Reader services
This chapter discusses the activities of the reader services department. This part of the library is made up of the Reference, Circulation and Inter-library loans departments. The members of staff who work in these areas are in constant interaction with the users of the library and their library experience; hence their functions and activities are customer service related. This chapter describes the activities, roles and operations of these areas in the academic law library setting.
Keywords
Circulation; reference; reader services; reference; interlibrary loans; document delivery; information literacy; library users
Reader services
The Reader Services area of the law library is responsible for dealing directly with library users. This is the front end of the library where users come into direct contact with librarians and library staff. They are at the forefront and they answer all queries from users. They represent the library as the first point of contact for the library’s patrons and as a result they experience relative interaction with the different library users identified in Chapter 2. In most academic law libraries, the Reader Services department is usually made up of circulation, reference and interlibrary loans/document delivery departments. These departments, in many academic law libraries, are usually located within a close proximity of each other inside the library because their activities are interrelated. For example, a library user who comes to the Reference Desk may require assistance in locating a foreign material that the library does not have in its collection. The Reference Librarian may be able to locate a copy of the book in another university and suggest that the user should submit a request through interlibrary loans. The library user in this instance is a faculty member who is unfamiliar with the interlibrary loan process and there are a lot of patrons waiting to speak to the Reference Librarian. The next step will be for the Librarian to send the Professor to the library assistant who is responsible for interlibrary loans who will explain the process to him. This explains why these areas have to be at close range to each other. In this example, the Reference Librarian will not need to leave their area of the library. The Reference desk (or Information desk in some libraries) is managed and operated by professional librarians. While the Circulation desk and Interlibrary Loans/document delivery are managed by clerks or paraprofessionals. In some libraries the interlibrary loans tasks are handled by staff at the Circulation Desk.
Circulation services
Circulation Service is one of the oldest activities in the library. In the beginning, it was the centre of activity with many staff members retrieving and shelving library materials. Technology has reduced the volume of work in this area and its activities are gradually being phased out with the introduction of with self-checkout machines and flat screen monitors that are used to post announcements and other library-related news. Circulation statistics have decreased in many libraries as a result of newer formats like e-books and other electronic databases. Nevertheless, the Circulation Desk is still very relevant, but the number of staff operating the area has been reduced and they are being reassigned to other areas of the library. Circulation Services is responsible for the following activities in the library:
• Providing checking-out and checking-in of library materials which includes retrieving materials that are on reserve if the reserve collection is closed and inaccessible to library users
• Managing and coordinating the library’s reserve collection. This involves entering the records for reserve materials in the library’s integrated system. In some institutions, professors request that some materials are kept on reserve for students taking their courses. After the library acquires these materials, the circulation staff in charge of reserves will create a record for it in the reserve folder. This task involves the staff member updating and weeding the reserve collection at the end of each semester so that materials are removed for courses that are not are no longer being offered.
• Opening and closing of library entrances. Circulation staff are responsible for the opening of the library if there are no automatic services to perform this function. They are responsible for playing the closing announcements for the library in institutions where recorded messages are played or for reading out the closing announcement where the announcements have to be made on the public address system. They are responsible for ensuring that all library patrons exit the library and that all library entrances are properly closed and secured.
• Shelving and shelf reading of library. The staff in this area are responsible for ensuring that materials can be easily located and retrieved in the library’s collection. They are responsible for facilitating the operation of library equipment such as self-checkout machines, security system, printers and photocopying machines. This includes answering questions and troubleshooting problems for library patrons
Library staff working in the Circulation department are usually very familiar with the library’s integrated system which is where the patrons’ records are accessed. Depending on the institution, library records are created through the student records when they register for courses in the university. These days all the services in the university are linked together so that students can use just one card to access all these services. The student card is the library card and it is also the card that they use in the cafeteria, bookstore and other services on campus. Just like every library activity, technological innovation and budget cuts have had an impact on the staffing of the Circulation Desk. Academic law libraries have replaced staff with self-checkout machines and the number of staff managing this area has been reduced. Activities such as reserve collection have been integrated to the library automated system. In some institutions the reserve collection is located in an area or room close to the Circulation Desk, library users are able to help themselves and are able to check out materials on the self-checkout machine and this room has its own security system at the entrance. Professional librarians are less visible at the Circulation Desk in academic law libraries and operation of this area is usually carried out by support staff. There is a library manager or supervisor who may not necessarily be a professional librarian.
Reference & information services
Professional librarians are responsible for managing the operations of this department. Their role includes assisting patrons to find answers to numerous questions using a variety of library resources. Their primary patrons are the faculty and students of the law school together with other members of the university community. Then, in order of priority, they are responsible for other categories of users such as alumni, members of the legal profession and members of the public.
The traditional reference desks in many law libraries serve as the meeting point between users and the librarian but individual consultations also take place in librarians’ offices. In some institutions, the reference desk has been eliminated for budgetary reasons in which case reference services are available by appointment only. The way services are being provided in academic law libraries have changed and reference librarians may not necessarily have to be physically present at the reference desk. The reference librarian is able to answer questions by email, chat or instant messaging which means that reference services these days are more of a virtual activity. Nonetheless, some users still prefer one-on-one consultations and appointments with librarians so this form of service cannot be totally eliminated. Libraries tend to use a number of social media tools to repackage and broadcast library services and resources. The response to the use of these tools is evidently positive in many law libraries. In short, reference librarians must be able to use social media technology and always crave being technologically savvy!
With the advancement in technology, reference services in academic law libraries have adapted to major transformations by delivering services to their patrons. Compared to 10–15 years ago, many reference materials are now available in electronic formats; for example the Black’s law dictionary is available in Westlaw. This means that users don’t have to physically come to the library to use some of these resources.
The traditional roles of the reference librarian include the following:
1. Answering in-person enquiries
This involves dealing with users who visit the reference or information desk to consult with librarians. Questions can range from how to find and locate books and other library resources, learning to use online resources or conducting legal research. One of the advantages of this form of service is that it allows the user and the librarian to build a rapport as well as engage in a conversation that takes place inside the library and face-to-face (Selby, 2007).
2. Answering telephone enquiries
The telephone became a medium of communication at the reference desk as far back as the 1930s and continues to be used in many academic law libraries. It is often used by users who are unable to visit the library in person, especially students in the distance education programmes who are unable to visit the library in the course of their studies. They are able to relate to someone especially if they are having problems accessing materials for their research, the option of speaking to a librarian on the telephone is faster and saves them a trip to the library.
3. Dealing with virtual reference enquiries
Virtual reference enables users to access reference services without visiting the library. Virtual reference involves using email, chat and instant messaging tools to answer users’ questions. Chat and instant messaging happen in real time. Email allows the user to send reference questions to librarians from anywhere and at any time. Chat and instant messaging are available through different software that allows the user to ask a number of questions from the librarian during an online conversation. One of the advantages of the virtual reference service is that it can be managed anywhere, anytime and it creates room for extended reference hours. Concerns have been raised about security and archiving of chat records from many quarters. The archiving aspect is being addressed by new technological advancements to chat and instant messaging software.
4. Liaison services
Reference librarians provide liaison services to faculty and graduate students and in some instances it is extended to mooting teams and the law review editors. The liaison service allows each faculty member and graduate students to have a librarian assigned to them to help them with their library and research needs. The liaison service is a very common and unique service in many academic law libraries in the United States. At the Osgoode Hall Law School library in Canada, the liaison service was introduced to full-time faculty and graduate students in 2006. Through this service, librarians introduce library services to their faculty and students and assist them with their research needs.
Library instruction & teaching
One of the critical roles of a reference librarian in an academic law library is providing library instruction and teaching. There are many models for legal instruction but the main purpose is to ensure that law students achieve lifelong learning and perceive an understanding of how to find and use legal information. In some institutions, the form of instruction may carry some credits as a separate course or it may be non-credit.
For courses that carry a credit, the librarian designs the course syllabus and course outline, prepares the assignments and marks and grades the papers. One of my first experiences with providing legal instruction was through a collaboration with the professor in charge of Legal Research and Writing to the first year class. I taught the library instruction part of the course. The collaboration involved the following steps:
1. Writing the course outline,
2. teaching my section of the course outline,
3. facilitating practical orientation to the law library,
Currently, I participate in legal instruction for the first year Legal Process course in my institution; the library instruction part of the course is not for credit. During the library instruction part of this course, librarians work together with the course instructor and provide instruction to students on how to use primary and secondary legal sources. Librarians also use this opportunity to give a brief library orientation to first year students.
Librarians are also invited to the classroom by the instructor(s) for different courses to provide library instruction to students taking their courses. The method and style varies, and the librarian can be given the entire slot or half of the time. Law librarians are often invited by instructors in other faculties such as business, political science and liberal arts to provide library instruction to their students, especially on the use of legislative and statutory research materials. Despite the fact that there is an assumption that legal research may not be as necessary as the lawyering skills emphasized in legal education, lbrarians continue to devise innovative approaches to enhance their role and visibility in teaching and instruction in law schools. However, this assumption is indirectly supported by the law school administrations that continue to slam academic law library directors with budget cuts and library closures, indirectly contesting the relevance of libraries. One of the challenges of providing legal instruction is the research culture of law students in the digital age; they assume that they don't need the assistance of professional librarians because they can find everything online. Studies have proven that many of these students come with an expectation that Google is the answer to their research needs. There have been many advocacy statements issued by professional associations calling for legal information literacy standards. Examples of these are the American Association of Law Libraries AALL Legal Research Competencies, Standards for Law Student Information Literacy 2012 and the British & Irish Association of Law Libraries Legal Information Literacy Statement of 2012. There is the likelihood that these standards will be implemented and adopted fully in academic institutions.
A recent success story is the experience of law librarians at the Emory University School of Law where law librarians were able to expand legal research offerings by introducing five different credit courses. Topics covered include Business and Tax Legal Research and Foreign, Comparative and International Law Legal Research in addition to basic legal research and advanced legal research. These were very well received by both students and administration of the institution based on the number of registration and future offerings in healthcare and technology law. Experiences such as these should be modelled by law librarians who wish to boost the instruction and teaching profiles of their departments. One of the considerations for expanding the course offerings from one to five according to Sneed et al. (2013) was to address the need for one credit course offerings, a very rare policy in many institutions. This model is worth exploring by other institutions where librarians are just invited to teach students how to use the library resources without any participation in testing and grading.
Everyone’s experience is different but librarians who wish to specialize in law librarianship will adapt to institutional practices and introduce innovative approaches to their roles in providing library instruction. Bird (2012) suggested collaborating with users to improve information literacy via new technologies that engage them in the process, whether in groups or on an individual basis according to their specific needs. Social networking and Web 2.0 solutions can be used creatively to support courses, ensuring an alternative approach which has the added benefit of being available 24 hours a day online. There are students who will require additional individual, tailored guidance and support to do excellent legal research, such as postgraduates coming to law from other disciplines, with different research. No matter the experience law students bring with them, they need to be equipped with a range of suitable transferable legal information literacy skills in order to be successful users of information in law school and in their profession. Legal instruction is a necessary skill that should provide law librarians with a transferable skill set with lifelong application and relevance (Bird, 2012).
Creating instructional materials
One of the responsibilities of reference librarians in academic law libraries is preparing and writing instructional materials for library users. These materials serve as pathfinders that assist users with legal research. Librarians create topical and subject research guides on various areas of law and they are made available on the library’s website. The trend in academic law libraries is using a content management tool, LibGuides for preparing these research guides. This tool allows great creativity and some law librarians have also used it for instructional purposes. See the following research guides prepared by students in a University of Iowa Advanced Legal Research course:
1. “North African Legal Resources” (Maghreb and Egypt) by Hyun-Ki “Brian” Kim http://libguides.law.uiowa.edu/northafrica
2. “Kenya Law Research Guide” by Edward Hall http://libguides.law.uiowa.edu/kenya
3. “Chinese Intellectual Property” by Jee Won “Anna” Shin http://libguides.law.uiowa.edu/chineseip
Legal citation and legal abbreviation
Legal citation and legal abbreviation are part of the language of the legal profession. Legal literature is made up of numerous legal abbreviation and citations. Understanding how to cite legal materials constitute a major skill in legal education. In major jurisdictions such as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, there are uniform citation rules for legal materials and publications to be submitted to the law schools and the courts. Even though there are on-going discussions on the relevance of legal citations and why they should be discontinued. Note, however, that in some jurisdictions there are no citation rules; further reading on citation styles is available in Guide to foreign and international legal citations. Table 4.1 shows the legal citation styles that are being used in Canada, Singapore, United Kingdom and United States.
Table 4.1
Legal abbreviations are the shortened form of description for legal publications such as law journals, law reports, bills and statutes. They vary according to the publications available in each country and they are usually found in textbooks, legal citation manuals and research guides prepared by librarians, especially in foreign jurisdictions. The online abbreviation database Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviation (http://www.legalabbrevs.cardiff.ac.uk/) provides the meaning of abbreviations or the abbreviations for citations. This database covers Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Commonwealth, France, Foreign, Germany, International and Comparative law, India, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Pakistan, Singapore, United Kingdom and United States. The availability of an online tool has made the reference work easy and convenient saving hours of searching using legal reference tools and finding aids.
It is part of the reference duties to assist students and faculty to understand legal citations and legal abbreviations. Significant help will be needed by international graduate students who may be coming to a totally different type of citation style and abbreviation. Students in the first year legal research class will also need some help in understanding legal citation and abbreviations. Another group of users who always require assistance with legal citation and abbreviations are student editors of law reviews and journals. These students often need to cross-check the references they find in articles submitted for publication in the journal or law review.
Conclusion
This chapter has reviewed the roles and activities of the Reader Services department of the Law Library noting some practices that are now in place due to the impact of technology and financial being experienced in most libraries. It explains the role of the reference librarian in providing reference and instructional assistance to the users of the law library, challenges experienced in providing library instruction, bibliographic instructional materials and the trends in legal research and writing.