Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pittsburgh, 1996. / "97-09421." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-105).

A framework for information services strategy using the application of strategic planning processes to library information services is described in this study. A survey was carried out in Thailand in order to examine the internal and external environments of the Thai library and information society. From the survey findings, it was found that misunderstanding of the full implication of information services by library and information professionals is the major obstacle to service provision in Thailand. The lack of relationship between user surveys and service provision create the missing link in effective information service provision and use. Improved interpersonal communication skills and the application of strategic thinking are needed in the information services process. A proper understanding of the communication chain relating to service elements is essential for future planning of information services. The development of an information society in Thailand depends on library and information professionals understanding their role better and appreciating the full potential for access to infonnation. The study of the application of strategic planning processes to one function of the library / information system, information services, is an early attempt to reflect its potential to improve the whole system.

A long-standing antipathy towards genealogists on the part of archivists is suggested by a study of the archival literature. However, there is evidence in the literature of the past decade to indicate that many archivists are reassessing their position vis a vis genealogists. There appears to be several causes. Social historians and other professionals also acknowledge that genealogical endeavours are helpful to their own purposes. Genealogists themselves recognize that their qualifications and standards must be improved in order for them to command respect. Archivists now recognize the lobbying power that can be exercised by this large user constituency. The literature suggests that all these influences are leading archivists to accept the principle that genealogy and genealogists should receive service and respect that is equal to that afforded academic and other researchers. Interviews with seven archivists at three Canadian provincial archives were conducted. They suggest that different archivists hold different attitudes towards genealogists. One interviewee was clearly antipathetic, but three were impartial and three were frustrated and discouraged, not with genealogists per se, but with the problems inherent in putting the principle of equality into practice. Regardless of the attitude held, each interviewee believed that an improvement in methods of accommodating genealogists would not only aid the genealogist, but would also provide some relief from the pressures of serving this large and varied user constituency. But does such accommodation through adjustments in the functions of appraisal and acquisition, arrangement and description, reference and access, and public programming undermine archival theory? In general, it was found that sound appraisal practices are compromised by an approach driven by the needs of the user; however, genealogical research required no adjustment of arrangement and description practices following the principles of provenance and original order. It was also found that the functions of reference and access, and public programming could meet the needs and approaches of genealogists without jeopardizing the physical and intellectual aspects of the records. / Arts, Faculty of / Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS), School of / Graduate

SUMMARY: Published guidelines for distance learning library services provide a framework for distance education librarians to use in planning services for off-campus students. Other literature in the arena of distance education librarianship provides concrete examples of how reference services have been offered in real settings. This paper attempts to synthesize these two types of literature in order to offer models of reference service for distance learners.

This study describes a survey of 237 first-year undergraduate students conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Through this study, the researcher aimed to fill in gaps in librarians’ knowledge about first-year students’ awareness of reference services, and students’ preferred modes of communication with librarians. The results show significant positive relationships between librarians’ verbal promotion of reference services and students’ tendency to ask reference questions in person.

Includes bibliography.

在資訊科技蓬勃發展和網路資源不斷快速成長的影響下，圖書館應用數位方式提供參考服務為時勢所趨；如何保有參考服務本質並應用創新科技來推行服務，成為圖書館的重要議題。公共圖書館為地方知識門戶，扮演著蒐集和提供社區民眾有關生活和學習資訊的角色；藉由網路強化參考諮詢服務，可進一步接觸原有讀者與潛在使用者，促進民眾對於圖書館各種服務的使用。 為瞭解國內公共圖書館推行數位參考服務之現況，本研究以台灣本島縣市與文化局圖書館為對象。透過問卷調查各縣市圖書館的參考服務模式、推行情況、館員知能等情形。再進一步以訪談法，探究縣市圖書館在施行數位參考服務時所面臨的困境、館員對於服務的看法等面向，以提出未來發展服務的相關建議，藉此提昇我國縣市圖書館數位參考服務之品質。 經調查顯示，國內縣市圖書館在數位參考服務的整體情況，有71%是透過電子郵件方式進行服務，其次14%是提供主題式線上參考資源，而僅有5%的圖書館建立知識庫。雖有各種不同類型的服務方式，縣市圖書館仍缺乏一個專屬於數位參考服務的管道，而數位資源的建置也需進一步加強，同時圖書館面臨了專業人員與資訊人員不足的困境。在使用者方面，學生為主要使用族群，常提出關於學校課業的諮詢問題。在館員認知方面，縣市圖書館館員雖偏好傳統面對面參考服務，但對於推動數位參考服務仍抱持著樂觀其成的態度，並贊同未來朝向數位合作參考服務的方向發展。 由研究結果歸納建議，縣市圖書館發展數位參考服務應重視組織規劃、服務推展與館際合作三大部份：在組織規劃方面，圖書館應積極研擬數位參考服務發展策略並設立專屬管道，進行人力重整或以合作方式解決人力缺乏問題，同時需提供相關教育訓練課程給予參與參考服務的館員們。在服務推展上，應掌握讀者認知習慣，透過利用教育課程提升讀者的資訊素養，同時進行服務狀況的紀錄統計，並著力於數位資源建置。在館際合作方面，可與學校圖書館一同推展利用教育課程，並結合圖書館現有合作服務項目共同發展數位合作參考服務，以創造雙贏局面。 / Due to the ubiquitous information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the blooming resources on the Internet, libraries now inevitably provide reference services with emerging ICTs. The phenomenon is highlighted within public libraries because of their obligations of equally offering information and its accessibility to the general public. By conducting the questionnaire survey and personal interviews, this study intends to investigate the current status quo of digital reference services in public libraries in Taiwan; to identify the challenges of improving their digital reference services, and to present corresponding solutions. Based on the results of 19 questionnaires and 10 interviews, the study finds that: (1)71% digital reference services are provided via email; 14% are via online pathfinder, and 5% are via knowledge base created by library. (2)Digital reference services are not prioritized in organization developing plan. Accordingly, the promotion of digital reference services, the acquisition of digital resources, and the need of full time librarians and IT staffs are often neglected. (3)From the educational perspective, the digital reference services can help the librarians for advising on students’ school projects and implementing information instructions to the public. (4)Although most librarians showed their willingness to promote digital reference services, they still preferred the traditional face-to-face reference services. However, they also agreed that the collaborative digital reference service will be the emerging trend . This study suggests that: (1)Public libraries should have digital reference services development strategy. (2)To solve the labor force deficiency, organization reengineering or cooperation should be considered. (3)The statistics of the digital reference services usage should be collected and analyzed. (4)The online reference resources for public libraries should be expanded. (5)To enhance users’ information literacy, library instructions and promoting events are necessary. (6)Public libraries could cooperate with the school libraries on improving the information literacy of students. (7)Public libraries should offer digital reference training programs to enhance librarians’ professional capabilities, such as electronic resources management. (8)Combine digital reference services with other interlibrary cooperation.

This two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Sciences aims to investigate and put the services of 118100 Svar På Allt (SPA, an SMS mobile question and answer service) and Fråga biblioteket (FB, a library operated e-mail reference service) into the context of the reference encounter. Questions sent to SPA and their subsequent answers are analysed, and part of these questions are forwarded to FB for comparative studies. Both of the formats are compared to the reference encounter as a whole. The framing of the question originates in the assumption that there may be a need for further negotiation of the questions submitted to the aforementioned formats. Do SPA and FB constitute formats different enough from the reference encounter to imply that the question at hand already has gone through the apropiate negotiations? These compressed and asynchronous reference services are not only compared to the synchronous reference, but are also examined as reference services in their own right. How does the e-mail reference and the SMS services fare against each other and the “regular” reference encounter? Findings in the analysis are subjected to appliable INSU theories, especially Robert S. Taylors thoughts on question negotitation and Nicholas Belkins et al regarding anomalous states of knowledge. Further major contributors are Marie L. Radford concerning the reference encounter and Reijo Savolainen on everyday information practices. The study found several occasions where a personal, or at least synchronous, reference encounter would have been decidedly more helpful than that of the electronic services. However, the larger majority of the questions analysed turned out to be completed in formulation for the compressed, asynchronous format. The e-mails of FB can to some extent work as an intermediary service since it is more allowing lengthwise than SPA and gives more of an opportunity to redirect towards more exhaustive sources.

The aim of this master’s thesis is to examine the virtual reference service Ask the Library [Bibblan svarar] from a postmodern perspective. Ask the Library is a Swedish online reference service that is run by the country’s public libraries. The postmodern theories of Jean-François Lyotard are used to study how information is managed and transmitted within the service. From this point-of-view three aspects of the reference service are studied; how the information is affected by the virtual environment, the librarian’s role within the service and finally how the content of the service is managed. The methods for extracting data are a blend of qualitative interviews and online observations. The data is then analyzed from a theoretical viewpoint. The result shows that there are several postmodern tendencies in Ask the Library. Namely the service shows a number of indications toward plurality. This can be related to Lyotard’s theory of the downfall of the grand narratives since postmodern theories celebrate the idea of plurality and diversity. Ask the Library is complex and dynamic in the sense that it adapts its services to the users. In addition to a multilingual service, Ask the Library also offers the users reference help in the form of social network sites like Facebook and Twitter. This makes the service more varied but also deeply complex. The reference service also emphasizes on the librarian’s individual competence and promotes personal knowledge and expertise. In Lyotard’s postmodern theories there is a rejection of absolute and objective truths and this falls in line with the subjectivity that the reference service celebrates. Ask the Library has two different agendas; providing qualitative reference service to the users and also promoting the librarians and their skills. The information, or content, in the service is still organized and under examination by the librarians. Critique of the sources is an important skill for a librarian within Ask the Library to have. These traditional ideas of objective truth are balanced with the new virtual environment that often promotes collective construction of information and knowledge. This study is a two years master’s thesis in the academic field library and information science.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2009. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Mar. 17, 2010). Thesis advisor: Suzanne Allard. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.