LIS521 Janes

Winter 2015

Digital Reference Experience

This assignment will give you practice and experience in answering reference inquiries in a digital environment, specifically the Internet Public Library (IPL). In preparation for this assignment, please read Chapter 4 of Introduction to Reference Work in the Digital Age.

You are to answer a minimum of five questions (plus one practice question, per IPL requirements) in the IPL, following their guidelines and policies, in particular the policy on answering reference questions and the policy on the use of licensed resources. You will receive training on the IPL’s software, QRC, and their practice of reference work.

You should submit print copies of the questions and answers. (It’s a good idea to print these as you go, since questions are often quickly archived within the system, though they can be retrieved. Also feel free to submit any thanks or comments you get from clients or IPL administrators.)

For one of your questions in the Research category, you are also to conduct another search and prepare another response, using any resources you like other than freely-available Web resources. This response is not to be sent to the original IPL user, but should respond to the original request, and should be phrased and presented in a similar manner.

Finally, you should compose a brief narrative summary of your experience, giving your opinions (positive and negative), compare your online and non-online experiences and how you think overall reference practice will change as a result of an increasing digital presence and focus. You should also comment on how your abilities have improved through this experience, what you learned, and what you believe are the areas in which you would most like to improve in your professional practice. This narrative might well touch on relevant professional literature or discussions, which would help to highlight important points or provide greater depth.

Your submissions will be evaluated on the quality of answers you provide, their conformity to IPL policies, the level of difficulty and mix of subject areas of the questions you choose to answer, the originality, depth of analysis and thoughtfulness of your discussion, and the overall quality of the presentation.

The Assignment is due in class on March 3.