Supplying users with literature by a seamless linking of media is the goal of (scientific) libraries. By the digitization of primary and secondary data and the convergence of products and providers, libraries have already come very close to achieving this ideal. A digital library is the realization of this goal. However, many librarians are in danger of running out of imagination. What will come after the digital library? Do we still need information professionals today? And, above all, what services are required? This paper identifies new fields of business for libraries with the example of bibliometric analysis. The discussion concerns the shape this service could take in practice, who needs it and what target groups exist in the scientific environment. Concrete examples of bibliometric analysis from the Central Library of Research Centre Jülich, the largest interdisciplinary research institution in Europe, round off the overview.

This article seeks to shift the literature on chat-based reference services beyond the current spate of case studies and discussions of emerging standards and best practices in providing chat-based reference, to a higher level of discussion on the creation and discussion of theoretical frameworks to unite these standards and practices. The article explores the various steps in the process of providing synchronous, chat-based reference, as well as issues involved in providing such service at each step. The purpose of this exploration is twofold: First, this article presents some open research questions at each step in the process of providing chat-based reference service. Second, the entire process of providing chat-based reference is viewed as a whole, and a model of the provision of chat-based reference service is developed at a high level of abstraction. It is hoped that this model may serve as a conceptual framework for future discussions of and development of applications for chat-based reference.

This study evaluates the level of adherence to professional guidelines by virtual (e-mail) reference services. These professional guidelines are set up as standards to assure service quality; however, studies of virtual reference effectiveness rarely utilize these standards to measure reference success. This study evaluates and compares the level of adherence to two sets of professional guidelines that have been published by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and the American Library Association (ALA) Reference and User Services Association (RUSA). Analysis of 324 transactions from 54 libraries showed: 1) low levels of adherence to both sets of guidelines; 2) varied levels of adherence based on request types and user names on both sets of guidelines; 3) variation in institutional rank when different sets of guidelines were utilized; 4) no correlation between user satisfaction and adherence to either set of guidelines. The implications of this study for future research and practice lie not only in its provision of a systematic way to analyze transactions in light of the ideal professional standards, but also in providing an empirical benchmark for virtual reference services evaluation.

Reference service is one of the library’s primary services besides acquisitions, classification, cataloguing and physical planning. This service provides personalized assistance to library users in accessing and using suitable information resources to meet their needs. This research progress paper attempts to identify the status of digital reference services (DRS) in four public university libraries in Malaysia. In this study, the researcher attempts to identify usage of both traditional and digital reference services, user awareness of DRS, user satisfaction, and need for DRS. Two different sets of questionnaires were distributed: (1) a librarians’ questionnaire to librarians in the four university libraries, namely, Tun Abdul Razak Library, UiTM; University of Malaya (UM) Library; Tun Seri Lanang Library, UKM; and Sultan Abdul Samad Library, UPM; (2) a users’ questionnaire to students of the Faculty of Information Management, UiTM, and the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, UiTM, UM and UPM. The findings show that DRS are effective forms of service delivery but their full potential has not yet been exploited. Email reference, Web forms and Ask-A Librarian are the main channels used in providing digital reference, although plans are under way to implement more sophisticated Internet technologies and collaborative digital reference.

This study evaluates the level of adherence to professional guidelines by virtual (e-mail) reference services. These professional guidelines are set up as standards to assure service quality; however, studies of virtual reference effectiveness rarely utilize these standards to measure reference success. This study evaluates and compares the level of adherence to two sets of professional guidelines that have been published by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) and the American Library Association (ALA) Reference and User Services Association (RUSA). Analysis of 324 transactions from 54 libraries showed: 1) low levels of adherence to both sets of guidelines; 2) varied levels of adherence based on request types and user names on both sets of guidelines; 3) variation in institutional rank when different sets of guidelines were utilized; 4) no correlation between user satisfaction and adherence to either set of guidelines. The implications of this study for future research and practice lie not only in its provision of a systematic way to analyze transactions in light of the ideal professional standards, but also in providing an empirical benchmark for virtual reference services evaluation.

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This thesis examines formation and adaptation of reference prices by Manitoban farmers. Research shows that preferences are reference-dependent and that marketing decisions are affected by reference prices. Results obtained in this research suggest that Manitoban farmers’ reference prices for grain are formed primarily by a weighted average price and by the highest price indicated in the experiment. Reference prices were found to adapt in the same direction as market prices, where adaptation to increasing prices was found to be larger than adaptation to decreasing prices. When deciding to sell grain, farmers were more likely to sell when they expected prices to decrease over the next month and when their reference price adjusted downwards towards the current price.

This thesis examines formation and adaptation of reference prices by Manitoban farmers. Research shows that preferences are reference-dependent and that marketing decisions are affected by reference prices. Results obtained in this research suggest that Manitoban farmers’ reference prices for grain are formed primarily by a weighted average price and by the highest price indicated in the experiment. Reference prices were found to adapt in the same direction as market prices, where adaptation to increasing prices was found to be larger than adaptation to decreasing prices. When deciding to sell grain, farmers were more likely to sell when they expected prices to decrease over the next month and when their reference price adjusted downwards towards the current price.

A theory of descriptive names is developed and defended against several objections. Descriptive names pose an interesting challenge to any theory of reference, since they possess both features of proper names and definite descriptions, i.e. of expressions which are often considered to be radically different. These features are referentiality and descriptive sense. The thesis takes as its point of departure Gareth Evans's theory of descriptive names, improves upon it and discusses several other authors and related theories along the way. Chapter I provides an brief introduction to the topic and an abstract of the main lines of argument. Chapter 2 argues that descriptive names possess both referential status and descriptive sense, and that these qualities constitute the two most basic elements of the notion of descriptive reference (which is contrasted with Russellian reference). It is demonstrated that not all names introduced by description are descriptive names, a claim which is given additional substance by a comparison between Evans's and Kripke's accounts of such names. Chapters 3 and 4 deal with two major challenges to the possibility of descriptive names. Chapter 3 explores the possibility of a truth-conditional theory of meaning for descriptive names, but it is shown that if we follow Evans's suggestion that the semantic value of a descriptive name is to be construed according to model theory - namely, as an entity distinct from the referent (a set) - such a theory will result in treating descriptive names as predicates, and thus eliminate then qua referring expressions. Similar accounts given by other authors are also examined and found to be problematic. I conclude by rejecting the model-theoretic notion of semantic value. Chapter 4 addresses a second challenge, posed by the fact that if a descriptive name has a descriptive sense, then given a Russellian analysis of definite descriptions, descriptive names must be quantifier phrases, and thus, again, non-referring expressions. It is argued that if this is true, then the use of negative free logic is unnecessary. Using the idea of rigidified descriptions, it is shown that Evans's arguments, based on modality and simplicity considerations, fail to save both the referentiality and descriptive sense of descriptive names while semantically dissociating them from descriptions. I show that descriptive names can be treated as shorthand for rigidified descriptions and thus semantically on a par with the latter, which, as I demonstrate, is still consistent with Evans's own (convincing) solution of the puzzle of the contingent a priori. Nevertheless, this still does not guarantee the referentiality of descriptive names. Chapter 5 presents in detail the argument that we can only save the referentiality and descriptive sense of descriptive names if we treat definite descriptions as referring expressions. Several negative arguments undermining the most influential defences of the Russellianism are given and three positive accounts of referring descriptions, Wettstein's, Sainbury's and Strawson's, are critically discussed, finally settling, with some proviso, for Strawson's. Finally, the principles of a 'Fregean' free logic for Strawsonian semantics are sketched, and I suggest ways in which a truth theory could be expressed by means of these principles. Chapter 6 summarises the achievements, sketches possible research concerning descriptive names and concludes that the analysis of descriptive names is useful in at least three ways: it provides us with means to, first, solve problems that arise from the introduction of artificial expressions such as descriptive names (e.g. the problem of the contingent a priori), second, to better understand our natural language and its relation to formal theories of meaning, and, last but not least, to give a strong rationale for a referential treatment of definite descriptions. Chapter 7 includes the bibliography and Chapter 8 a list of axioms and formulas.

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1979. / Bibliography: leaves [207]-211. / Microfiche. / vii, 211 leaves 29 cm