Making sense of liaison consultations: using reflection to understand information-seeking behavior

Abstract

Users who downloaded this article also downloaded: (2013),"Students' need for cognition affects their information seeking behavior", New Library World, Vol. 114 Iss 11/12 pp. 542-549 http://dx.(2013),"Patterns of graduate students' information seeking behavior: a meta-synthesis of the literature", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 69 Iss 2 pp. 243-274 http://dx.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 paper is to reflect on past liaison library practice to make sense of student information-seeking behavior. Experiential data created from liaison consultations was used to gain student perspectives. Liaison consultations enhance student experiences and provide strategic benefits for academic libraries to counter perceived under-utilization of information services in general. Design/methodology/approach -Grounded theory framed the study and thematic analysis was applied to liaison librarian consultation notes representing 25 years of past practice. Themes that characterize information-seeking behaviors were noted and used to help explain student behavior. Findings -Despite significant changes in information formats, the pervasive use of internet technology, and student searching habits, the key finding is that students will continue to consult with librarians to the extent that they find the experience useful. Both parties contribute and define the reference consultation to help formulate productive information-seeking behaviors. Originality/value -Analyzing evidence through the lens of reflection and the use of unobtrusive methods provided useful insights into the roles that librarians and students play in the consultation process. The findings suggest that information-searching behaviors can be influenced and shaped to produce successful searching outcomes. Several recommendations for strengthening library practice are provided.

Croatian university students' use and perception of electronic resources

“…The finding that students mostly use Wikipedia and similar sources is consistent with the results of He et al (2012), Johnson et al (2008), Kim (2011), O'Farrell and Bates (2009), and Suarez (2013. Propensity of Croatian students to use online encyclopedias and dictionaries was also observed by Faletar Tanackovic et al (2012), Hebrang Grgić and Miočić (2012), and Špiranec et al (2008).…”

“…This is confirmed by the fact that ejournals and e-books, especially in the last few years, belong to the most popular forms of electronic resources among students (Arya & Talukdar, 2010;Hernon, Hopper, Leach, Saunders, & Zhang, 2007;Kandpal, Rawat, & Vithal, 2013;Nicholas et al, 2008;O'Farrell & Bates, 2009;Padmamma, Sathish, & Walmiki, 2013;Pandita, 2012;Suarez, 2013). However, the intensity of use of these resources varies considerably.…”

“…Whether they need only the definition of a term or a detailed discussion, for a large number of students, particularly those enrolled in undergraduate programs, the search for information begins with search engines such as Google and Google Scholar and free online encyclopedias and dictionaries like Wikipedia (Biddix, Chung, & Park, 2011;Cothran, 2011;Dadzie, 2005;Griffiths & Brophy, 2005;He et al, 2012;Helms-Park, Radia, & Stapleton, 2007;Holman, 2011;Johnson, Chen, Eng, Makary, & Fishman, 2008;Judd & Kennedy, 2011;Kim, 2011;Neal, Campbell, Williams, Liu, & Nussbaumer, 2011;O'Farrell & Bates, 2009;Suarez, 2013). Several studies indicate that university websites, including websites of university libraries, are among the most widely used sources of information, and materials contained on these websites are important support for students in their learning (Biddix et al, 2011;Holman, 2011;Jones, Johnson-Yale, Millermaier, & Pérez, 2008;Kim, 2011;Malliari, Korobili, & Zapounidou, 2011;Simões & Soares, 2010;Van Scoyoc & Cason, 2006).…”

Advancing the Reference Narrative: Assessing Student Learning in Research Consultations

“…In addition to quantitative metrics, qualitative research methods such as questionnaires (Butler & Byrd, 2016), interviews (Rogers & Carrier, 2017), focus groups (Watts & Mahfood, 2015), and analyses of librarians' consultation notes (Suarez, 2013) provide valuable insights into what students learn during consultation sessions. Studies have found that confusion about library terminology can impede student learning (Butler & Byrd, 2016), but that students value the individualized attention from in-depth engagement with the librarian, as well as the librarians' perceived subject expertise (Rogers & Carrier, 2017).…”

“…Relatedly, students who participate in consultations have reported a higher degree of confidence in their research abilities, believing that their research has become more efficient and feeling that they have developed good relationships with the librarian as an educator (Watts & Mahfood, 2015). However, others have found that students tend to overestimate their information-seeking abilities even when they still struggle to develop search strategies or generate keywords beyond those that are laid out in the assignment prompt (Suarez, 2013). In this manner, students in research consultations appear to evince the Dunning-Kruger effect, the cognitive bias whereby people are unable to recognize their own incompetence (Suarez, 2013).…”