REFERENCE SERVICE CHAPTER 1
AND SOURCES
REFERENCE SERVICE DEFINITION
Reference service is the supreme and ultimate
function of the library. This is in fact the hub of all
library activities. Reference service is sometimes
referred to as ‘reference and information services’
or ‘reader services’.
According to A.B. Kroeger – Reference service as
“assistance in the use of resources of the
library”.
According to James I. Wyer – “Reference service
is that part of library administration which deals
with the assistance given to the readers in their
use of the resources of the library.”
REFERENCE SERVICE DEFINITION
According to Margaret Hutchins– “Reference
service includes the direct, personal aid within a
library to persons in search of information for
whatever purpose and also various library activities
specially aimed at making information as easily
available as possible.”
According to Samuel Rothstein- Reference service
as “the personal assistance given by the libraries
to individual readers in pursuit of information.”
S.R. Ranganathan offered a definition of reference
service in a precise manner: “Reference service is
the process of establishing contact between a
reader and his documents in a personal way.”
REFERENCE SERVICES AND
INFORMATION ACCESS
The term "reference service" is defined
simply as:
- personal assistance provided to library
users seeking information.
- Individuals who hold a master's degree
in the field of library and information
sciences or information studies typically
provide the service .
REFERENCE SERVICES AND
INFORMATION ACCESS
- Reference librarians are variously referred to
as "mediators between the user and the
information" and "navigators of the
information super-highway."
- Reference service traditionally has been
offered in person at a designated desk within
the library building, over the telephone, and
through correspondence.
- Another form of reference service is
classroom and one-on-one instruction in the
use of print and electronic resources.
REGARDLESS OF THE DELIVERY METHOD, THE VALUE
OF REFERENCE SERVICE REMAINS THE SAME:
to provide quality information
through personalized service to
library users at the time of need.
Reference service is characterized
by human interaction.
REFERENCE SOURCES AND BASIC T YPES
ALA defines Reference Sources
as materials designed by the arrangement and
treatment of its subject matter to be consulted for
definite items of information rather than to be read
consecutively.
These are any publication from which authoritative
information can be obtained, including but not
limited to reference books, catalog records, printed
indexes and abstracting services, and bibliographic
databases.
ACCORDING TO IT’S NATURE , REFERENCE SERVICE
MAY BE CATEGORIZED AS T WO DIFFERENT T YPES
FUNCTIONS OF REFERENCE SERVICE:
In 1942, The American Library Association
(ALA) stated the six functions of reference
service:
The supervision function.
The information function.
The guidance function.
The instruction function.
The bibliographic function.
The appraisal function.
SUPERVISION FUNCTION
Proper organization of facilities;
Selection of reference materials;
Direction of personnel, and
Study of the library clientele
THE INFORMATION FUNCTION:
The reference librarian should be prepared to
answer all types of questions and should be
able to produce source that would answer the
questions.
Attempts have also been made to classify
questions in various ways.
Reference librarian should be prepared to give
assistance to the enquirer as much as he
requires.
THE GUIDANCE FUNCTION
The reference librarian should be able to
give guidance to the readers in the
choice of books and other reading
materials and should guide them in the
location of documents.
THE INSTRUCTION FUNCTION
A reference Librarian should instruct the
readers about how to work in the library,
the use of catalogue and reference
works, the location of materials, etc.
For this, an orientation programme
should be arranged to familiarize the
readers with the library practices and
procedures.
THE BIBLIOGRAPHIC FUNCTION
The bibliographies in various
subjects of interest to the readers,
should be prepared by the reference
staff, so that the readers are able to
know the books and other reading
materials in a particular subject.
THE APPRAISAL FUNCTION
The success in reference service
largely depends upon two factors:
i) Possession of right material.
ii) Knowledge of how to get the
most out of it.
KNOWLEDGE MAPS
KM strategies have long made use of
knowledge maps, or visual representations of
the pools of knowledge within
Companies, who has access to them, and
what other groups they affect.
KM workers find knowledge maps useful for
giving overviews of explicit knowledge, and
finding particular pieces of information faster.
There are a number of different types of
knowledge maps, used for different purposes.
THE TOP FOUR T YPES OF MAPS ARE:
Concept maps. The concept map is a simple version of
knowledge mapping, dividing the information groups into
clear categories and showing relevant connections with circles
and lines. These are usually made with a main body of
knowledge and several branching groups, and are used in
teaching and presentation formats. Unfortunately, it can be
dif ficult to show processes with several related steps in
concept mapping.
Mind maps. These flexible, intuitive -based maps are used to
express tacit knowledge for the benefit of other people, or for
review. These can be more than one color and consist of
interlaced connection with multiple central headings. These
connections are often based on semantics or hierarchal
structures. Mind maps can be developed into more structured
maps further on in development.
Mind mapping
THE TOP FOUR T YPES OF MAPS ARE:
Conceptual diagram. These maps are one of the
most complicated, involving many titles with textual
definitions. Conceptual diagrams are most often
used when there is a predetermined topic that needs
extensive explanation.
Visual metaphor. Visual metaphors use some sort of
pre existing structure—a story, graphic, animal, or
identifiable object—to communicate meaning in an
easy way to understand. Visual metaphors help
people remember key connections for certain topics.
Visual metaphors should be chosen carefully for their
association value.
CONCEPTUAL DIAGRAM
TWO BASIC T YPES OF
REFERENCE SOURCES
Control-access-directional reference - these reference
sources compile information that refer the user to other
information sources.
bibliographies
library catalogs
indexes
abstracts
Ready reference -
these reference materials are used most
often in answering ready reference questions
THE FOLLOWING TITLES ARE EXAMPLES
OF GUIDES TO REFERENCE SOURCES
Guide to Reference Books
Walford’s Guide to Reference Materials
Gale Directory of Databases
BIBLIOGRAPHIES
Bibliography
a systematic list or enumeration of written works by a specific author
or on a given subject, or that share one or more common
characteristics (language, form, period, place of publication, etc .).
refers to a list of references to sources cited in the text of an article
or book, or suggested by the author for further reading, usually
appearing at the end of the work.
A bibliography may be comprehensive or selective.
Long bibliographies may be published serially or in book form.
Bibliographee - when the subject of a bibliography is about a
person
Bibliographer - the person responsible for compiling a
bibliography is the
LIBRARY CATALOGS
Library catalogs
- are comprehensive lists of the books, periodicals, maps, and other materials in a given collection,
arranged in systematic order to facilitate retrieval (usually alphabetically by author, title, and/or
subject).
- In most modern libraries, the card catalog has been converted to machine -readable bibliographic
records and is available online.
- The purpose of a library catalog, as stated by Charles C. Cutter in Rules for a Dictionary Catalog
(1904), later modified by Bohdan S. Wynar in Introduction to Cataloging and Classification (8th ed.,
1992), is to offer the user a variety of approaches or access points to the information contained in
the collection.
Specifically, they aim the following::
To enable a person to find any work, whether issued in print or in nonprint format, when one of the
following is known:
The author - By a given author
The title - The subject
To show what the library has - On a given and related subjects
In a given kind of literature - To assist in the choice of a work
As to the bibliographic edition - As to its character (literary or topical)
Cataloging- the preparation of entries for a library catalog
Cataloger - is performed by a librarian known the preparation of
entries for a library catalog
