Understanding Reference Transactions: Transforming an Art Into a Science

Audience: Reflective research-oriented practitioners - those most likely to change their behavior in the reference environment (over 8,000 Reference and Adult Services Association members in US & Canada); reference transaction researchers and instructors, who influence the direction of research as well as the adoption of texts in classrooms; library and information science students.

Recounting the development of reference research during the twentieth century, and detailing its current status, this book suggests a new model for understanding reference questions and providing the necessary assistance. The volume provides an systems analysis of reference transactions, supported by empirical evidence and a survey of recent research. Saxton teaches at the University of Washington. Richardson teaches at the University of California at Los Angeles. Annotation (c)2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Gina M. Augustine, MLS(St. Francis Hospital of New Castle)
Description:This book, part of the Library and Information Science Series, provides concrete tools for the information professional on how to provide good reference service measured by the degree of user satisfaction. These tools include interpreting information seeking behavior, formulating a suitable reference query, directing the patron to appropriate resources, and assessing feedback from the reference transaction.
Purpose:The authors indicate most information professionals learn on the job, through peer observation, how to determine actual patron needs. The purpose of this book is to provide theoretical models of the question-answer process (intermediation) for the social dynamic of the reference transaction. Providing good, accurate reference service is an essential goal of any library. The models provided in this book are excellent tools for achieving user satisfaction through appropriate information delivery.
Audience:The intended audience is researchers, educators, librarians, and students interested in the interpersonal interaction involved in the posing of reference questions, the response of the information professional, and the feedback from the requestor. Although the context of the book is the public library, this dialogue is also very much a part of the health sciences library.
Features:A definition and history of reference service, current concepts in reference theory, and methods for predicting outcomes and measuring accuracy of information provided are covered. Extensive analysis of the research process including population and sample descriptors, dependent and independent variables, user characteristics, staff ability/educational background and research methodologies are presented. The appendix contains multiple survey instruments and data variables for the prediction of service outcomes.
Assessment:This is an excellent reference resource. The instruments featured in the appendix are particularly useful in measuring patron satisfaction. Variables data, also part of the appendix, is a great tool for predicting individual library reference request outcomes and can be used to improve or maintain the delivery of quality service.

Matthew Saxton is an assistant professor at the Information School of the University of Washington. His career as a reference librarian includes working in academic, public, and special libraries. His research into reference service evaluation includes meta-analysis of previous studies and exploring the multi-level nature of data on reference service. He is a regular speaker at the RUSA National Institute. He received his doctoral degree in library and information science from UCLA.

John V. Richardson Jr. is professor of library and information science in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research specializes in two areas: general reference work, but especially knowledge-based applications and virtual libraries, and the history of education for librarianship. Recently, he has been working on two major studies: a biographical study of N. K. Krupskaya, L. B. Khavkina, and G. Derman during the formative era of Soviet education for librarianship (i.e., 1910-1928). The second study derives from the first; there is a scholarly need for a current bi-lingual dictionary of Russian-English LIS terminology. The author of eleven books, more than two-dozen nationally refereed articles and more than one hundred book reviews, he has won numerous awards from the Association for Library and Information Science Education and the American Library Association.