LI 520 ONLINE REFERENCE SERVICE

CLASS NOTES FOLLOW THIS ACTIVITY:  PLEASE SCROLL DOWN IF YOU WANT TO SEE THEM.


INTRODUCTION:
Online reference service can consist of several options:  specific reference sites (such as www.fedstats.gov which gives federal statistics), mega-sites (basically, a bibliography of bibliographies), information literacy (or at least Internet) tutorials, other tips of guide pages on how to do research, tips on evaluating Web sites, lists of assignments, online help, and reading motivation (book chats, book lists, online contests, etc.)
In this session, you will be examining some of these options, and using sites to evaluate and compare sources.  You may want to download some of these addresses for future use.  You should also bring a disk to each class...
(You will note that some sites are geared to librarians.  Consider the objective of a reference Web page for your school; should it include items for professionals: teachers/administrators/librarisn.)

ACTIVITY:
TYPE YOUR REFLECTIONS (you can even use WordPad) AND SEND A FINAL COPY TO li520@listserver.educ.csulb.edu


WEB SITES for Reference Services:

Evaluation:

www.clearinghouse.k12.ca.us evaluation rubrics

www.personal.psu.edu/users/w/x/wxh139/evalu/topic.htm evaluation rubrics

wlma.org/libint/evalweb.html Washington Library Media Association

www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/college/instruct/hoax/evalinfo.htm     For checking real and hoax sites

discoveryschool.com/schrockguide Kathy Schrock’s site for evaluation and sites

lib.nmsu.edu/staff/susabeck/eval.htmlGood, Bad and Ugly

milton.mse.jhu.edu:8001/research/education/net.htmlEvaluating info found on the Net

thorplus.lib.purdue.edu/library_info/instruction/gs175/3gs175/evaluation.htmlPurdue University

refserver.lib.vt.edu/libinst/critTHINK.HTM Bibliography on evaluating Net resources

motivationminingco.com     Grade-level Web evaluation forms

Mega Reference Sites:

http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/lausd/offices/instruct/itb/libserv/dl.htm#ss      Los Angeles USD Reference links

www.libertynet.org/lion/ready.html Librarians Information Online Network

www.ala.org/parents/index.html ALA Resources for Parents, Teens, and Kids

www.ala.org/publicpage/index.html Use search tool for specific info within ALA

www.servtech.com/~mvail/home.html    Librarian's choice of the best of the Web

www.libraryspot.com     Library Spot "portal"

www.refdesk.com Virtual Reference Desk

www.ipl.com Internet Public Library

babl.ac.uk     U.K. links with DDC (includes library journals)

dir.yahoo.com/reference/index.html Yahoo’s Reference Directory of links

alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/~sloan/e-ref.html digital library services

gort.ucsd.edu/ek/refshelf/refshelf.html

www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/Topic Univ. of Maryland Reference Webliography

mel.lib.mi.us Michigan Electronic Library

www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/libraries/subjects Columbia Univesity: great Webliography samples! (Columbia Guides)

larry.ellensburg.com/~jcreech/reference.html Monterey Bay Cal. State College

Professional Links for Reference Info:

ctap.k12.ca.us/resources/library/welcome.html     Cal. Technology Assistance Project

www.schoolibrary.org California School Library Association

www.cusd.chico.k12.ca.us/~pmilbury Peter Milbury’s HS Library Web page

(includes rhsweb.org/intro)

www.cue.org Computer Using Educators


Online Reference-Related Journals:

www.bookwire.com School Library Journal, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly

http://ala8.ala.org/aasl/SLMR/index.html School Library Media Research


CLASS NOTES:
Access Tools: resources used to help one locate a specific source; acts like a pointer
* catalogs: note differences between card and online (more access points, less sequentially constrained, easier to update)
* indexes: most common is Reader's Guide; there are several specialized ones (e.g., Short Story Index, Grander's Index to Poetry, National Geographic).  Issue with all of these: which resources does the library collect?
* note bridge between access tool and resource (shelving arrangement such as DDC)

Basic types of reference tools:
GENERAL: resources may be general, or may be specialized by geographic region or subject; each resource may have special features (e.g., tables, diagrams, multiple indexes, bibliographies, etc.); most can be found by using keyword for type of reference (i.e., encyclopedia, handbook...) and the topic (i.e., art, birds, U.S. history...)
THERE IS NO ABSOLUTE, ENCLUSIVE, PERFECT REFERENCE SOURCE
As you look at a reference source, remember to look at preface/intro, index, table of content, arrangement; think of the types of questions that could be answered by the reference and how you would show others how to use it.

* dictionaries: alphabetical arrangement of words (definitions, derivations, pronounciations); note need for both abridged and unabridged dictionaries; some specialized dictionaries: abbreviations, synonyms/thesaurus, rhyming, slang
* encyclopedia: good for background; specialized encyclopedias usually very authoritative; remember about INDEXES and their use as browsing/cross-reference tool
* almanacs/yearbooks: good for quick facts and figures (records, statistics, events, addresses, demographics, maps, flags)
* directories: lists of people (think of telephone books)
* geographic info can be found in atlases, dictionaries/gazetteers, guidebooks, government publications
* atlases: systematic collection of maps (political, historical, thematic, physical) -- help students with indexes, legends, visual literacy issues
* statistics: can be gound in dictionaries, almanacs, census reports, yearbooks, periodicals, association and govt. reports
* handbooks and manuals: how to do something (construction, gardening, birding, cars, formulas, etc.)