This review examines the basic tenets of qualitative or naturalistic methods in terms of their original grounding in the basic social sciences and their value to library and information science research. Examination of the five key points provides the understanding needed to move from contemplation to use of these methods: the research problem, data gathering, content analysis, theory development, and validity techniques.

Within the socio-cognitive framework of sense-making, this paper explicates the term 'mental model' and its associated concepts, analyzes the controversies and connections pertaining to mental model research in information studies, and reports the findings of an exploratory study of the mental models of an academic information system. As one aspect of the process of making sense out of their experiences, individuals develop mental models of the systems and processes with which they interact. These models include (1) key components, (2) relationships between those components, and (3) techniques for interacting with the system or process. The small-scale study discussed here identifies three distinct patterns across the models of information seeking held by graduate students in a reference course.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this study is to examine the use of formality indicators in chat reference interchanges within the context of politeness theory, with its corollaries of face-threat and social relationship development. Design/methodology/approach -This discourse analysis identifies the syntactic and content indicators and patterns of formality levels in a purposive sample of 402 chat transcripts (covering 6,572 minutes) from one academic year at a large, US, public university. Findings -Syntactic formality markers include regular use of contractions, slang, sentence fragments, and non-standard punctuation as well as limited use of acronyms and abbreviations with rare use of emoticons. Content-based markers included apologies, self-disclosure, and expressions of extreme need. Use patterns are related to the level of responsibility assumed by the librarian as well as the interview stages. Research limitations/implications -A limited data source and potential coder bias are the two limitations of this study. The research implications point to the need for chat reference librarians to assume greater control of formality nuances in order to encourage a more effective search for the user. Practical implications -The fundamentals of politeness theory, particularly in terms of formality indicators, should be incorporated into staff training and behavioral standards for reference librarians. While future research is needed to determine the most effective means of employing this theoretical construct, this study implies that a self-reflective, culturally sensitive use of the nuances of formality can enhance the user's experience. Originality/value -This study is the first to systematically examine formality indicators in the context of politeness theory. The use of two coders, a full academic year's worth of data, and a substantial sample provide great depth.

Women's studies faculty often engage in complex information-seeking patterns as they examine social issues from a variety of disciplinary and theoretical perspectives. Academic librarians constructing an understanding of those patterns in order to provide effective reference service can incorporate the results of this national, qualitative study on the information needs, information uses, successful strategies, productive tactics, and problem issues reported by a wide range of these interdisciplinary scholars. Finally, advice and guidance from forty-two women's studies librarians in a wide variety of academic settings provide an array of practical tools for serving this complex population.he increasing number of faculty whose research involves multiple disciplines offer a complex service challenge to academic librarians in the areas of reference, instruction, and document delivery. 1Librarians serving these scholars draw, in part, on the growing user-needs research literature to directly inform their service provision decisions. This is the second of two reports on the findings of a national study of information-seeking patterns within, and service techniques used for, one such population, women's studies faculty. 2 BackgroundAt its most complete, the interdisciplinary analysis of a research problem requires

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