Tim Spalding said:
"I think it would be worth it if NGC4Lib discussed the O'Reilly post showing declines in reference questios, and other metrics among ACRL members. I'm surprised it didn't go off like an atom bomb. Indeed, there's been fairly little discussion on library blogs too."
I posted this same link to a number of library lists and got no response. But I'm not surprised that "it didn't go off like an atom bomb." The decline in reference questions at ARL libraries is basically old news. I remember posting questions about this topic to library lists when the trend first emerged in the late 1990s.
Two things I can think of off the top of my head:
1. I think librarians may have reported anecdotal evidence that, while the number of questions may have declined, the complexity of questions increased.
2. The data in the O'Reilly piece end with 2003. The decline may have reversed at that point. I'm not sure about that...just drawing from memory.
Bernie Sloan
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Received on Sun Aug 05 2007 - 01:21:10 EDT