1. Planning a Strategic Lineup for the Delivery of Effective Reference Services
Erin Kerby, MSI; Nadia J. Lalla, MLIS; Deborah Lauseng, AMLS
University of Michigan (UM), Ann Arbor, MI
Reference Transaction Triage
Introduction Conclusions
The purpose of the study was to Original Service Model Trends in usage and peak service
determine trends in the provision of times:
Frontline = Information Desk Backline = Backup Staff Liaison Librarians
all forms of reference services by  were as expected
librarians and other staff at the • Handle circulation issues • Immediately available for ready • Available by appointment for:  supported initial changes to
library from July 2010 – June 2011. • Permanent staff:
reference and hardware/software
- expert instruction service points and staffing in
troubleshooting
The Taubman Health Sciences Mon – Fri, 8am – 4pm 2011 – 2012
- in depth research and
Library serves professional schools • Permanent staff & School
• Temporary undergrad students: literature searches Changes made in data collection to
of medicine, public health, nursing, of Information students:
Evenings and weekends provide more detail about the
Mon – Fri, 10am – 4pm - systematic reviews
dentistry, pharmacy and the UM purpose of contact:
Health System; it is also open to  supplementary data collection
the public. Data Collection
survey was implemented
Methods
Information Desk and Backup
Trends in Usage of Service Points Peak Service Times Staff
Data was collected from:
Information Desk
Backup Staff
Purpose of Contact 800 Information Desk
800
Liaison Librarians Information Desk
Backup Staff Currently evaluating optimal means
 service management software 3600
3200
Backup Staff
600 of collecting specific details about
600 Liaison Librarians
(Footprints) 2800
liaison activities:
2400
 statistical management 400 2000 400
 extended research
1600
software (Desk Tracker) 1200 consultations
200
200
A trend analysis addressed potential
800
400  involvement in systematic
correlations in the data for: 0 0 reviews
0
 service points 8am 12pm 4pm 8pm 2am  activity by academic or clinical
 length of reference transactions July 2010 – June 2011
department
 peak service times Note: This data was not collected for
Liaison Librarians due to reporting
The study has been extended for a
 staffing levels Data Analysis inconsistencies. year to evaluate the data collection
changes and to determine if
For each service point, frequency
additional staffing changes are
and percentage were calculated for
necessary.
the predefined categories of: Insufficient Data Collection New Service Model
 question length Restrictions on data collection imposed by the parent Simultaneous Uniform Single Service Point Acknowledgements
 reference contact type institution created a lack of detail in the data for: We would like to thank Bethany
• Staffing
 purpose of contact/visit Harris, MSI, for her initial
• Purpose of contact
- reference staff at Information Desk collection and analysis of the
The analysis also addressed trends • Length of transaction service management software data.
- circulation backup
specific to particular service points,
such as:
Brief = 5 min or less
Extended = more than 5 min
• Requires a higher skill set: For More Information
 frequency of transactions - more expertise Please contact: ekerby@umich.edu
Having more detailed data would impact staffing
 types of transactions within a levels and tracking Liaison Librarian activity. - greater knowledge of resources PDF: http://equestrianlibrarian.
given time period wordpress.com