the current state of reference

The current state of reference: Select results of the global reference survey

Elisabeth Leonard, MSLS, MBAMarket Research Analyst,SAGETwitter: @ElisabethAnn, #RefTalk

@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk


Agenda Budgets Perceptions of reference Questions and comments


What I did Invitations to complete the survey were sent

to various listservs, including publib, colldev, acqnet, and SLA chapter lists globally.

Email invitations were sent to 800 reference, collection development, and acquisition librarians.

There were 32 questions. Completed surveys were eligible to win an

iPad mini.Followed up with interviews and focus

groups.


DemographicsDemographics 471 responses (600+ came to the first

page) 90% came from North America, 6% from

Asia Pacific, 2% from Europe, 1% from South America, and 0.5% from Africa.

58% were from academic libraries, 13% from corporate libraries, 12% from government or military libraries, and 1% from school libraries.

Trends: budgets



Reference budgets: last 5 yearsAcademic Public Special

Increased 10% 15% 12%

Stayed the same

34% 15% 29%

Decreased 49% 65% 49%

Don’t know 7% 5% 9%


Reference budgets: next 5 years

Academic Public Special

Increase 10% 6% 18%

Stay the same

34% 44% 32%

Decrease 54% 50% 44%

Don’t spend now

1% 0% 5%

Eliminated 0.6% 0% 0.9%


Comparing trends in special libraries

Increased Stayed the same Decreased Don’t know 0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Last 5 yearsNext 5 years

General trends: budgetsLibraries are consolidating their budget

lines, with some no longer including a separate budget line for reference

Spending often comes out of subject funds and e-resources fund

A preference for e-referenceGrowth to support new programsReduction because of journals spend and

increased e-resources spend Importance of one time funds


Spending comes from subject funds

“We have not had a reference budget for some time now. Reference resources that are acquired now come out of subject area budgets along with any resources needed for that area.”



Funds move to e-resources line “Although the amount of the reference

budget is probably about the same, the type of materials purchases are quite different. We used to spend considerable money on paper monographs, standing orders, and reference serials. We spend very little on any of those, but much of the money we spent has now been transferred into the budget for online resources.”


Consolidation of budget lines

“We continue to purchase reference materials but we don't have a separate "reference" budget line. We engaged in some reorganization a few years ago, and that included folding many separate small budget lines into fewer, larger, ones.”


A preference for e-reference“We have a shared fund for purchases of online resources - many of which are A&I databases and thus 'reference'. But they are not charged to our 'reference' fund. Our 'reference' fund is only for print material. So our online reference buying is increasing each year. Our print reference buying is holding steady or decreasing.”

Growth from new programs“Our budget was cut last year, but we will be gaining 3 new residency programs. Therefore, in certain areas, I think our budget will increase to meet GME requirements.”



Importance of one time funds“We've seen fluctuations in our reference purchasing because, though we have definitely seen cuts in the amount of monies we spend, we've also been the beneficiaries of one-time money which has then been used to purchase all sorts of materials, including reference materials. This has had the overall effect of off-setting cuts in the budget.”


“E” (and a little print)Academic Public Special

Print only 0.5% 0% 3%

Print preferred 4% 5% 6%

Online only 7% 0% 11%

Online preferred 68% 35% 50%

No preference 22% 60% 31%

No longer purchase reference

1% 0% 5%


Perceptions of reference


Who is reference for Undergraduates more than graduates Research faculty more than teaching

faculty Doctors more than nurses


Who is reference for?

“Sometimes the requests come from patrons, but more often from colleagues (after dealing with patrons and noticing a need) and professors.”


But they do ask for Subject handbooks Databases Encyclopedias Dictionaries Updated editions

As well as journals, articles and textbooks


But is it “reference”? “We have tried to use the term [reference] less

since today's students do not identify with the term. I also find for my business students that encyclopedias, handbooks and the like are not necessary items. They need industry report, market report types of resources. They use the article databases, but frankly they can find so much on the open web, that even those article databases are only half as valuable as they once were.” Business Librarian, Academic Library, USA


Perceptions of awareness


% of patrons librarians believe are aware of reference resources


Librarian satisfaction with perceived patron awareness


Top ways librarians think patrons discover reference resources

Following the direction of a librarian Following the direction of an instructor Searching online (eg. Google)


Are librarians satisfied with the use reference resources get?


Issues with discovery The Discovery service doesn't make it

possible to filter for this content. Our catalog does a great job, but the students don't start there. Our major reference vendor's content isn't in the Discovery service (yet). Reference Universe, the index to reference content, does not work well enough in the Discovery Layer or even on its own to get students to that content. A problem that needs to be fixed.


It’s not just discovery It can always be better Free alternative resources Patrons are not on board Not enough value for the money Not enough promotion The value is in the answer C’est la vie


What does it all mean? User behavior has changed Information sources have changed Reference is no longer a place

Therefore definitions for reference have changed and buying of “reference” has changed


It’s bigger than reference“I always want people to know what we

have and to use it more. It is an uphill battle to get them to use the library instead of Google (or other search engine) as their starting place.”

Library Director, US


Questions? Comments?Elisabeth Leonard, MSLS, MBATwitter: @ElisabethAnnEmail: [email protected]

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