THE MYSTERY OF THE DISAPPEARING REFERENCE COLLECTION

1
THE MYSTERY OF THE DISAPPEARING REFERENCE
COLLECTION

• K. Jane Burpee, University of Guelph
• Barbara McDonald, McMaster University

2
Session Outline

• Disappearing Reference Collection
• Reference Service Review
• The Mac Experience
• The Guelph Experience
• Reference Service Top Trends
• Conclusion Mystery Solved ?!

3
Space
Commons
eBooks
Reference Collection
Usage
Googling
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The Disappearing Reference Collection

• Were decimating the Reference Collection. And
  nobody cares.
• Librarian
• All you care about is computers.
• Professor

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The Disappearing Reference Collection

• When it comes to academic reference, students
  and faculty have chosen, and the choice is
  digital.
• Albanese (2004).

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Reference Service Model Review the Mac Experience

• CommonsService Design Objectives
• owned by learners
• inclusive
• collaborative
• accommodates the social
• protects the traditional
• excellent customer service
• learning enhanced by IT
• flexibility for the future

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Reference Service Model Review the Guelph
Experience

• The landscape has changed and the maps have not
  yet been published.
• OCLC 2003 Environmental Scan

Whats this guy got to do with it?
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Reference Service Model Review the Guelph
Experience
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Reference Service Top Trends

• Accountability
• Space
• Staff and Staffing
• Promotion and Marketing

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X
Silence is Golden
Cafes
Commons
Tipping Point
Cluetrain Manifesto
Cataloguing
Partnerships
Web 2.0
Federated Searching
Library 2.0!?
Retail Expectations
Teaching
Reference
Research Help
Learning
Roaming/Roving
Usability
LCSH
User Experience
RenGen
Students
Folksonomies
Faculty
Tagging
Users
Re-Branding
E-Books
Preservation
Stories not stats
Stats
SAILS
Monastery
Marketplace
LibQual
Adapted from Stephen Abram, Library 2.0, with
thanks
VR/chat
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Trends, Truisms.. and Fads?

• Trend, n.
• 1. A general tendency or inclination
• 3. Current style vogue the latest trend in
  fashion
• Truism. n.
• A self-evident truth a statement so obviously
  true as not to require discussion
• Fad, n.
• A peculiar notion as to the right way of doing
  something a pet project to which exaggerated
  importance is attributed a craze.

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Mystery Solved?!

• Or not?
• Concluding thoughts

• Contact Us!
• K. Jane Burpee
• jburpee_at_uoguelph.ca
• Barbara McDonald
• mcdonb_at_mcmaster.ca

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• Do we need an extreme makeover?
• Re-designed space? Re-named service? Roving?
  Roaming? Triaged? Peer to Peer? By appointment
  only? Joined service points? 1-stop shop? Online
  VR or IM? 24/7?
• Discussion

Extreme Makeovers Ty Pennington
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Mystery of The Disappearing Reference
Collection.. Further Reading

• Annotated Bibliography http//library.mcmaster.ca
  /staff/mcdonald/disappearing_bib_OLA-feb06.pdf
• Session Handout http//library.mcmaster.ca/staff/
  mcdonald/disappearing_handout_OLA-feb06.pdf
• McMaster Commons Service Model Working Group
  Final Report http//library.mcmaster.ca/mills/lea
  rningcommons/servicemodel_report.pdf