Your Place or Mine?

Your Place or mine? Face-to-face reference services across campus written by Darcy Del Bosque published in New Library World Vol.108, No5/6, 2007.

The University of Texas at San Antonio implemented a pilot program to "increase student attendance at library events, increasing library visibility across campus, and learning what students want from the library in order to maximize efficiency of library projects." (260) They came up with two types of reference services. "Your Place" services focused on programs that put librarians in alternative sites such as writing centers, academic support areas and residence halls or dormitories. This program was called Direct-2-U-Reference and achieved moderate success in the computer labs and residence halls. "My Place" services in the library provided drop-in classes and tours called Crash Courses and Drop-in Tours. These classes were either introduction to library resources or subject specific classes. The participation was smaller but had a higher interaction and greater impact. Students were more comfortable and asked more questions. Overall, the data did not show a large impact statistically speaking, but the staff argued that the implementations were successful on many levels. They were able to publicize the role of the library and librarian positively, they collaborated with other departments, and personalized the library to the students helped.

I was intrigued by this article because it discussed the pros and cons of alternative reference interactions. The author made an argument for both sides with research and data which made me think about the impact of such services. While reading the data retrieved during the UTSA experiment, I tended to side with the librarians in that these services may not be earth shattering, the real results can not be measured by numbers and hours. It is measured by the individual reference transactions and interactions. Overall, I would support the UTSA library's quest to create unique opportunities for reference desk services.