Reimagining Reference Use at Libraries
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The document discusses the evolving use of reference materials in libraries, noting a decline in traditional reference resource usage due to changing information-seeking behaviors. It highlights the importance of clarifying the concept of 'reference' to improve collection strategies and user awareness. Overall, the author emphasizes the need for libraries to adapt and enhance how reference materials are utilized in research contexts.
Reimagining Reference Use at Libraries
- 1. Reimagining Reference Use at Libraries Damon Zucca Scholarly Reference Publisher Oxford University Press Damon.Zucca@oup.com1
- 2. Lots of reference use online, but much of it not happening through libraries. Should this be a cause for concern? How do we imagine libraries of the future will be used?
- 3. Definitions “A reference book is a book which is used for looking up particular points rather than for reading them through.” – The Practical Use of Books and Libraries, 1911 “A print or electronic book designed by the arrangement and treatment of its subject matter to be consulted for definite items of information rather than read consecutively.” – ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science, Fourth Edition, 2012
- 4. Reference types • Dictionaries • Encyclopedias • Directories • Bibliographies • Almanacs • Handbooks • Manuals • Indexes • Gazetteer • Atlases • Digests • Grammars • Chronologies • Yearbooks • Glossaries • Statistical works • Style guides • Biographical Dictionaries
- 5. A term so broad it’s meaningless? “Librarians use reference sources differently now than they did in the past and expect the use of traditional reference sources to decrease because of a shift in information-seeking behavior. Indeed, the use of the term reference seems irrelevant to many librarians.” – The State of Reference Collections, SAGE 2014 “Whilst reference resources remain potentially valuable in supporting research, the category of ‘reference’ is not well recognized and this inhibits users’ awareness of resources available to them.” – Navigating Research: How Academic Users Understand, Discover, and Utilize Reference Resources, OUP 2017
- 6. Why should we care? The lack of clarity complicates decisions Collection and publishing strategy Configuration of discovery systems Information desk and instruction Impact on the research
- 7. Reference as information in context Reference is used at the beginning stages of a research journey to… • Check a fact • Gain a basic understanding unfamiliar topic • Find reliable sources for further reading “There are a lot of times when I would appreciate something between Wikipedia level and research paper level and that can sometimes be difficult.” --US undergrad quoted in OUP’s Navigating Research paper
- 8. Damon Zucca Scholarly Reference Publisher Oxford University Press Damon.Zucca@oup.com Contact me any time with questions or comments about OUP’s reference program. I’d love to hear from you! Thank You