FSU SLIS Week 1 class on Intro to Information Services by Dr. Lorri Mon at Florida State University, FSU SLIS, Florida's iSchool http://slis.fsu.edu/

1. “Intro to Information Services”
LIS 5603, Intro to Information Services
Dr. Lorri Mon, FSU College of
Communication & Information

2. Dr. Lorri Mon, FSU SLIS
University of Michigan Hatcher
Graduate Library
IPL2 Internet Public Library
Virtual Reference Desk (VRD)
University of Illinois-Chicago Library
Dept. of State Foreign Affairs Network

3. Introductions!
1) who are you and where are you
distancing from?
2) what job area are you focusing on, and
what would be your dream job?

4. LIS 5603 Assignments
Reference interviews and paper 200
Question set 200
IPL questions and paper 200
Research guide 200
Participation: discussion board/class 200
TOTAL: 1000

5. Reference Interview (More Next Week)
The basic problem: Questioner is looking
for something that s/he doesn’t know and
can’t find. How do I find out what it is that
s/he doesn’t know?
Week 2: We learn about reference
questions and doing reference interviews.
Assignment: Interviewer F2F; Questioner
in chat or IM; write reflective paper

6. Question Set
The basic problem: How do I gain the
knowledge and skills needed to answer
questions about everything?
Week 3-5: We learn about Web, Book,
Database/Index sources, search skills,
evaluating source quality, and more.
Assignment: Answer Question Set covering
Web, Book, and Database/Index
answering skills.

7. IPL2 Answering (more today)
The basic problem: How do I gain skills in
answering questions with real users, not
just made-up questions in classes or
books?
Week 3 & beyond: We learn to answer
questions for real users in IPL2.
Assignment: Answer one practice and three
real questions from IPL2 users; write a
reflective paper about the experience.

8. Research Guide (week 3+)
The basic problem: How do I gain deep
expert knowledge of a subject area?
Week 3 & beyond: We learn subject
resources and source types, and how to
build resource guides for users.
Assignment: Build a research/resource
guide on a topic; ideally, build it for real
users in a real information service.

9. Participation/Discussion Board (week 1+)
The basic problem: How to share info,
practice skills and discuss weekly topics?
Week 1 & beyond: We use the discussion
boards to share ideas and practice skills.
Assignment: Post to the discussion board
once each for 10 of the 15 weeks of class.

10. Activity: Introductions in Blackboard
 Go to the Discussion Board “Week 1
Introductions” (can open another
browser window)
 Start a thread
with your name in
the title line
 tell us a little
about yourself, and
your interests

11. Class Web Site
http://fsuinfoservices.wordpress.com

12. History & Early Adaptors
1984 – UW Health Sciences Library and
U. of MD at Baltimore (e-mail)
1984 – Winstar Telebase (chat)
1995 – U. Michigan IPL (MOO, e-mail)
1998 – SUNY, Temple University (chat)
1999 – LSSI and 24/7 (chat)
2000 – LOC’s CDRS (e-mail consortia)
2000 – Santa Monica PL (chat)

13. A Look Back at IPL History -
the original “Reference” area (1995)

14. IPL MOO (1995)
The Foyer neomom is sitting in the chair.
The entryway into the Internet Allan and Teddyboy are standing here.
Public Library Moo. You can see You see read_me here. Obvious exits:
the Main Atrium ahead of you north to The Main Atrium and
through a wide open archway to DOORS to leave the library.
the north. Behind you are the
rotating glass doors you just Eustace, Ken, “Going My Way?”
walked through. To leave the http://farrer.riv.csu.edu.au/~keustace/research/gmw.html
moo, type: doors or type: @quit Shaw, E., “Real Time Reference in a MOO,”
http://www.ipl.org/div/iplhist/moo.html
Example of Other Text-Based MOOs and MUDs
>read sign
This point marks the end of the currently-occupied portion of the house.
Guests proceed beyond this point at their own risk. -- The residents
>go east
You step disdainfully over the velvet rope and enter the dusty darkness of
the unused portion of the house.
Curtis, Pavel “Mudding: Social Phenomena in Text-Based Virtual Realities”
ftp://ftp.lambda.moo.mud.org/pub/MOO/papers/DIAC92.txt

15. IPL2: The Internet Public Library
March 17, 1995 - Created by LIS Graduate students at
U. of Michigan class – taught by Dr. Joseph Janes
IPL Reference Collection (librarian-selected Web
resources) http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/
IPL Resources and Exhibits (POTUS, Stately
Knowledge, etc.) http://www.ipl.org/div/potus/,
http://www.ipl.org/div/stateknow/
Adult Reference Question Web Form
http://www.ipl2.org/div/askus/
Kids Reference Question Web Form
http://www.ipl.org/div/ask/

16. Internet Public Library Research
Early Days of IPL2 Reference
Early research on the IPL Reference service:
“Between March 17, 1995 and May 23, 1995, 70% of the questions
received by the Internet Public Library Reference Division were
answered, 30% were not answered. Of the unanswered questions,
30% were claimed but unanswered, and 70% were unclaimed and
unanswered.” (Ryan, 1998: p. 245)
“An overwhelming majority of patrons, 83%, were from the U.S.”
[subsequent studies suggest this is still roughly the ballpark]
“Patrons who submitted their questions via the reference question form
(http://www.ipl.org/ref/QUE/RefForm2.html) were encouraged to select
the subject area of their question from a list included on the form.
But many patrons selected inaccurate classifications, and many also
failed to select a classification.” (Ryan, 1998: p. 253)
•
Ryan, Sara (1998) "Reference Service for the Internet Community:
A Case Study of the Internet Public Library Reference Division,"
Library and Information Science Research, 18: 241-259

17. Other schools / students also are in IPL2 -
Includes Drexel University, Florida State University,
U. of North Carolina Chapel Hill, U. of Washington
and many others

18. IPL2 Reference: Question-Answering
Example questions from Internet Public Library visitors;
students can “claim” a question, send an answer, or post
suggestions to each other in collaborative efforts. You
can also answer a question and then “request feedback”
from IPL2 on how to improve.

19. An Example Question
Date: 04/03/02
Needed by: 04/08/02
Question:
Is possible to look at periodicals over the internet? My subject is
1960s technology, which includes the Space Race, computers,
television, radio, telephones,scientific discoveries and medicine.
location: Houston/Texas/United States
area: Science
reason: i have a research project due...i am very busy with
schoolwork, and when i try to get my parents to take me to the
library, they are too tired from work or the library is closed. It
would mak my life a lot easier...My english teacher requires us to
have one source that is a periodical and the rough draft is due after
tomorrow...and i've already done my research for everything
else...thank you for helping
school: Yes
answer_type: sources
format1: internet sources
format2: print sources
format3: doesn't matter
sources_consulted: i haven't asked for a periodical before.

20. The Six Mandatory Answer Elements
1. “Hello from IPL2!”
(greeting)
2. “Thanks for your question about fish.”
(restatement)
3. “Here’s the answer:”
(provide answer)
4. “Here’s the urls, print citations, call numbers”
(citing your sources in detail)
5. “I found this information using source with search:
keywords” (info literacy: teach how you found it)
6. “Please write back if you need more help, and thanks for
asking IPL2!” (closing)
http://www.ipl.2org

21. What is a Good Answer?
• Restates/rephrases the question
• Friendly communication
• Complete and accurate answer
• Never say “we don’t have it” without checking
• Never reply off the top of your head – look it up!
• Meet the deadline – and faster is better
• Maintain objectivity, show both/all sides
• Include sources/citations; copy/paste; proofread!
• Reasonable number of sources (3 or more)
• Show the search and explain use of search tools
And open the door - “let me know if this doesn’t meet your needs”

22. Tips on Answering IPL2 Questions
… managing time, avoiding claim-jumping
• Read the question carefully – every part.
• Don’t claim unless you’re going to start on it.
• First, click UPDATE or use browser “Refresh”
(in case someone already Claimed it seconds ago!)
• Then, click CLAIM (no more than 2 Claims)
• Reevaluate after 20 mins – change strategies
• Assume that it will take you at least 15 minutes
to compose answer (if not more)
Practice Questions: Remember to complete a questionnaire!

23. When You Need Help:
Creative Strategies for Question-Answering
Try other methods:
• Concept analysis
• Other search tools
• Databases
• Library Catalogs
• Referrals
• Ask in IPL2 for help
http://www.ipl2.org

24. When You are Stumped . . .
Concept Analysis – different words for this?
Broaden or narrow the focus – context?
“What if” - user-supplied info may be wrong…
Post a NEEDHELP to the question
Post to our “IPL2 Question Clinic” discussion
Contact Jen (jllaubond@gmail.com) for help
Find referrals for experts & organizations
Give Up – UNCLAIM (explain in Followup)
Try other search engines, including meta-search
Think beyond search engines – (print & database
sources, IPL2’s Collections, FAQs, Pathfinders, local
libraries and archives)

25. IPL2 Question Answering Process
You will answer 4 questions (1 “Practice” question and 3
questions from real IPL patrons)
To begin: read the IPL Training Manual, complete the
Practice Quiz, receive your IPL2 login, answer 1 Practice
question (following IPL rules) & await IPL2’s feedback
(clearance to move on to answer real questions)
What Are The Rules?
Six mandatory elements (1. greeting, 2. restatement, 3. answer,
4. cite sources, 5. teach the process, 6. closing)
Your professionalism (meet the deadline; answer within 24 hrs of
claiming – contact Jen or post a followup on delays; only two
simultaneous claimed questions; use real research skills – go
beyond what users already can do; follow licensed resource
rules and IPL2 policies.)
IPL2’s Jen Lau Bond: jllaubond@gmail.com QRC: http://qrc.ipl.org
IPL2 Student Start Page http://training.ipl.org/div/backroom/refvols/students/

26. To Do:
• Think of ideas for a Research Guide topic
> > Research Guide topic due Mon, Sep 17
• Read the IPL2 Training Manual, do the
quiz, email the IPL2 admin, and get your
login to access Practice questions:
http://training.ipl.org/div/backroom/refvols/
students/
> > IPL Practice Question due Mon, Sep 24
Week 1 Links
http://fsuinfoservices.wordpress.com/2012/08/28/wk1-intro-ipl/