Reference at the Metcalfe 2017
State Library of NSW, 17 May
Communication shapes memory. Research on pairs of people conversing about the past shows that a speaker can reinforce aspects of an event by selectively repeating them. That makes sense. Things that get mentioned get remembered — by both speaker and listener. There's a less obvious corollary: related information that goes unmentioned is more likely to fade than unrelated material, an effect known as retrieval-induced forgetting (for more information about this see this link).In a time of fake news the work of library staff in providing assistance to help clients search for accurate information is more important than ever. Basic skills such as the reference interview are more important than ever. As well, helping people with technology can often be a daunting process. We find ourselves having to solve problems and answer questions that depend increasingly on our IT skills, experience with a big range of technologies, and a plethora of new devices. How do we adapt, develop new skills, and translate our reference interview skills to suit the technology questions we are increasingly asked to help answer?
At the 2017 Reference at the Metcalfe seminar on Wednesday 17 May we heard from staff at the State Library of Colorado, who have developed some great tools for the technology reference interview, building on ever useful reference interview skills; we will be exploring the concept of Citizen Science, bringing information in to libraries in ways to encourage collaboration and the creation of new information; we will also hear from NSW public library staff about roving services, training, and promotion of information services in their community. There was discussion sessions exploring reference and information collections and sources. . You can also buy your very own #risg2017 tote bag, tee shirt, notebook, and much more from Redbubble.
9:30 Welcome to State Library of NSW
9:40 Technology reference interview and more from State Library of Colorado. Christine Kreger and Kieran Hixon Resources mentioned in this session
Online resources for Technology Help
Reference Interview
Technology http://create.coloradovirtuallibrary.org/technology/
Online Tech Training for Staff http://create.coloradovirtuallibrary.org/online-tech-training-staff/
Proficiency with Technology -Self Paced Module http://create.coloradovirtuallibrary.org/proficiency-technology/
Technology Proficiency Checklist http://create.coloradovirtuallibrary.org/technology-proficiency-checklist/
You can watch the morning sessions on these videos
Part 1
Part 2
10:40 Stand and share one idea you will go away and act on from this talk, with a person near you
10:50 Discussion about reference resources. This will be a facilitated discussion posing the question: what are reference resources? Think about how your clients find resources. Are they opaque resources? How are they catalogued? Are we just in the business of using reference resources or are we also now involved in the creation of reference information?
11:20 Chat and twitter reference - what does this look like? presentation here
11:45 Samson Leung in reference services at Canada Bay Library. presentation here
12 - 1.00 lunch in the Macquarie Room
1:00 What is ref-ex - looking at the modules, how you can use them at your library, how they can be updated. presentation here
1:20 Working through the reference interview with Martyn Williams from Clarence Regional Library presentation here
2:00 Woollahra on roving Corinna Pierce, Customer Service Team leader presentation here
Video for this and following sessions for the afternoon
2:20 Looking at fake news - resources to help clients presentation here
3.00pm Patrick Tegart from NSW Office of Environment and Heritage talking about citizen science.
For those tweeting, or sharing on other social media, please use #risg2017
Back to Reference and information services working group home page