How do school resource centre staff deal with information requests?

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to use new data to explore the pertinence, to the work of an information professional dealing with inquiries, of an existing typology indicating the forms of action taken by people when approached for information by youngsters.Design/methodology/approachThe study featured here drew on qualitative data from a transaction log maintained in the resource centre of an English high school and from two interviews with the information specialist employed.FindingsBroadly, the results demonstrate that the original typology does reflect accurately the actions taken by the intermediary under scrutiny. However, two of the original categories did not emerge and a new one was detected.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was small‐scale in nature. It was conducted in just one school, with data provided by a solitary information specialist. The transaction log was maintained for one week only. Future research of a similar type but staged in other kinds of library/resource centre would be invaluable.Practical implicationsAn examination of the actions taken by the information specialist reveals that it is possible to identify a series of essential skills and areas of knowledge in which the individual should be expert. Skills associated with liaison may be considered especially important.Originality/valueNo previous paper has applied the original typology of action to the work of an intermediary. The fact that the article seeks to extend the theoretical knowledge base via an investigation of actual inquiry situations will interest both LIS academics and library professionals who work regularly with information users.

How Comparable are the Actions of a School-Based Intermediary Responding to Inquiries and the Information-Seeking Behavior of Young People?

“…Insight into the former is derived from outcomes arising from a previous research project undertaken by the author. 10 In this study, he worked closely with an intermediary employed in the resource center of an English high school catering to 13 to 18 year olds. Over a week-long period, the information specialist maintained a log in which he recorded all the inquiries he handled and the initial steps he took to resolve them.…”

“…40 In the years that immediately followed, Shenton was intrigued by whether the typology of their actions accurately represented the ways in which library staff in schools respond to queries from students. To explore further, a new study undertaken in an English high school that had not been involved in the original project was designed, 41 and the typology discussed in this article was created from the data collected in this project. The results were broadly similar, with all but two of the original categories of action emerging and only one more having to be created.…”

“…Furthermore, whereas the skilled practitioner may be expected to move easily between the paper and electronic worlds as the situation demands, the author's own research has shown that young people who have become accustomed to working in the electronic environment may be ill at ease when required to use books in the school library media center. 8 Any approaches that they may make to the intermediary in this context may effectively amount to admissions that they are unable to proceed without assistance. Discrepancies between the two parties can also emerge with regard to language.…”

Independent learning areas and student learning

“…The innovations failed to have the desired effect, however, and, in the subsequent months, there was little evidence of even hybrid use of materials, despite the fact that books and electronic sources were freely available in the same room. A later study (Shenton, 2008b) revealed that when learners needed material from books during a week-long period of data collection, they were less comfortable than when using the Web and in several instances had to approach the information specialist for assistance. In another project, Shenton (2007a) noticed that some of the students' assumptions with regard to library housekeeping were grounded in ignorance, thus again reflecting the learners' lack of knowledge with respect to the 'book' dimension of the independent learning area.…”

“…The foci of two papers are especially pertinent. In the first (Shenton, 2008a), he considers the different forms of behaviour, and their prevalence, exhibited by users of the computer workstations within the facility, whilst in the second (Shenton, 2008b), he examines the queries presented to the information specialist by centre users and the action he took in response.…”