**Minutes Reference and Information Services Group Meeting** 12 August 2008 2.00 pm – 4.00pm **Parramatta Library, Parramatta** **Apologies** Ken Klippel, Marrickville: Jane Broadbere, Mosman; Christine Wales, Wollongong; Cathy Johnston, Clarence Regional Library; Ross Balharrie, Manly; Present Jenny Campbell Watt, Randwick; kate Nadler, Tamworth Regional; Luke Carter, Hurstville; Ion Sloggett, Kogarah; Andrew Allen, Canterbury; David Griffiths, Fairfield; Gabriele Winter, Canada Bay; Kathleen Arundell, Leichhardt; Will Combe, Lane Cove; Indra Ban Parramatta; Ana Hawich, Parramatta; Jennifer Wilson, Fairfield; Lydie Bacot, City of Sydney **Progress of ref- ex** The wiki is progressing slowly as there have been technical problems. After the meeting two additional people have volunteered to help progress this. **What reference suppliers are people using?** Parramatta uses Warner Books, Melbourne for all reference and all standing orders; Canada Bay – mainly Warner - good range of reference also Abbeys, OUP, few standing orders, AES; Leichhardt - James Bennett; Canterbury - The bookhouse – Qld based. Pal Books. Some reference/non fiction Warern/James Bennett; Hurstville - Borders – which has after hours book nights, Kinokuniya and specialised University Presses. **Sources for selecting reference** e-mail from suppliers, other online, reducing reference, increasing non fiction, publisher specific information, some publishers setting up rss feeds and bookshops like Abbeys blogs some online/e-books **Reports from Cathy and Claire**. Claire will continue to investigate the communication between schools and libraries from an HSC student perspective. Cathy did not receive a response to her e-mail asking how experienced reference libraries kept their skills up to date. **From discussion around the table** maintaining reference skills for professional staff * continue with staff training and reminding of skills * reintroduce staff to reference collection at intervals * tours of the reference library for reference staff * getting staff to 'play' on the internet and with databases * importance of serendipitous discovery * primary importance of desk/inquiry service * importance of looking at the reference books being re-shelved – what is being used * shift into using the space for a range of tasks * one by one training for the public * issue of getting people upstairs for discovered of reference areas * read broadly * need enough staff on service points issues for ratio of professional staff. * peer to peer learning, discussion of different reference strategies and ideas * help other staff with learning experience – call back staff who refer - good feedback or learning experience * 10 question quiz for staff to do before meeting * formal qualification and use of new tools * conference/reading conference papers * giving papers at conferences * how to motivate those hard to motivate staff working on reference on ‘doing their job’ - some people just see it as difficult without seeing the rewards * Collaborations from web 2.0 and how to keep up to date from now – brainstorming session * introduce ideas into team meetings to generate discussion, generating ideas * made staff more aware * Slamming the boards – increasing the Australian presence * Fairfield promoting as practicing for professional development and practice Where are the statistics going to be reported? 'Ambulance chasing for librarians' **8. Promotion of online databases to the public: Successful strategies** * have the databases findable on website * promote to schools community – use all means * student promotion is a talk for students, by students * peer to peer promotion * employ some younger staff * market to different target groups for different databases * difficulty over requirement of 'actual newspaper article' rather than database print out – some areas where the teachers need to understand more about the databases * redesign of web page for online databases – how to describe them, minimal information - e-resource rather than database? **9. How can we improve our writing for the web use the people** * Template guidelines approval process * Draft text for communications people to okay * Style sheets * Training for staff * People contributing text * What are the standards/style formats **10. General business** * Parramatta thanked for hosting this meeting * Next meeting date and location * 12 November, 2 – 4 pm at the Concord Library The new Concord Library is located at the corner of Wellbank & Flavelle Sts, Concord and has a car park at the rear of the building. The Library can be reached by public transport via bus routes 458/459 and 462/463/464/466, and from North Strathfield Railway Station. **Ideas for November agenda** * slamming the boards – how is it going * ref-ex wiki * roving reference – what are people doing? * Library plans for next years HSC changes? * Following up from the ALIA Conference – any attendees to provide feedback * Learning 2.0 **Site mentioned by Gabriele during the meeting** Ten social networking tips for libraries http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/librarianinblack/2008/07/ten-social-netw.html Library 2.0: The social web and libraries: listening to your community http://www.davidleeking.com/2008/07/30/the-social-web-and-libraries/ Simplifying the search for the best library and reference resources on the web http://www.libraryspot.com/about.htm Library 2.0 theory: web 2.0 and its implications for libraries http://www.webology.ir/2006/v3n2/a25.html Library 2.0 debased http://www.blyberg.net/category/library/library-20/ Thinking shift: Archive for Library 2.0 http://thinkingshift.wordpress.com/category/library-20/ ---- Back to [[reference_and_information_services_working_group|Reference and information services working group home page]]