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• Selected references
• Dewald, Nancy H. (1999a) Transporting Good
  Library Instruction Practices into the Web
  Environment An Analysis of Online Tutorials.
  Journal of Academic Librarianship, vol. 25, no.
  1, pp. 26-32.
• Grassian, Esther S. (2001) Information literacy
  instruction theory and practice / Esther S
  Grassian and Joan R. Kaplowitz. New York
  Neal-Shuman, 2001. 468 pages.
• Hummelshoj, Marianne (2002) Virtual Reference
  Services in Public Libraries From "Access to" to
  "Use of " information. The VRD 4th Annual
  Digital Reference Conference. November 11-12,
  2002. Chicago. IL.
• Kuhlthau, Carol C. (1993) Seeking meaning A
  process approach to library and information
  services / Carol C. Kuhlthau. New Jersey
  Ablex, 1993. 199 pages.
• Robinson, Lyn and David Bawden (2001)
  Libraries, information and knowledge in open
  societies. Nordinfo-Nytt, 2001, no. 2, pp.
  21-30.
• Savolainen, Reijo (1995) Everyday Life
  Information Seeking Approaching Information
  Seeking in the Context of Way of Life.
  Library and Information Science Research 17, no.
  3 (Summer 1995), pp.259-294.