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4-Reference Services

Reference services provide library patrons assistance in locating and using library resources. Reference librarians answer a variety of questions to help patrons, from ready reference questions that can be answered immediately, to short range questions requiring some research, to long range questions requiring an in-depth search over multiple weeks. The goal of reference services is to provide patrons with the information they need in a timely manner to meet their information needs.

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Farhan Ahmad
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194 views

4-Reference Services

Reference services provide library patrons assistance in locating and using library resources. Reference librarians answer a variety of questions to help patrons, from ready reference questions that can be answered immediately, to short range questions requiring some research, to long range questions requiring an in-depth search over multiple weeks. The goal of reference services is to provide patrons with the information they need in a timely manner to meet their information needs.

Uploaded by

Farhan Ahmad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Reference Services

Introduction
• Reference services are provided in libraries to help the readers in making
use of library facilities. For example the readers visiting a library may not
know the location of different sections of the library, how to consult an
OPAC and retrieve information from it, whether a particular journal or
database is subscribed by the library or not.
• The library staff to help the readers by providing the relevant information.
So, reference service is providing relevant and timely information to help
the readers.
• The libraries are service-oriented institutions. They exist to acquire, collect,
organise and disseminate information, which is contained in different documents-
print, audio, video and digital.
• The libraries acquire different documents, process them and make them available
to the readers for use. They prepare and maintain tools like catalogue, shelf list,
bibliographies to facilitate the use of books and other material by the readers.
• Samuel Green, the librarian of the Worcester Free Public Library in
Massachusetts, introduced the concept of reference service that reference
librarians should have goals: teaching patrons about the library's functions
and resources, as well as how to utilize them; helping patrons select good
reading material; answering patrons' questions; and promoting the library to the
greater community.
• The term ‘reference service’ now denotes a wide range of activities
undertaken by the library staff to promote and ensure use of collections
and services offered by them.
REFERENCE SERVICE: CONCEPT
• Reference service, is the process of helping readers to identify sources of
information in response to a particular query, problem or assignment to be
done.
• Ranganathan has defined reference service as a personal service to each
reader in helping her/him to find the document, answering the particular
query, pinpointedly, exhaustively and expeditiously. Ranganathan has also
emphasised that the reference service aims at “providing the right book to
the right reader at the right time.”
• Ranganathan categorized the questions or queries which are answered by the
library staff:
• Ready reference queries
• Short range queries
• Long range queries
• The ready reference queries are the queries which are answered immediately to
satisfy the readers. For example:
• Where is the text book section?
• What are the timings of the library?
• What is the number of union territories in India?
• Which are the universities in Canada which offer library science courses?
• Ranganathan categorized the questions or queries which are answered by the
library staff:
• Ready reference queries
• Short range queries
• Long range queries
• The ready reference queries are the queries which are answered immediately to
satisfy the readers. For example:
• Where is the text book section?
• What are the timings of the library?
• What is the number of union territories in India?
• Which are the universities in Canada which offer library science courses?
• The short range queries are the queries which take sometime to answer. For
example: 
• What are the sources –print and electronic, which provide statistical data on environment
and forest?
• Is the library having any data on folk stories of tribals of Gujarat and Assam?
• What are the electronic journals available in the library on international relations?

• The long range queries are the ones which take one or more weeks to be answered. For
example:
• Articles published on “use of social media by the students” in the databases subscribed by the library.
• Bibliography on “use of multimedia for teaching English to the children living in remote and far-
flung areas of India”

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