Abstract
Purpose
– This paper aims to understand Social Questions & Answers (SQA) users’ perceptions of library reference services.
Design/methodology/approach
– The authors examined the postings on the largest SQA site, Yahoo! Answers, regarding library reference services and identified the major themes.
Findings
– Three themes emerged in library reference-related discussions: reference librarians and their services are well and positively recognized, reference services are less recognized and understood and Yahoo! Answers is recognized as a helpful service. Those who have used both library reference services and Yahoo! Answers are fully aware of the differences between the two services.
Originality/value
– This study provides new insights on how library reference services are perceived by SQA users. The results are helpful for libraries to position reference services to better serve users in today’s information environment.
Subject
Library and Information Sciences,Computer Science Applications
Reference35 articles.
1. Buckland, A.
and
Godfrey, K.
(2010), “Save the time of the avatar: Canadian academic libraries using chat reference in multi-user virtual environments”,
The Reference Librarian
, Vol. 51 No. 1, pp. 12-30.
2. Chang, J.
and
Yang, C.
(2012), “Viable or vital? Evaluation of IM services from patrons’ perspectives”,
The Electronic Library
, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 70-88.
3. Connaway, L.S.
,
Dickey, T.J.
and
Radford, M.L.
(2011), “‘If it is too inconvenient I’m not going after it’: convenience as a critical factor in information-seeking behaviors”,
Library & Information Science Research
, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 179-190.
4. Connaway, L.S.
,
Radford, M.L.
and
Williams, J.D.
(2009), “Engaging net gen students in virtual reference: reinventing services to meet their information behaviors and communication preferences”, paper presented at the Fourteenth Annual National Conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries, Seattle, WA, 12-15 March.
5. Courtright, C.
(2008), “Context in information behaviour research”,
Annual Review of Information Science and Technology
, Vol. 41 No. 1, pp. 273-306.
Cited by
5 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献，注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献，订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献