Clientele recognition of library terms and concepts used by librarians

Abstract

Using a 30-item multiple-choice type test, this investigation focused on the ability of college students to recognise terms and concepts used by librarians. A total of 447 respondents representing the fields of Education, Nutrition, Food Technology, Tourism and Hotel and Restaurant Management took part in this investigation. Data were gathered through robotfotos and an inventory of commonly used library jargon, duly identified and validated by academic librarians in one of the biggest multi-disciplinary universities in the Philippines. Data were treated in depth through percentage, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) t -test and Spearman’s rank correlation. The results showed that respondents’ ability to recognise library terms and concepts posted the highest and lowest ratings of 84 percent and 33 percent, respectively. Further, gender and type of catalogue used (OPAC vs. card catalogue) were found to have a significant relationship with their ability to recognise library terms and concepts. Finally, a moderate positive correlation (rho = 0.58) existed between the respondents’ recognition ability and the librarians’ ranking of frequently asked questions and terms used by the former.