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Proceedings of the 8th Annual
Federal Depository Library Conference
April 12 - 15, 1999
Cover/Title Page | Table of Contents | Agenda
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Improving the Quality of Documents Reference Service: Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
John W. Graham
Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
Cincinnati, OH
Introduction – Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County
- Main Library & 42 Branches
- Separate Public Documents Department
- 12.8 Million Circulation, 1998
- Increased Visibility & Accountability
Reference & Information Service Standards
- Developed with staff in 1997
- Introduced to all supervisors & staff in 1998
- Cover both general philosophy and very specific scenarios
Standards Overview
- Serve as training tool for new staff
- Serve as evaluation guidelines for new performance management program, for example all patrons helped within an initial 5-minute period
- An aid for the Library "…to achieve an equitable and consistently high level of reference and information service."
- 10 Standards of Public Service
- Define Levels of Assistance, including Ready Reference to Instruction
- Time Limits and Number Constraints
Factors Which Affect Provision of Reference Service
Once-and-for-All
- Patrons on phone vs. in person
- Instruction vs. the Answer
Documents-Related
- Interlibrary Loan -- Now Decentralized
- Legal Information -- "Library Staff cannot interpret law or offer legal opinions or advice"
- Patent Information -- PTDL Depository
- Tax Information and Forms
The Bottom Line
- Becoming uniform in system
- Additional emphasis through the evaluation process
- Very useful for training non-professional public service staff
- Careful attention to Documents-related issues
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Cover/Title Page | Table of Contents | Agenda
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