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Acknowledgements
Executive
Summary
Recommendations
2. Assessment of the Current Situation
Appendices
Appendix 1 Call for Submissions
Appendix 2 Consultations
Appendix 3 Submissions Received
Appendix 4 List of Commissioned Documents
The Committee wishes to acknowledge the assistance and support it received in reviewing reference services provided by the National Library of Australia.
The perspectives on current activities and the potential role of NLA which came from the submissions were extremely helpful to the Committee, so we are grateful to the members of the public, the librarians across Australia, and the staff of the National Library of Australia who provided input.
The work of the Committee was also greatly facilitated by the willingness of NLA staff at all levels to respond to our requests for information and advice. Susan Carey assisted us by managing the practical aspects of our work including the coordination of our activities overall. We are indebted to her for this help. We wish also to thank Lesley Dangerfield of the University of Technology, Sydney for assisting in compiling our Report.
Finally, we wish to thank the Director-General for giving the Committee members an opportunity to work together and through that to make a contribution to the NLA in its efforts to redefine an aspect of its role in a challenging period of change.
Mairéad Browne
University of Technology, Sydney
In May the National Library of Australia's Corporate Management Group (CMG) agreed to a framework for an evaluation program that accorded with the Commonwealth government's public-sector wide evaluation strategy.
Provision of timely, efficient reference services based on the Library's collections and on referral to other services, is a strategic priority for the Library identified in the current Strategic Plan and was, therefore, a priority for evaluation. About 90 staff are involved in providing reference services with ever-increasing dependence on technology, so it is a Library function that absorbs substantial resources. The activity also has high public visibility involving services to several different user groups so it is important, in terms of accountability and contestability, that the Library can demonstrate it is achieving its objectives in this area.
While the Library has measures in place to monitor levels of use and the responsiveness of particular services, there has been insufficient information available to adequately gauge the effectiveness of the reference services program in achieving outcomes and in meeting user requirements.
With a downward trend in use evident for some areas of reference services, it became imperative that the Library have information available to assist with future planning of reference services so the services remain appropriate. Also, developments in information technology and the recent decision by the Library to collect less material from overseas made it an opportune time for an evaluation as these developments necessitated the Library re-thinking the types of services it might offer to users.
On the basis of the above considerations, the Director-General made the decision to invite an external committee, chaired by Professor Mairéad Browne, a member of the National Library Council, to conduct the Review of Reference Services during the later part of 1998. Other members of the Review Committee were Professor Angus Martin, Professor John Fitzgerald, Professor Stuart Cunningham, Dr Suzanne Rickard and Dr Peter Cochrane.
This review was formulated around three major terms of reference:
The Committee met in person on four occasions and by teleconference once between May and December 1998. Input to the review was sought through public submissions, commissioned surveys and documents, and interviews with members of staff.
The Committee's report which follows is organised into three sections with concluding remarks and appendices:
(i) an optimum mix of mainstream specialist Reference Service staff and staff from other sections based on a part-time basis in Reference Service;
(ii) an appropriate mix of professional and para-professional to ensure optimum use of highly specialist staff in key Reference Service tasks.
In 1998 the National Library of Australia undertook a Review of the Reference Services that it offers through its reading rooms as well as through telephone and electronic inquiry services.
The purpose of the Review was to establish the appropriateness and effectiveness of the current Reference Services in meeting the Library's service objectives and to assist the Library to plan Reference Services for the next decade. The context of the Review was the Library's Strategic Plan 1993-98, which established a goal of a rolling program of performance evaluations for operational areas. More broadly, the Review sits within the government's aims for the improvement of public sector management, and the Industry Commission's 1996 recommendation that portfolios systematically review their responsibilities and activities.
1.2 Objective of the National Library of Australia's Reference Services
The major objective of the Library's reference services, as outlined in Service to the Nation: Access to the Globe: NLA Strategic Plan 1993-1998, is to:
provide efficient, timely information services from the Library's collections, and through referral to other national and international services, to meet the needs of [the Library's prime clientele, defined as] Australians engaged in the formulation and transmission of knowledge, particularly in research, policy development, authorship and creative endeavour.
The Library aims to meet this objective by providing:
1.3 Scope of Reference Services
For the purpose of the Review the Library defined "Reference Services" to include the professional advice and assistance provided by the Library staff, from material in the Library's collections or elsewhere, to assist individuals using the Library's reading rooms or making enquiries by mail, telephone or on-line to meet their information needs.
Reference Services also include the range of information products, such as guides, directories and databases, and the equipment and facilities that are provided to enable research to be carried out to meet information needs. The delivery of materials from the collections to users in the reading rooms is also included in the scope of Reference Services as currently defined.
Loans and copies of material from the Library's collections through the Document Supply and Inter-Library Loan service are not included within the scope of Reference Services.
The terms of reference for the Review were:
| (i) | How appropriate are the National Library of Australia's Reference Services to users' current and anticipated needs in accessing information? |
| (ii) | How effective are the Library's Reference Services in meeting service objectives? |
| (iii) | How well placed are the Library's Reference Services to respond to changes and opportunities in the environment? |
The most important questions which the Library wished to have answered by the Reference Review were:
| (1) | Are the services we currently provide appropriate? |
| (2) | How well are we providing services? |
| (3) | What services will be needed in future? |
| (4) | What must the Library do to ensure its Reference Services remain relevant and effective at the national level in future? |
| (5) | Why do potential prime clientele users not use the Library's Reference Services? |
The Committee members were:
The Committee was assisted by Susan Carey of the Library and met on five occasions. Public and Library staff submissions were called for by letter, through newspaper advertisements and the Library's Web-site (Appendix 1). The Committee met staff individually and in groups and, in addition, provided briefings on the intent and progress of the Review (Appendix 2). The Committee also toured relevant areas of the Library and viewed demonstrations of aspects of Reference Service activities.
Twenty-two formal submissions were received (Appendix 3). The Committee also had access to several studies commissioned for the Review (Appendix 4). These included surveys conducted by external consultants and agencies as well as papers prepared by Library staff.
1.5 Australia's Information Infrastructure
In considering the role of the NLA Reference Services in an environment of diminishing public sector involvement in the provision of services and infrastructure, the Review Committee had to deal with a fundamental question. Should the NLA increasingly leave to the private sector and market forces the major responsibility for provision of infrastructure for access to information, or should it seek to play a leadership role in developing the national information infrastructure? Bearing in mind problems of access, cost and co-ordination and direction associated with the information revolution, the Committee formed the view that the NLA should assume an active leadership role in the co-ordination and development of Australia's information infrastructure.
Speedy and reliable access to information is essential for all Australians, and may be counted as a fundamental right of individuals in a democratic society. At the same time, Australian business requires access to information in order to compete successfully in a global commercial environment. The well-being of the Australian community and the survival of Australian commerce and industry depend to a significant degree on access to information through the national information infrastructure. It follows that any diminution in the country's ability to keep pace with world practices in data collection, storage, access and retrieval is certain to have adverse effects not only on the information industry but on all areas of Australian public life and commercial activity that rely on research and information to keep pace with developments in science, technology, commerce and the arts.
The rationale justifying reductions in public sector involvement in the information industry is founded on the assumption that Australians will soon enjoy ready access to reliable global information resources through private sector developments in advanced information technologies. As noted in a number of submissions to the Review, there are several problems with this assumption. First, few net savings are to be found in advanced technologies. Investment in advanced technologies calls for greater resource inputs to keep pace with developments, specifically by providing national services capable of monitoring and evaluating rapidly proliferating information sources; establishing national industry standards for the classification, storage, access and retrieval of information; creating national data bases of publicly accessible information holdings; and providing relevant reference services to facilitate general access to the wide array of new information sources. Secondly, while the technologies and processes for storing and accessing digitised information are under development, sufficient resources are still required to maintain "traditional" information sources and to develop appropriate interfaces between old and new information technologies. Finally, after the information revolution has run its course, the bulk of data stored in "traditional" systems will continue to be accessed through non-digitised systems. These systems need to be maintained and upgraded while new technologies are under development.
Hence reducing public sector resources in the present environment is likely to limit public and commercial access, and reduce the capacity of all Australians to take advantage of the information revolution. It follows that public libraries, as one private sector submission to the Review confirms, "must continue to be an essential component of government infrastructure available to every group in the community if Australia is to continue to be an effective player on the world stage into the next century" (Submission from Halpern Glick Maunsell).
The need for public sector involvement is particularly acute in a country such as Australia, where the size of the continent and the challenges of globalisation overwhelm the resources of a business community that is smaller than many of its competitors. At the same time, there are clearly limits to the capacity of the public sector to meet this need. Australia can ill afford to waste limited public resources on services that might be supplied more efficiently in other ways, or on unnecessary duplication of effort across jurisdictions and sectors. Ideally, all major players need to collaborate to maximise effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of information services. The Committee believes that the NLA, as a major national institution, should assume a leadership role among stake-holders responding to the challenges of the information revolution, and in providing direction for the future development of the national information infrastructure.
1.6 Trends in the Information Environment
The environment within which the NLA must frame its future is highly fluid, as new technologies challenge established ways of providing service and even the concept of what a service might look like. In addition, the ideological shift to neo-liberal philosophies in infrastructure provision poses a challenge to the Library in terms of how it defines its role in relation to the private, for-profit sectors. At the same time, the Library must assure it maintains its fundamental role, charter and values as an information provider for all Australians.
By the mid 1980s, several major trends began to impact sharply on the general information environment and on libraries:
As a result of these trends, the environment for national information policy is now far more complex and far less about national borders and self-sufficiency. These developments have dramatically changed the environment in which, for example, the Distributed National Collection (DNC) was originally conceived. In recent times the trends have been accelerated by continuing funding cuts and rising costs in the libraries sector and by the growing emphasis on universal public accessibility.
In considering how Australian libraries might collectively respond, the present state of library resources in Australia offers little ground for complacency. State libraries have suffered significant cuts, a number of specialist government libraries have been forced to close, university libraries have suffered deep cuts through reductions in tertiary-sector funding and currency depreciations, and a number of private and professional libraries have been forced to close their doors or significantly reduce previous levels of service. The challenges facing the reference services of the NLA if it is to play a significant leadership role should not be underestimated.
2. ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT SITUATION
Whilst current levels of user satisfaction are high in the area of References Services, it is clear that the rapidly changing context in the provision of information is beginning to put strong pressures on staff to meet a growing range of often conflicting demands. It is essential that the NLA plan strategically to maintain its excellent record in meeting user needs. In order to do so, innovative solutions will be needed to meet the new challenges.
The Review Committee assessed the adequacy and efficacy of current reference services in a number of different ways: through an analysis of submissions it received; through existing surveys of user satisfaction; through a commissioned survey based on on-site, telephone and letter questionnaires; and through discussions and interviews with NLA staff. All of these instruments produced results that were extremely positive overall, and it would seem that the current needs of core users are being met in a highly professional manner.
However, a certain number of tensions are becoming evident in the system, and the most important of these reflect basic changes in the way the NLA, like similar libraries throughout the world, is to function in the future. Whilst the providers of information are already putting into practice the notion of access to - rather than ownership of - information resources, users are coming to terms with this new concept rather more slowly.
Current data indicate, for instance, that on-site users appreciate the size of the collection and the convenience of finding an exceptionally wide range of references in the one geographical location. For the time being the problem of having to go elsewhere for material and the mechanisms for doing so are only just beginning to be identified by these users as a major problem area. Off-site users, on the other hand, are to date relatively undemanding in their concept of what the NLA may be able to provide and represent a minority client group, although numbers are growing.
However, it is clear that there will be an accelerating pace of change both in the range and type of services which will need to be offered by the NLA over the next decade and in the reaction of users to a major transformation of the concept of reference services. The problem for the NLA will be to maintain the extremely high user satisfaction levels that have been achieved to date but within a radically transformed context of what constitutes reference service.
2.2 The Adequacy of Current Services
On-site users, whether very frequent or occasional, overwhelmingly see the NLA at the present time as an effective and pleasant place in which to pursue their search for data and information. They have the highest praise for a professional, knowledgeable, dedicated, patient and helpful staff in Reference Services. Lapses in customer relations are few and far between, and the level of complaints is remarkably low.
The most frequently described difficulties among on-site users concern problems of process, most of which are not unknown to the managers of Reference Services: hours of access (and in particular evening access to specialist rooms), catalogue use, the retrieval of materials from the shelves, information on availability of wanted items, the cost and convenience of photocopiers, restrictions on the use of microfilm readers, the physical environment of the NLA, and some rules concerning the use of materials that are at times seen as petty and inflexible. Reference Services and the Library as a whole have an excellent record in responding to complaints and requests at this level and of modifying procedures appropriately when possible. The lack of adequate IT equipment, which is the major structural deficiency in reading rooms that is currently being addressed by the NLA, is referred to in user surveys only occasionally and incidentally.
Off-site users also report remarkably high levels of satisfaction with Reference Services. Postal and telephone service users, for example, have overall satisfaction of 97% and 94% respectively.
The concerns of off-site users relate essentially to the speed of access to materials through interlibrary loan. Respondents also stress the need for greater electronic access to materials both in the NLA and elsewhere, together with the particular importance of providing links to outside sources in subject areas not well covered by the in-house collection. The NLA's web site, it is argued, should provide more detailed information on services, such as estimates of probable times of delivery and information on content before outside materials are ordered. The further development and integration of such off-site services is, in fact, a major challenge for the immediate future. A further task will be to meet dramatically increased use of off-site facilities, which data suggest are at the moment relatively little known within the community at large. The coordination or integration of document delivery into the processes of Reference Services is a question that needs to be addressed at the level of the Library's systems as a whole.
In addition to one-to-one assistance to in-house and remote users, Reference Services currently provide a wide range of guides to using the NLA and to researching particular subject areas within the collection. The data on reader satisfaction nevertheless indicate that there remain problems of communication with users. On the one hand, inexperienced researchers continue to feel insecure and reluctant to ask questions; on the other, many experienced researchers are intimidated or repelled by the new technologies. It is also clear that there is a growing problem of information overload: the complexities of finding one's way through the Library's own procedures and the maze of current finding tools are matched by the dilemma of choosing the most appropriate references among the increasing numbers that may seem appropriate to a particular investigation.
There remains also the problem of how to bring the Library's services, at a level appropriate to user needs, to the widest cross section of Australian citizens. Moves to expand the NLA's user base, whilst desirable in terms of the basic missions of the institution, has obvious resource implications that will need to be taken into account.
2.3 Lacunae in Current Services
A number of lacunae in current services have been identified, some of them being on a practical, day-to-day level. In this latter category are reports of insufficient parking; inadequate public transport; poor food services and the lack of automatic banking facilities. These would appear to relate to the general management of the library rather than to reference services in the strict sense.
Many readers commented on the way in which gaps in the Library's collection place impediments in the way of their search for information. Changes in collection policies over recent years have inevitably had their impact on users' perceptions of the services offered by the NLA. The downgrading of the music collection and the purchase of overseas monographs in many subject areas, together with the cancellation of a wide range of international periodicals, continue to be perceived negatively. It is also felt by some that the Library, in defining its core subject areas, does not sufficiently take into account the interdisciplinary nature of much modern research. The low priority of science and technology in the Library's collections attracts some criticism, in what is seen the absence of a comparable national institution charged with collecting in these areas.
Whilst collection policy may well need to be reviewed on an on-going basis in the light of such criticisms, the immediate result of redefinition is to put pressures on Reference Services. This is both because of the need to develop reader education programs to explain such changes of direction and also because of the responsibility to direct readers to appropriate sources of information outside the NLA.
A narrower definition of the Library's collection policy also implies a new emphasis on national collaborative projects, if readers are to maintain appropriate levels of access to information. The extension and completion of the Australian Bibliographical Network is an urgent task to allow existing and future resources of the nation to be exploited in a rational and efficient manner. The development of the Kinetica Project is another essential element in creating a national infrastructure that will ideally provide seamless access to information for all Australians. The integration of archival materials into the national database is a further project that needs to be examined. In all these areas the NLA will remain a key player, in collaboration with other research libraries, and with, it is to be hoped, strong Government financial support.
Recommendation 1
that the Library maintains the current high levels of user satisfaction by proactively adapting its reference services procedures to meet the demands of changing conditions of information provision.
2.4 Staffing for New Challenges
It is acknowledged that the NLA is highly effective in training its reference staff in the use of database information for on-site and external users, and that Kinetica and the Australian Libraries Gateway project will lead Reference Services into the next century. Reference librarians at the NLA have contributed skills and knowledge of specialist research users' requirements to the development of these two leading technologies, and have demonstrated leadership in the provision of specialist reference services.
In the Committee's view, the NLA should take a leadership role in training reference librarians and in providing standards that Australian reference librarians actively seek to attain and continually upgrade. Such expertise may be achieved by providing a workable training role model for NLA and all Australian reference service librarians, and by providing service models for further developing reference services in libraries for on-site and external users.
The appropriate balance between on-site and off-site users in terms of the logistics of staffing is already a problem for Reference Services. Currently, the major imperative is seen as staffing the public desks, but there is a strong realisation that this situation cannot last. A reconsideration of the procedures, priorities and resourcing of services is an immediate requirement. This will need to take into account some form of re-thinking of the priorities of different types of service, levels of staffing and of staff competences, reader education programs, and print and electronic guides both general and subject-specific. The overriding goal should be as full an integration of on-site and off-site services as may be both feasible and effective.
Users are, of course, relatively unaware of the systemic problems that are the underlying cause of what may seem merely an unnecessary inconvenience to them. Having to wait at the desk, for instance, emerges as a source of mild user dissatisfaction, but such delays need to be seen, in broader terms, as symptomatic of the growing pressures imposed upon reference services staff by the diversification of their role in this era both of electronic information and budget stringency. The same may be said of concerns that have also been expressed about the decline in specialist knowledge among staff of particular areas of the collection, at a time when there is necessarily much stress on training staff in information technology procedures.
The data considered by the Review Committee strongly suggests that reader education will need to be a major priority in the next few years, and the Library will need to define responsibilities in this area. There is a clear need to target printed and electronic information - both on local procedures and on subject searching - to particular user categories, especially according to their level of experience. A range of techniques will need to be employed, from user seminars to computerised tutorials, from graded subject brochures to well-designed information gateways.
Consideration should be given to ways in which preliminary use of on-line materials may serve, by giving basic information and advice, to make the traditional one-to-one consultation with a staff member more efficient. As the role of reference services continues to evolve, it will also be necessary to provide users with clear statements of the kinds of assistance that can be offered them, whether by this particular section or by others within the Library. This information should routinely appear on the NLA Web page.
2.5 Training: New Models for New Times
Training reference staff provides the key to achieving balance. It is essential that all reference librarians have access to advanced training in electronic databases and digitised reference materials. However, while it is recognised that the electronic environment presents great opportunities for reference services to serve the whole of Australia and overseas users, concerns have been also been expressed that in meeting these needs, the needs of on-site users, in the provision of specialist and detailed knowledge of collections, will diminish because the emphasis of training will fall on technical and electronic specialisation rather than on "learning" the strengths of individual collections.
Mediation is the term used to describe the interaction between client and reference librarian and it has been stressed that mediation is crucially important when clients wish to fully utilise the resources held in closed access collections. Such knowledge is gained primarily by specialist librarians who have been involved in describing and/or cataloguing special collections or by developing a working knowledge. Thereafter, knowledge is transferred formally: by working on a collection, by reading about a collection, or by informally sharing knowledge with other librarians.
These modes of upskilling through specialist knowledge of physical collections on-site are not incompatible with improving the quality of off-site access. The NLA can lead nationally through making such knowledge available at its Web site and through corporate communication initiatives as part of its outreach program.
2.6 Specialist Reference Librarians: Training
To deal with the developments described above, a formal plan for training, rotation and succession arrangements of specialist reference librarians needs to be developed. This strategy is seen not only as essential for the future but also for today, and to alleviate doubts about the future role of specialist reference librarians. To maintain the levels of service currently provided, the NLA needs to ensure that as much emphasis is placed upon training in the specialist collections as is generally placed upon developing IT expertise. This dual emphasis needs to be articulated and confirmed at part of the NLA's training strategy.
There may also be a leadership role for the NLA in the provision of internships for reference services librarians from outside libraries. While no particular model is suggested here, should the NLA decide to develop a standard which other libraries wish to adopt, this course of action would foster a concerted approach for the provision of reference services nationally. It would also enhance knowledge of collections nationally and engender a spirit of cooperation between libraries.
Drawing from the submissions, there is general acknowledgment that retrieval of categories of reference materials now captured in electronic form will become even more widely practised by on-site and external users of the NLA's collections with assistance from "help" information and librarians.
2.7 Training for On-line Users
The question of training for on-line users was raised in some submissions. Who will take on this role? Specialised information services librarians may not be those who will be involved in this kind of training, although their knowledge of collections will be utilised. Information on the range of services on offer which "train" or instruct already exist in the form of subject guides, written information on accessing data bases, and other research guides. These services need to be heavily promoted within the Library and on the Library's Web site. This might take the form of a "one-stop shop" approach, or repetition of information at discrete sites on the Web, and at well-located points within the Library reading rooms (See 3.5).
What was emphasised throughout the submissions, however, is the importance of personal contact, over and above the provision of "first-base" or electronic help information. With the issue of personal contact in mind, some have referred to the importance of corporate memory, that is, to knowledge of acquisitions, adjunct collections, recent additions to collections, monitoring of the national collections and so on. Again, respondents expressed fears, possibly unfounded, that with increasing reliance upon IT the role of the specialist reference librarian might be diminished. Whilst there is no suggestion of "deskilling", the NLA needs to ensure that this does not appear to occur and takes a lead in emphasising its support for its specialist reference services and expert personnel.
2.8 Staffing Levels of Reference Services
As indicated earlier, users have indicated high levels of satisfaction with the assistance received from Reference Services personnel. Paradoxically, current staffing levels in the Information Services section have been perceived simultaneously by staff and Library users as stretched to the limits. Electronic resources, while answering some information needs, also place additional requirements upon staff in terms of finding adequate time to prepare user guides and "tools" to assist internal and external users.
Providing staff for desk service on a continuous basis places great strains upon the system when staffing levels are less than optimal. Information Services currently has 16 Librarians and 16 Administrative Support Officers to support Information Desk functions and obvious shortages in this area have been identified as one of the causes of complaint by respondents.
Alternative ways of meeting reference users needs have been explored, including meeting the needs of remote users who are growing in number. New awareness of Reference Services, however, breeds new demands for assistance and a demand for rapid turn-round times in the provision of information.
It has been suggested that use of skilled library personnel, not necessarily Librarians, may provide some relief in terms of providing assistance to readers and remote users. A triage arrangement has been proposed which would bring flexibility into staffing arrangements, assistance being provided by Librarians and para-professionals from complementary areas. This could bring an appropriate mix of assisting skills into the Reference Services area. It could alleviate some problems, particularly those of providing assistance to prime clients identified in the NLA's Service Charter(Levels of Use), and advising low priority user groups, on and off-site, on alternative sources of information.
To fulfil the NLA's Service Charter and respond to the Terms of Reference of this Review, it is suggested that attention be paid to the mix of staff-professionals and para-professionals and to overall staffing levels in the Information Services Section. While recognising the absolute requirement to provide minimum levels of service to on and off-site users, the aim should always be higher than minimum service provision, a view which was strongly expressed by staff in their submission to the Review, and by users. Reflected in this desire also is the need to allow reference staff time for the intellectual work connected with the Library collections.
The Review Committee was aware that Information Services may be in a position to call upon other Library areas such as Cataloguing for assistance, and that a more formalised arrangement was under consideration which could provide greater flexibility in staffing levels, plus a degree of upskilling and acquisition of cross-knowledge. Such arrangements may also permit a better allocation of time split between the production of physical resources, reader assistance, and intellectual work relating to the collections.
Recommendation 2
that the Library reviews current practices in staffing of the Reference Service with the aim of articulating:
(i) an optimum mix of mainstream specialist Reference Service staff and staff from other sections based on a part-time basis in Reference Service;
(ii) an appropriate mix of professional and para-professional to ensure optimum use of highly specialist staff in key Reference Service tasks.
Recommendation 3
that the Library develops plans for upgrading and development of staff skills to include an emphasis on subject/content expertise as well as the development of skills in new technologies.
2.9 Promoting Services and the Library's Role
It is clear that the NLA in general, and Reference Services in particular, will need to develop strategies to publicise activities to both on-site and remote users. It could be expected also that rank-and-file reference staffs in libraries across Australia will also need to raise their awareness of services both for support of their own reference activities, or for the direct usage by end-users themselves. Developing on-line tutorials in the use of NLA services would be an important part of this promotion and an investment for now and the future.
Reference Service providers internationally, regardless of the area of information provision, face the challenge of informing users of the range of services offered. A potential user must remain a potential user until they understand how a service might assist them when they have a need. Data from the survey of users conducted by Piazza Consulting for the NLA Review of Reference Services suggests that even NLA users have a poor grasp of the range of services provided. Figures indicate that over half of on-site users felt that they needed to know more about the NLA's range of reference services (Piazza report, Q. 9).
In the view of the Committee, a significant arena where the Reference Service staff might exercise leadership is in the relevant special interest group of the major professional association - the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). There may also be opportunities within other professional groups such as those concerned primarily with school libraries. Seeking to chart a path most suitable for the NLA in the development of para-professionals - benchmarking what roles they can be expected to perform, what kinds of training they should receive - would also play a part in developing a national leadership role insofar as this is an issue for all in the sector to confront.
Recommendation 4
3. LEADERSHIP IN REFERENCE SERVICES
The immediate future presents NLA Reference Services with a daunting array of conflicting demands in a rapidly changing context. Defining the role of national leader in Reference Services requires a core set of objectives for the provision of services to all Australians. The central issue is how, in this new environment, the NLA may assist in developing a quality national infrastructure for servicing Australian information requirements. The questions that have arisen in the course of the present inquiry include:
| (i) | How is the NLA to balance quality Reference Services to on-site users of the Australian collection and the reference needs of potential off-site users? Needless to say, the NLA remains committed to a comprehensive print-based collection. No amount of access to remote resources can substitute for this core function. |
| (ii) | What is the role of the reference librarian, as mediator between information sources and information users, in a national collaborative structure such as the "Australian Libraries Gateway"? The Australian Libraries Gateway provides users with access to print, archival and digitised material. It can also monitor and indicate collection strengths and specialities. User access to the Gateway is direct, via the Internet. The advent of the Australian Libraries Gateway presents new challenges and opportunities for defining the role of Reference Services. The logic of the Australian Libraries Gateway is not national but international. The possibilities of a global collaboration and information network is not unrealistic. What part should the information services of the NLA play in this global environment? |
| (iii) | What is the significance of the shift away from on-site use of libraries towards remote (electronic) accessing for the role of Reference Services? Should the NLA be considering a live interactive remote reference service? As remote usage increases, what level of reference service resources should be devoted to e-chat or E-mail services? |
| (iv) | What kinds of professional development and training programs are required for reference staff to fulfil the many new roles expected of them? |
| (vi) | To what extent should users pay for access to information services? Current budget stringencies and the expansion of information technology have affected not only collection policies and the collaborative provision of information resources. They have also challenged the traditional view of equality of access to a publicly funded information infrastructure that was open to all without cost. Electronic access to information may in many cases be more efficient than through traditional media, but it is not without its particular costs. These costs are likely to multiply as usage continues to grow. There is little evidence that attempts to market information services through generalist public libraries have been or will be successful. The community at large holds strongly to the concept of information resources as a public good, and the business community appears to consider that they are a necessary part of state infrastructure for trade and commerce in a global environment. These are views that this Review Committee strongly endorses. Nevertheless, for Reference Services this issue remains a problem that will require the development of appropriate strategies to manage costs, and perhaps imply certain compromises in future practice. |
The NLA is unique in Australia and, to a large extent, internationally in the way it is required to fulfil two quite distinct roles. One is the provision of high level service to users who come to the Library building by the lakeside in Canberra or who access the Library as individuals from locations away from the Library. The other requirement is to support a national system of libraries by providing the essential infrastructure for effective collaboration between libraries of all types and in all locations. As a consequence of the dual role, the Library has to provide both high level service to individual users and leadership for national infrastructure developments while recognising that the spread of electronic information will tend to cause these two services to converge over time.
Discussion of service models tends to assume that library users are homogenous in the way that they respond to collections. But library users are not a homogenous group and may be differentiated into a number of categories, each category requiring the tailoring of reference services to particular needs. The Reference Service of the NLA provides services to two broad types of individual user - those who come to the Library itself and an increasing number who access the service from locations outside the Library's building. This latter group uses the service either through a local library or by direct contact with the NLA. Either way the spread of electronic information means the distinction between on-site and off-site users will diminish.
Library user groups are further differentiated through the policies and practices of the Library. The "primary clients" are the people "engaged in the formulation and transmission of knowledge, particularly in research, policy development, authorship and creative endeavour ... " (Strategic Plan 1993-1998). Direct services to other groups have a lower priority but these groups receive the benefit of the infrastructure provided by the Library to underpin activities of libraries across Australia.
Print and electronic users must also be distinguished. While budgets are being redirected from print to electronic resources, and while indexes and abstracts (search tools) are increasingly more popular and efficient in digital form, the core (print) collection at the NLA continues to grow and its high importance for our primary clientele (primary users) is likely to remain for a long time. Users of the print collection therefore must be reaffirmed as a high priority group.
Differentiations can also be made in terms of familiarity with, or resistance to, the new electronic forms of access. A key issue involves identifying and implementing face to face briefing, as well as on-line, strategies to address the limits of users. Strategies for user familiarisation will be required.
3.3 New Approaches to Reference Service
The Library has already responded proactively in some areas of its activities to the new information environment. One such case has been the adoption of a concept of collection building in order to adapt to the challenges of exponential growth in publication and in new media, together with extreme budget stringency caused by the conjunction of escalating costs and declining resources. Another has been the Library's leadership role in working towards the creation of a virtual national collection through projects such as the Australian Bibliographic Network, Kinetica and the Australian Libraries Gateway.
A great deal remains to be done in all these areas, however, if the rhetoric of a national library system able to provide access to data readily and speedily from any source nationally or world-wide is to become a reality for Australians. Reference Services has a particular role in assisting readers in understanding and learning to manipulate new systems in a changing environment. At the same time, they must come to terms with the paradox that new search tools will progressively empower users to bypass the traditional mediating role of the reference librarian. The need to redefine the role of reader services in a national and global context presents the NLA with an opportunity for consultation and collaboration with all stakeholders in the Australian system, paying particular attention to the major research libraries in the States and in the universities.
The NLA has a range of leadership benchmarks already. It has the most complex and challenging charter of any library in Australia. It is the leading library with the largest collection in the country, the highest number of reading rooms and the largest document delivery service. It has a series of special links internationally which position it pre-eminently in Australia.
The Committee is of the view that there is scope for upgrading intellectual leadership through the provision of frameworks for collaboration and providing models of good practice in the operational aspects of reference, particularly the provision of resources for electronic study guides and other frameworks and filters to deal with the overload of information sources and content.
The collection strengths of the NLA are well known and it is not suggested, nor appropriate, within the terms of reference for this Review to suggest that collection policy should change. Nevertheless the provision of national leadership in Reference Services poses a series of questions which go beyond the expert orientation of on-site users to the physical collection held in the building. National leadership in Reference Services should encompass a broader level than only NLA's own collections and strike a balance which does not compromise its primary role as the major source of information about Australia in its historical and intellectual context.
Rather than seeing its role as a reference service of last resort (suggested as its de facto role in the submission from the University of Queensland Library), the NLA should see itself as actively constructing reference service facilities which target new and emerging areas of information provision, particularly those available on the Internet. Through this, the Library should provide models of good practice and communicate the program of innovative leadership more widely amongst the user community, both individual and institutional within the country and internationally on the NLA's website and elsewhere. In this way, the NLA might set itself the role of being "the finger on the pulse of all resources" in a defined set of disciplinary areas.
There is considerable scope within the new NLA organisational structure for greater strategic focus within Reference Services on national leadership roles, given that publications, public outreach and marketing are proposed to be placed within the "output group" which includes reference services and document supply. This will necessitate upskilling and review of job descriptions in Reference Services to take adequate account of the explosion of diverse new information sources and higher levels of technological literacy.
The NLA recognises that it already plays a significant national leadership role. This is reinforced by several submissions to the Review. The Reference Services section of the NLA needs to further articulate and affirm this role in ways specific to (and achievable within) the section. It needs then to communicate this vision within the Library and nationally in appropriate ways. This means adopting a positive stance, grasping opportunities in response to the terms of reference for the Review, and to a key issue which came through in submissions to the Review: how well is the NLA communicating with its actual and potential client base?
3.4 National Leadership: Elements of a New Approach
Respondents to the Review indicated a high level of satisfaction with the NLA's current levels of service reflected in the scope of reference services described, and praised the professionalism of the Library's specialist reference librarians. Some respondents, however, expressed concerns that the training of specialist reference librarians would, in future, appear to focus almost exclusively upon IT access at the expense of specialist knowledge training in the physical collections (Independent Scholars Association). This matter is dealt with above.
This "future of the book" question has led to much debate among professional librarians as well as among specialist and general NLA users. Significant numbers of scholars and general reference users, while acknowledging the importance of access to electronic means of retrieving information, still regard the book and printed text materials of primary importance. To maintain current standards and to be well positioned to meet future needs, it has been suggested in submissions that the NLA should develop benchmarks/standards for reference services which would keep the NLA at the national forefront of service provision and assist other libraries in reaching similar standards.
A significant number of submissions to the Review call on the NLA to assume a national leadership role in Reference Services, and to articulate a way forward into the future. Perhaps the most unequivocal and comprehensive is the Council of Australian State Libraries (CASL). It identifies the "value of the Review to state libraries rest[ing] in researching key areas of the changing service delivery model in a digital age". After identifying four key elements of national leadership by the NLA, it suggests that further research be undertaken which involves the NLA and CASL to facilitate the development of a new service model for the provision of library information for all Australians.
This view is echoed by the State Library of South Australia. In their opinion, a positive leadership role for the NLA is an expectation particularly of the state libraries. The State Library of South Australia believes that the NLA should provide "continued leadership and coordination in provision of networked services which provide the framework for Australian libraries' co-operation and which form the backbone of national information systems".
This leadership role has been defined loosely to include identifying staff competencies "in a digital age", identifying areas for cooperation between libraries such as a 24 hour electronic reference library or a national E-mail reference service, and identifying cooperation relating to service delivery from electronic resources (State Library of Victoria). The NLA might also provide a leadership role by ensuring professionalism in reference specialisations (for example, subject librarians), through training, and by providing external advice on training of reference librarians, and in ensuring that increased reliance upon IT does not result in the loss of librarians with subject expertise and knowledge of special collections in the physical collections.
The Council of Australian State Libraries identified cooperation between libraries as particularly important. To further this, CASL has suggested that a research project be undertaken involving the NLA and CASL "to facilitate the development of a new service model for the provision of library and information services for all Australians". This infers not only a leadership role for the NLA and the potential for co-ordinated improvement in service delivery, but it also implies an element of common or shared training for reference services staff. This might involve regular reference service personnel exchanges between libraries, common levels of service provision, agreed research protocols and other generic reference activities.
The "new" library environment with wider access enabled by electronic means allows users choice. Some will choose to access information electronically rather than visiting the library, while others have no choice but to access the Library electronically for reasons of distance. The NLA must try to achieve a balance, by providing and ensuring the same levels of expertise to users accessing collections remotely and those who are dedicated on-site users of reference services. On-site users may become relatively smaller in numbers, but their requirements may be highly specialised and thus the need for personal contact will remain paramount.
A national leadership function for the NLA might involve establishing benchmarks of good practice for off-site and on-site user access. This may result in agreed minimum response times that address parity issues, investment and innovation in training for users (including staff) for both modes of access, and maintaining a nexus in corporate communication for all off-site and on-site publicity and outreach.
3.5 Foundations of a New Approach
The Submissions to the Review provided a useful set of suggestions as to what might be incorporated within the NLA's future approach to leadership in Reference Services. But this is not sufficient in itself as an overarching framework will be essential. The development of this framework and a vision for the provision of leadership in reference work by NLA will not be an easy task. The instability in the information environment makes it difficult to predict the future capability of new technologies and new patterns of need and demand for reference service. The literature documents emerging practices within services which are seizing the opportunities opening up. These tend, however, to be ad hoc and add-on rather than integrated into any new conceptualisation of reference service which encapsulates features of the print and digital environments. For NLA the task of outlining a framework for leadership in reference service is made more complex by the Library's twin mandate of provision of service to individual users and the development of support to the national system of libraries.
The Review Committee did not see as appropriate an articulation by the Committee of a vision for reference services; that must be developed by the Library staff. However, the Committee considered the principles on which it believed Reference Service should build, taking into account the role of the Library, the emerging information environment, and the views of Library staff and external writers of submissions to the Review.
In the Committee's view, the general philosophy on which service currently operates is appropriate including:
The Committee formed the view that the delineation of a leadership role building on these principles will need to involve extensive discussions inside the Library, and more generally through consultations with stakeholders in the Library community. It is suggested that the process should begin with articulation of principles and assumptions which will underpin the NLA's leadership activities such as an emphasis on provision of quality information, development of staff expertise in both the content of resources and the supporting technologies, equity of access to information regardless of the user's location and so on.
The framework for Reference Services in the future will also need to incorporate clear guidelines on the scope of services to be provided and ways in which NLA will relate to specialist agencies such as CSIRO to facilitate user access to Reference Services not appropriately provided by NLA.
Recommendation 5
that the Library affirms its commitment to provision of national leadership in reference service within the context of the Library's Strategic Plan.
Recommendation 6
that the Library outlines a process for internal and external consultations aimed at definition of the new reference leadership role the Library will play in collaboration with general and special libraries and other information agencies. This process to have as its major output, at the end of 1999, a framework within which national leadership will be provided and an operational plan for implementation of the framework.
The Review Committee has considered a wide range of information and material referring to the provision of reference services. This related to the National Library of Australia directly, as well as to libraries offering reference services in Australia and to similar libraries worldwide. The Review Committee noted from its consideration of the literature that libraries are no longer bound by national boundaries. While generally well informed on their own internal practices and standards, libraries are constantly seeking ways of improving services and providing seamless access to information. This involves reviewing the required skills and responsibilities of reference librarians, constantly assessing the levels of service provision, and finding ways of providing quality reference services to primary clientele and off-site users.
Against this backdrop, the National Library of Australia emerges in a positive light from this Review in its recognition that increased access is the key to the future. Striking an acceptable balance between material held in the stacks and material held electronically presents one set of problems, seamlessly integrating paper and electronic resources is another. Finding ways that access can be provided to all sources of information efficiently and knowledgeably is yet another challenge.
Whether access is provided to printed material held in the physical collections, or is provided electronically, the NLA has worked positively to meet both "traditional" and new demands for information. Without indulging in elaborate future-gazing, it is clear that demands for digitised materials, database information and electronic storage and transfer of materials will increase exponentially, and the NLA will have to work diligently to keep ahead and to be seen as dealing effectively with emerging demands. The NLA has demonstrated an awareness of emerging demands and, with the conversion of the Australian Bibliographic Network (ABN) to Kinetica in 1999, and the completion of the Australian Libraries Gateway, the NLA will be well-placed to meet demands, now and in the future.
The future of the book is constantly under scrutiny in terms of future publishing trends and electronic forms of dissemination, while the physical holdings of books and other printed materials by the NLA represent one of Australia's greatest national treasures. The Review process has revealed how the NLA has endeavoured to foster a culture which values its collection strengths, acknowledges and supports the central role played by its specialist reference librarians. Although the role of the specialist reference librarian is defined, there has been a broadening in the range of duties undertaken by such individuals in response to new demands for library-based electronic information. NLA Reference Service Librarians have responded positively to new demands placed upon them and have been innovative and responsive to enforced change.
While the NLA has positioned itself favourably in terms of managing change in the electronic library environment, and is currently working to upgrade IT and computerised hardware within the Library, the Review Committee has noted some outside concerns about the future. Specialist researchers seek assurances that the NLA will continue to augment the physical collections not only with primary and rare book materials but also with adjunct materials, and that it will continue to provide and train specialist reference librarians with expert knowledge to assist readers in accessing and understanding these collections. What emerges clearly from the Review process is a view that there must be a balance struck between access to information through IT, and access to NLA collections and information through the accumulated knowledge of its specialist reference staff.
The NLA has taken a leadership role in developing infrastructure and strategies for tracking, developing and describing the Distributed National Collection, including the Australian Libraries Gateway. The Committee noted, however, that no such parallel infrastructure or coordinated system has been developed for the so-called "digital age" for the enhancement of reference services.
The NLA, therefore, has an opportunity to show national leadership in the development of benchmarks, protocols and infrastructure for reference services in Australia. In this way the NLA can position itself well in meeting its current service objectives, but facing challenges, finding solutions and making opportunities which will further promote the NLA's position. Through the process of this Review, it has become clear that the NLA has an opportunity for consultation and collaboration with all stakeholders in the Australian library system with particular emphasis on the major research libraries in the states, to develop new service models for the provision of library and information services for all Australians.
The NLA's new corporate organisational structure should positively assist in streamlining many of the NLA's operations which impinge directly upon the provision of reference services. Anticipating the future development of its reference collections, the NLA needs to be alert to the new and growing demand for reference services which relate to business management, science and technology as well as the traditional reference areas relating to government, politics, history and law.
To cite one example and opportunity: currently, there is no single agency which oversees, steers or provides access to reference resources in the sciences and technology areas. There may be an important leadership role for the NLA to play in rectifying this situation. This might involve more than effectively monitoring or "keeping a finger on the pulse", but might involve guiding users to directories indicating significant reference resources in science and technology areas. The Australian Libraries Gateway, which has an interactive component, allows libraries to add information and detail various linked directories. As such, it has much potential for achieving this in the areas of science and technology if the NLA decides to take up this information challenge.
In an academic and research environment which increasingly encourages multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary research, the NLA will need to develop strong cross-disciplinary reference services strengths to assist users in accessing information across subject collections and databases. This presents challenges and opportunities to facilitate research services for established and potential research clientele. Developing cross-disciplinary reference service strengths is an investment in the future. Further developing and enhancing on-line tutorials in the use of all NLA services also plays an essential part in educating users, and supports and promotes the NLA's innovative strengths.
Libraries worldwide are grappling with the explosion of information, newly-emerging demands for information provision, and the impact of new electronic technologies. Understanding and developing relationships between "old" printed and "new" electronic information, acknowledging the need for greater equality of access, and working with economic constraints presents extraordinary challenges for the NLA.
In calling for this Review, the NLA has demonstrated its desire to respond to change by seeking to structure its references services to meet the needs of users now, and in the next century. To meet these challenges, the Review Committee suggests that the NLA, whether through the mediated services of specialist reference librarians, or through the Australian Libraries Gateway and other electronic means, focuses on devising new models of access to information, programs of staff and reader training, and collaboration with Reference Services in other Australian libraries.
Further, the Review Committee hopes that by the end of 1999, the NLA will have begun this process internally and externally, in full consultation with all stakeholders, aiming to define the leadership role it will play in collaboration with general and special libraries and other information agencies. Following from this, commencing in the Year 2000, the NLA should implement this plan at an operational level.
These positive actions will assist the NLA to meet the terms of its service charter, it will ensure that the NLA remains effective at the national level into the foreseeable future, and it will promote awareness in Australia and internationally of the National Library's collections and reference service strengths and expertise.
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