General

A 1970 survey of psychiatrists randomly selected from the 1968 membership of the American Psychiatric Association (survey size: 394; responding: 290 or 74%) showed thatlibrary reference services were used as follows (multiple responses allowed):

                guidance by the librarian                      40% respondents

                recent acquisitions lists                         38% respondents

                requested bibliographies                      35% respondents

                MEDLARS                                        11% respondents

                other                                                   11% respondents                (Source)

        Ibid…. showed thatthe 4 most frequently mentioned prime methods of searching the literature (out of 11) were:

                library reference services                     23% respondents

                abstracts and indexes                          17% respondents

                bibliographies                                      17% respondents

                review articles                                     16% respondents

Use of the card catalog as a prime method of searching the literature was reported by 5% of the respondents, while browsing as a prime method was reported by 4% of the respondents.                (Source)

Academic

An analysis of reference questions asked during fiscal year 1977-78 at the Engineering, Mathematics and Science Library at the University of Waterloo (Ontario), using step categories where each step represents a “distinct and definable judgment leading to a decision, action or recommendation” and where roughly 1 step corresponds to directional questions, 2 steps corresponds to ready reference questions, and multistep corresponds to reference questions, showed thatof 5,761 questions that it was possible to code out of 5,969 asked: 1,800 (31%) were 1-step, 2,714 (47%) were 2-step, and 1,247 (22%) were multistep.               (Source)

        Ibid…. showed thatthe proportion of 1-step, 2-step, and multistep questions asked by undergraduates was 37%, 42%, and 21%, respectively, that of graduates was 28%, 52%, and 20%, respectively, and that of faculty was 24%, 51%, and 25%, respectively.                    (Source)

An analysis of reference questions asked during selected periods throughout the major part of the academic year 1967-77 at Albion College Library, using step categories where each step represents a “distinct and definable judgment leading to a decision, action or recommendation” and where roughly 1 step corresponds to directional questions, 2 steps corresponds to ready reference questions, and multistep corresponds to reference questions, showed thatof 1,245 questions 753 (60%) were 1-step, 271 (22%) were 2-step, and 221 (18%) were multistep.      (Source)

A study reported in 1982 of 14,026 reference questions asked during randomly selected periods over 40 weeks at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University showed that6,374 (45.5%) were locational, 3,387 (24.1%) were instructional, 2,879 (20.5%) were reference, and 1,386 (9.9%) were miscellaneous (how to operate equipment, special permissions, etc.).                (Source)

        Ibid…. showed that, of the locational questions, the location of publications (54.6%) was the most frequent type of question, followed by finding items not in the stacks (20.6%) and seeking directions to facilities (rest rooms, drinking fountains) (16.4%).                    (Source)

        Ibid…. showed that, of the instructional questions, the most frequent category was how to use bibliographic tools (48.8%), followed by how to find journals in the library (33.3%)             (Source)

        Ibid…. showed thatthe 20.5% reference questions consisted of 11.3% ready reference questions, 8.5% regular reference, and 0.7% in-depth reference questions.                          (Source)

Public

A questionnaire survey of 3,500 public library cardholders in 5 medium-sized Pennsylvania cities in conjunction with interviews of a randomly selected sample of householders in 1 city by the Institute of Public Administration (at Pennsylvania State University) under contract to the Pennsylvania State Library in 1965 showed thatthe major service provided by the library was book borrowing (60% of respondents), while reference/information was the next most important use made of the library (26% of respondents).                (Source)

A 1966 survey of 21,385 adult (12 years old or older) public library users in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan region of Maryland conducted during a 6-week period of patrons entering the library (79.1 % of patrons approached filled out the survey instrument) showed thatthe top 5 reasons given for visiting the library were (multiple responses allowed): return books (43.4%), obtain materials or information on a subject (33.5%), pick out general reading (33.5%), obtain a specific book (22.1%), and to bring their child (12.9%).                        (Source)

        Ibid…. showed thatthe use made of the library was as follows (multiple responses allowed): browsing (43.1%), reference books (22.1%), library catalogs (19.0%), help from a librarian (16.0%), consulting books or magazines (12.4%), read new magazines or newspapers (8.7%), periodical indexes (5.7%), recordings (2.7%), films (0.7%), other (2.0%), and no response (11.1%).                    (Source)

A 1979 telephone survey of 1,046 New Orleans residents over the age of 12 showed thatthe Central Library was used more for reference and research, while the branches were used more for recreational reading. 43.7% of Central’s use was for information other than school, 34% for school, and 19.3% for pleasure, while the branches were used 26.9% for information other than school, 38.7% for school, and 33.4% for pleasure.                      (Source)

An attempt reported in 1982 to establish 4 input measures and 4 output measures for public libraries, based on published statistical reports for 301 New Jersey public libraries over a 6-year period (1974-79) and survey data for 96 public libraries in New Jersey, showed that(per capita based on population in library’s service area):

            INPUT MEASURES

                The proportion of budget spent on materials averaged 19.9% with a standard deviation of .081 (based on 301 libraries).

                The new volumes per capita averaged .181 with a standard deviation of .097 (based on 301 libraries).

                The periodical titles per capita averaged .0094 with a standard deviation of .0054 (based on 301 libraries).

                The circulation per volume averaged 1.79 with a standard deviation of .77 (based on 301 libraries).

            OUTPUT MEASURES

                The circulation per capita averaged 5.04 with a standard deviation of 3.07 (based on 301 libraries).

                The patron visits per capita averaged 2.82 with a standard deviation of 1.82 (based on 96 libraries).

                The reference questions per capita averaged 1.12 with a standard deviation of .79 (based on 96 libraries).

                The in-library uses of materials per capita averaged 2.29 with a standard deviation of 2.02 (based on 96 libraries).                (Source)

Special

A 1970 survey of psychiatrists randomly selected from the 1968 membership of the American Psychiatric Association (survey size: 394; responding: 290 or 74%) showed thatlibrary reference services were used as follows (multiple responses allowed):

                guidance by the librarian                      40% respondents

                recent acquisitions lists                         38% respondents

                requested bibliographies                      35% respondents

                MEDLARS                                        11% respondents

                other                                                   11% respondents                (Source)

        Ibid…. showed thatthe 4 most frequently mentioned prime methods of searching the literature (out of 11) were:

                library reference services                     23% respondents

                abstracts and indexes                          17% respondents

                bibliographies                                      17% respondents

                review articles                                     16% respondents

Use of the card catalog as a prime method of searching the literature was reported by 5% of the respondents, while browsing as a prime method was reported by 4% of the respondents.                (Source)

A 1976 survey of physicians associated with hospitals in a 17-county region of upstate New York (Health Service Area V), based on a systematic sample of “approximately 40%” of the physicians in each county (survey size: 592 physicians; responding: 258 or 45.6%), showed thatthe 3 most frequently used sources of information as reported by the physicians were (in descending order of importance):

                        1.              papers in journals

                        2.              personal contact with colleagues

                        3.              books

As an information source used by physicians, “library reference services” ranked 7 out of a list of 19.                 (Source)

        Ibid…. showed that, of the 61% physicians who had asked a medical librarian for work-related information within the past year, 61.8% rated the information received as “adequate,” 28.9% as “more than adequate,” and 9.2% as “less than adequate.” Further, 84.9% of the physicians had requested the information themselves, while 15.1% had used an intermediary (e.g., secretary).               (Source)

A 1975-77 study of the use of a drug information service (including closed-circuit TV capability for sending answers) originating from the Health Sciences Library at the University of Cincinnati to provide information about drugs, chemicals, and poisons to health professionals in 14 local hospitals (2,294 questions researched; TV used to help provide the answer in 460 instances) showed thattypes of users were as follows:

                pharmacists accounted for 31.3% of the total queries and 29.3% of the queries with a TV response;

                physicians accounted for 25.8% of the total queries and 22.6% of the queries with a TV response;

                nurses accounted for 21.2% of the total queries and 24.8% of the queries with a TV response;

                medical students accounted for 2.4% of the total queries and 3.5% of the queries with a TV response;

                “other” accounted for 22.0% of the total queries and 24.1% of the queries with a TV response.          (Source)

        Ibid…. showed thatthe 3 main uses of the drug information system were to: select patient treatment approach (50.0% of all cases; 57.6% of the cases where TV response was used), explain observations in a patient (15.2% of all cases; 15.7% of the cases where TV response was used), and add to personal knowledge (13.0% of all cases; 9.2% of the cases where TV response was used).                 (Source)

Dr. David Kohl

 "Libraries in the digital age are experiencing the most profound transformation since ancient Mesopotamian scribes first began gathering and organizing cuneiform tablets."

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