LIBS 6014:
Introduction to Reference
Fall Semester 2017
Plummer Alston “Al” Jones, Jr., Ph.D.
Professor of Library Science
Department of Interdisciplinary Professions
East Carolina University
Course Description: Reference and information sources, print and online, for answering questions in school, public, and academic libraries. 3 semester hours. Required for MLS. Prerequisite or Co-requisite: LIBS 6010.
Instructor: Dr. Plummer Alston “Al” Jones, Jr., Professor of Library Science
Telephone: (252) 328-6803
E-mail:
Office: 104-D Ragsdale
Office hours: Physical, 2:00-4:00 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; Virtual, 24/7
For NC Public Library Certification: This course fulfills part of the requirements for public library certification administered by the State Library of North Carolina.
Course Objectives
1. Demonstrate use of reference and information sources to answer questions by completing problem sets requiring student to use eight types of reference works.
2. Prepare a pathfinder (annotated bibliography) on reference and information sources on a topic of the student’s choosing for an audience defined by the student.
3. Employ the mechanics of APA Style.
Course Content Outline
Introduction to Reference and Information Services
Determining the Question: In-person, Telephone, and Virtual Reference Interviews
Finding the Answer: Basic Search Techniques and Strategies
UNIT I: Answering Questions about Books, Magazines, Newspapers, Libraries and Publishing, and Bibliographic Networks: Bibliographic Resources
UNIT II: Answering Questions about Anything and Everything: Encyclopedias
UNIT III: Answering Questions that require Handy Facts: Ready Reference Sources
UNIT IV: Answering Questions about Words: Dictionaries
UNIT V: Answering Questions about Events and Issues, Past and Present: Indexes and Full-Text Databases; and Health, Law, and Business Sources
UNIT VI: Answering Questions about Geography, Countries, and Travel: Atlases, Gazetteers, Geographic Information Systems, and Travel Guides
UNIT VII: Answering Questions about the Lives of People: Biographical Information Sources
UNIT VIII: Answering Questions about Governments: Government Information Sources
When and How to Use the Internet as a Reference Tool
Information Literacy in the Reference Department
Reference 2.0
Future of Information Services (Reference and Information Literacy)
Required Texts
Cassell, K. A., & Hiremath, U. (2013). Reference and information services in the 21st century: An introduction (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Neal-Schuman. When a newer edition becomes available, please purchase it instead.
American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: APA. When a newer edition becomes available, please purchase it instead.
Simplified Guide to APA STYLE
This simplified guide is by no means comprehensive. For some citations, you will need to check the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. The following types of citations will be used frequently in pathfinders and literature reviews.
Note about place of publication: some style guides require the designation USA (for example, Greenville, NC, USA. I recommend that for places of publication in the United States, the designation USA is not necessary (for example, Greenville, NC). APA does require state of publication, however, even if the place is large and well-known (for example, New York, NY).
Book (one author or editor):
Robinson, D. N. (Ed.). (1992). Social discourse and moral judgment. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Periodical article (several authors):
Kernis, M. H., Cornell, D. P., Sun, C.-R., Berry, A., & Harlow, T. (1993). There’s more to self-esteem than whether it is high or low: The importance of stability of self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(1), 1190-1204.
Note the volume number of the periodical is also italicized, but the page numbers are not.
Part of book (chapter, essay, etc.):
Baker, F. M., & Lightfoot, O. B. (1993). Psychiatric care of ethnic elders. In A. C. Gaw (Ed.), Culture, ethnicity, and mental illness (pp. 517-552). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.
Massaro, D. (1992). Broadening the domain of the fuzzy logical model of perception. In H. L. Pick Jr., P. van den Broek, & D. C. Knill (Eds.), Cognition and methodological issues (pp. 51-84). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Note that there is no comma between H. L. Pick and Jr. When appearing as an author the form would be Pick, H. L., Jr.
Book, revised edition, later edition:
Rosenthal, R. (1987). Meta-analytic procedures for social research (Rev. ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Mitchell, T. R., & Larson, J. R., Jr. (1987). People in organizations: An introduction to organizational behavior (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Note that edition information is not italicized. Note how Jr. is treated in author’s name.
Document retrieved from website:
Electronic reference formats recommended by the American Psychological Association. (2000, October 12). Accessed, http://www.apa.org/journals/webref.html
Note that there is no period after the URL.
Document retrieved from database:
Eid, M., & Langeheine, R. (1999). The measurement of consistency and occasion specificity with latent class models: A new model and its application to the measurement of affect. Psychological Methods, 4(1), 100-116. Accessed, PsycARTICLES database.
Note that there is a comma after the first author and before &.
Encyclopedia or dictionary:
Sadie, S. (Ed.). (1980). The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians (6th ed., Vols. 1-20). London, England: Macmillan.
Bergmann, P. G. (1993). Relativity. In The new Encyclopaedia Briticannica (Vol. 26, pp. 501-508). Chicago, IL: Encyclopaedia Britannica.
Government report from ERIC, federal government, state government, etc.:
Mead, J. V. (1992). Looking at old photographs: Investigating the teacher tales that novice teachers bring with them (Report No. NCRTL-RR-92-4). East Lansing, MI: National Center for Research on Teacher Learning. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED346082)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1992). Pressure ulcers in adults: Prediction and prevention (AHCPR Publication No. 92-0047). Rockville, MD: Author.
Note Author in this case means U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Most times the Author and the publisher are different.
Review of a book:
Schatz, B. R. (2000). Learning by text or context? [Review of the book The social life of information]. Science, 290(2), 1304.
Recording:
Shocked, M. (1992). Over the waterfall. On Arkansas traveler [CD]. New York, NY: PolyGram Music.
Internet article based on a print source:
VandenBos, G., Kapp, S., & Doe, J. (2001). Role of reference elements in the selection of resources by psychology undergraduates [Electronic version]. Journal of Bibliographic Research, 5, 117-123.
Data file:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics. (1991). National Health Provider Inventory: Home health agencies and hospices, 1991 [Data file]. Accessed, http://www.ntis.gov
ASSIGNMENTS
Please submit all assignments as e-mail attachments to
You are encouraged to collaborate on all of your assignments with another student in the class. You must get this partnership approved as soon as possible. Only one assignment per team will be turned in for grading. Make sure that you indicate on the assignments both of your names. The same grade will be assigned to each of the partners. It is up to partners to make sure that the work load is distributed equally and fairly.
If you prefer not to collaborate, that is fine as well. In fact, if you get a late start in the class it is probably best if you continue to work alone.
Problem Sets
Problem Sets (5 points per set, 40 total points for 8 sets): Provide students with practice using the eight categories of reference works to answer questions. Students must demonstrate use of appropriate sources to answer questions and document the strategies used to find the answers.
Problem Sets Rubric
· Correct answer, correct strategy (using appropriate reference sources): 1 point
· Incorrect answer or incorrect strategy: .5 point off
· Incorrect answer, incorrect strategy: 0 points
Grade (per problem set): A=4.5-5 points B=4 points C=3 points F=<3 points
Grade (total of 8 sets): A=36-40 B=32-35 C=28-31 F=<28 points
Pathfinder (print handout which is used to promote information literacy on a given topic):
· Pick a topic of interest to you. Compile a list of 16 to 20 reference sources that will not only introduce the topic to learners interested in the same topic, but will lead them to information on that topic in a variety of sources, print and online. Every problem set requires you to give the citation to a source you intend to use in your pathfinder. This is why it is to so important to choose a topic quickly. Do some preliminary investigation to make sure there are enough reference works on your topic.
School Libraries: The topic could be aligned with one of the North Carolina Course of Study units. Prepare the pathfinder for use in your school library. Collaborate with the teachers in your school to incorporate sources they feel are essential for students to use. Distribute pathfinders both in the library and in classrooms where they will be used.
Public Libraries: The topic should be one for which there are frequent requests for homework, term papers, etc. Having a pathfinder on a frequently requested topic will save time for reference librarians and students, allowing reference librarians to spend more time for helping users with more individualized topics. Pathfinders for specific audiences, including ethnic or immigrant groups, community service groups, etc., should be available as handouts.
Academic Libraries: The topic should be one that is determined by collaborating with teaching faculty to make sure that categories of essential information are covered. Pick topics of local, national, or global interest and have copies available as handouts in the library or for classes that come to the library for instruction.
· Include sources of information in all of the eight appropriate forms to be examined in this course (bibliographies, indexes and abstracts, dictionaries and encyclopedias, ready reference sources, biographical sources, geographical sources, and government documents).
· Remember that a pathfinder is not just an ordinary bibliography or list of sources: it is a list of REFERENCE sources.
· Do not use periodical articles. Use the index that helped you located the articles.
· Cite sources according to the APA Style Manual. Annotate each item in the bibliography using complete sentences.
· Although the sources will vary from topic to topic, all pathfinders should be organized using the following subheadings:
Scope statement—a definition of the topic and the audience for whom the pathfinder is intended. Students should design pathfinders for the types of libraries where they wish to work (school, public, academic). Students are encouraged to target a multicultural, diverse audience, including Spanish-speaking students, special needs students, children of migrant workers, gay students, African American students, etc. Students should collaborate with teachers, school staff, community members, etc. to make sure that informational and recreational needs are met.
Introduction—an introductory essay that gives historical background and discusses aspects of the topic and justifies why this topic is important.
Subject Headings and Keywords Statement—Library of Congress Subject Headings and Sears Library Headings that lead to material on your topic in various indexes, abstracts, and catalogs, as well as keywords to use in online searches.
Classification statement––listing of classification numbers in Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) and/or Library of Congress Classification (LCC) useful for browsing.
Form Examples and Sources––listing of materials in various forms that are examples of what can be used to find more material on your topic. Try to use as many as possible of the eight categories of reference sources being studied (dictionaries and encyclopedias, geographical sources, indexes and abstracts, government documents, bibliographies, biographical sources, directories, ready-reference sources, etc.). Website sources for all of these eight types of reference works are great. Be sure to give complete URL for accessing the website. If possible, make sure the URLs link to the website.
· Be creative. Your final word-processed document should be long enough to cover your topic completely, but don’t waste space. Think of your pathfinder as a document that could be copied in quantity and distributed as handouts to people who use your library and are interested in that particular topic.
· Single space within citations and annotations. Double space between citations and annotations. Use 12-pt Times New Roman font. Use italics rather than underlining for book tiles, periodical titles, etc.
· All sources must be reference works, rather than merely books or articles on the subject of the pathfinder. For each of the twenty sources, include a citation with an annotation that justifies or explains the inclusion of that particular source in the pathfinder. Each reference source citation and annotation is worth one point, with a possible 20 points. Each source that is correctly cited, but does not include an annotation that gives justification for inclusion in pathfinder receives .5 point. A source that is incorrectly cited, but includes an annotation that gives justification for inclusion in the pathfinder receives .5 point. A source that is incorrectly cited, and does not include an annotation that justifies the source’s inclusion in pathfinder will receive 0 points.
· Examples of acceptable topics, include: Cherokee Indians, North Carolina Colonial History, Solar System, American Revolution, Civil War, Gardening, Muscles and Bones, Holocaust, etc. Don’t pick a process, for example, how to write a term paper, how to use the Internet, etc.
PATHFINDER RUBRIC (0-40 points)
Pathfinder (40 points): Students will compile a pathfinder (annotated bibliography) of reference sources on topics of their choice (40% of grade). The word pathfinder is preferred to bibliography since a pathfinder is more than a list of books (bibliography) in that it may include other media and Web sites. The pathfinder is the assessment tool for assessing students’ attainment of course objectives as well as relevant standards, guidelines, and competences of professional library organizations.
PATHFINDERComponents
(0-40 points) / ABOVE
Proficient
(36-40 points) / MEETS
Proficiency
(32-35 points) / BELOW
Proficient
(0-31 points)
SCOPE
(0-5 points)
Definition of the topic and the audience for whom the pathfinder is intended. Students should design pathfinders for the types of libraries where they wish to work (school, public, academic). Students are encouraged to target a multicultural, diverse audience, including Spanish-speaking students, Special Education students, children of migrant workers, gay students, African American students, etc. Students should collaborate with teachers, school staff, community members, etc. to make sure that informational and recreational needs are met. / Defines topic, including sources to be included and sources to be excluded; and identifies audience (5 points). / Defines topic, but does not included statement of sources to be included and sources to be excluded; identifies audience, but not precisely (3-4 points). / Does not define topic clearly; does not identify audience precisely (1-2 points). Does not include scope statement (0 points).
New DPI Standard 3.a
INTRODUCTION (0-5 points)
An introductory essay that gives historical background and discusses aspects of the topic and justifies why this topic is important. / Explains and justifies importance of and/or need for a pathfinder on this particular topic (5 points). / Gives background on the topic of the pathfinder, but does not adequately justify its importance (3-4 points). / Does not give adequate information on the topic or justification for choosing it (0-1 point). Does not include introduction (0 points).
CLASSIFICATION
NUMBERS
(0-5 points)
Library of Congress Subject Headings and other subject headings that lead to material on your topic in various indexes, abstracts, and catalogs, as well as keywords to use in online searches. / Lists examples of Dewey Decimal Classification numbers AND Library of Congress Classification numbers for the topic to facilitate browsing of shelves and catalogs (5 points). / Lists examples of Dewey Decimal Classification numbers OR Library of Congress Classification numbers for the topic to facilitate browsing of shelves and catalog (3-4 points). / Lists incorrect or imprecise classification numbers (1-2 points). Does not include list of classification numbers to facilitate browsing of shelves and catalogs (0 points).
SUBJECT HEADINGS AND KEYWORD
(0-5 points)
Listing of classification numbers in Dewey Decimal Classification and/or Library of Congress Classification useful for browsing / Lists examples of Library of Congress Subject Headings for the topic of the pathfinder as well as keywords for searching indexes, abstracts, catalogs, etc. (5 points). / Lists keywords for searching indexes, abstracts, catalogs, etc. (3-4 points) / Lists incorrect or imprecise keywords for searching indexes, abstracts, catalogs, etc. (1-2 points). Does not include subject headings or keywords for searching indexes, abstracts, catalogs, etc. (0 point).
SOURCES
(0-20 points)
Listing of materials in various forms that are examples of what can be used to find more material on your topic. Try to use as many as possible of the eight categories of reference sources discussed in class (e.g., dictionaries and encyclopedias, geographical sources, indexes and abstracts, government documents, bibliographies, biographical sources, directories, ready-reference sources, etc.). / Correct citation, according to the APA Style Manual, AND annotation which justifies the inclusion of each source (1 point per source, 18-20 points). / Incorrect citation that does not match examples in the APA Style Manual, OR annotation which does not justify the inclusion of each source (.5 points per source, 14-17 points). / Includes fewer than twenty sources, incorrect citations, according to the APA Style Manual, and annotations which do not justify the inclusion of each source (0 point per source, 0-13 points).
TOTAL: A=36-40 B=32-35 C=28-31 F=<28 points