The Mobile Reference Service: a case study of an onsite reference service program at the school of public health

Abstract

The School of Public Health at Saint Louis University is located at a greater distance from the library than other programs on the main medical center campus. Physical distance diminishes the ease of access to direct reference services for public health users. To bridge the gap, the library developed the Mobile Reference Service to deliver on-site information assistance with regular office hours each week. Between September 2006 and April 2007, a total of 57 in-depth reference transactions took place over 25 weeks, averaging 2 transactions per week in a 2-hour period. Overall reference transactions from public health users went up 28%, while liaison contacts with public health users doubled compared to the same period the year before. The Mobile Reference Service program has improved library support for research and scholarship, cultivated and strengthened liaison relationships, and enhanced marketing and delivery of library resources and services to the Saint Louis University School of Public Health.

Embedded Academic Librarianship: A Review of the Literature

“…Kesselman and Watstein (2009) (Covone & Lamm, 2010;Matava, Coffey, & Kushkowski, 2010;Matos, Matsuoka-Motley, & Mayer, 2010), to more than 50 percent of time spent in the customer's environment (Bartnik, 2007;Brown & Leith, 2007;Fitzgerald, Anderson, & Kula, 2010;Freiburger & Kramer, 2009;Martin, 2010). In the past, similar initiatives have been referred to as mobile or onsite reference, not embedded librarianship (Lee, Hayden, & MacMillan, 2004;Tao, McCarthy, Krieger, & Webb, 2009). …”

A Warm Reception: Mobile Technology in Medical Libraries and Beyond

“…For example, a 2009 case study completed at St. Louis University in Missouri found that the use of mobile reference services coincided with a reduced use of face-to-face information assistance (Tao, McCarthy, Krieger, & Webb, 2009). However, results from the same study show an increased use of library resources as a whole, especially electronic resources.…”

“…However, results from the same study show an increased use of library resources as a whole, especially electronic resources. Between September 2006 and April 2007, the total reference inquiries received from public health usersincluding those from the Mobile Reference Service-increased by 28% (to 146 from 114) (Tao et al, 2009).…”

Embedded Reference to Embedded Librarianship: 6 Years at the University of Calgary

“…Haines' efforts at the University of Michigan led to her being invited to serve on the school's staff retreat planning committee and to social gatherings (2004). Tao, McCarthy, Krieger, and Webb (2009) report an increase in reference transactions, use of electronic course reserves, liaison contacts and understanding of the users, programs and activities of the school in which they were providing services. They met their objectives of strengthening liaison relationships, and improving library support for research and scholarship.…”