Minutes for Reference and Information Services Meeting 8 February 2011 10.00 - 12.00 at Maitland Library.

This meeting was be followed by tours of libraries at Tocal and Department of Industry and Investments’ Mineral Library

Introductions

Apologies Feedback from Information Online 2011

Ellen provided a summary of the keynote speakers from Information Online. In particular look out for information from Michael Mace, Seb Chan and Chris Winter http://tiny.cc/kl9zw. You might like your library to participate in ABC Open which is a regional based initiative (some libraries in WA are already involved) http://open.abc.net.au/

Slam the boards

don’t forget to participate in Slam the boards (share your hints and tips on the wiki http://tiny.cc/w7jgn)

Preview for Reference at the Metcalfe for 2011

- including 5 minutes talks - what are you doing, what would you like to try? The program was discussed (see http://referenceandinformationservices.wikifoundry.com/page/2011). It is not too late to volunteer for a 5 minute lightning talk.

1. Remote access to databases - how accessible is this for your clients? How do they find it on your website?

Discussion that there was not enough remote access to databases. Also discussion about how databases were described on library website so people would explore them (terms used included 24/7, online databases, online resources, e-resources). Some promotion ideas included database of the month, using databases for screensavers as a promotion. Feedback from the recent ERA forum about how Wollondilly Library is promoting the databases. Check with your database providers if they have widgets you can put on your website, or apps (with a link from your site about how to download them) for people to use databases easily on their mobile phones. People were encouraging each other to see what was already available from the database providers (and to ask with any new subscriptions). This also led to a discussion of how to get a message out fast to your library clients (and it depends on what the message is, and what tools your members use). It also depends on what tools are available, and what are blocked. From discussion it is suggested people explore writing risk management strategies for the web 2.0 tools which are not viewed favourably.

What alternatives are you exploring to delicious?

Most people were not using delicious so there was a discussion about this instead.

What tools do you use to keep up to date in providing reference services? What are your personal favourites? What updates could you not go without?

• Newsletters for databases – so easy to know what to try
• The American Library Journal e-list http://www.libraryjournal.com/
• Following conference on twitter
• Rss feeds – overseas and local for ideas and trends
• Newspapers on Trove http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper
• E-mail lists
• Proquest alerts by subject or journal (f your library does not subscribe to Proquest you can access this by registering for a State Library card – and there are other databases which provide alerts services as well)
• RISG meetings and seminars
• Other relevant forums like ERA
• Keeping up with information from clients – word of mouth (great for local updates)
• Podcasts and videos on relevant subjects
• Opportunities for new technology petting zoos

Ref-ex - how are people using it and where to next - ideas for future development, what could be different with what we've got? Most of the discussion was around what was actually in ref-ex

Reference collection development - are there key elements to consider?

• Trends are for reference to move online, some to loan.
• Need to keep asking the question about why is it in reference
• Some libraries doing a core reference set for across al branches – for consistent quality across all sites
• Really look at what is being used – it needs to earn its space
• Don’t forget to promote reference
• Challenge staff to use online resources as well (databases/community information and so on)

National year of reading 2012 – a reference perspective

• Lots of discussion about this.
• Encouraging people to find out more about what they were reading about (fiction and non-fiction)
• The story behind the story, finding the facts
• Finding out about controversies in the stories
• The foods, crafts, locations behind the stories
• Trivia questions for events

Other Business

• During the tour of the Minerals Library found out about Digs database http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/minerals/geological/online-services/digs which allows people to discover online resources relating to minerals.

next Meeting date and location – August – looking for volunteers to host