Background:
In the course of two visits to the Wake Forest University Professional Center Library, I became aware of an issue regarding providing reference services to the general public. Public library patrons are coming to this private law library for assistance, but it is not geared to provide them with appropriate help. They should be seeking services at community public libraries or a county law library if one is available in Winston-Salem (unless they are at the WFU PCL to access Federal Depository materials). The following research question is designed to gain a better understanding of the experiences of key people involved in this information services issue.
Research Question:
What is the legal research experience of the general public and the librarians who serve them? The question is very open and was designed to avoid assumptions about the causes of any concerns. Its purpose is to find out what is going on before exploring possible solutions.
Setting
The setting is the public library system in the Winston-Salem community. Due to close proximity to Wake Forest University, their patrons may be among those going to the law library.
Participants:
The first participants I’d like to interview are the public librarians in the Winston-Salem community. I’m thinking of these interviews as a “Phase I” action research sub-project. I’d like to first see what they share with me, but some possible follow up questions that could fall under the umbrella of the overall research question are: How do they support patrons who are doing legal research? What services and materials are available through their libraries or interlibrary loan? What are the challenges of providing these services? (publicity, staff development, fees for ILL, resources, collection development, etc.) What services are available in the community to complement library services for patrons doing legal research? How do they perceive the legal research needs of the community?
I would also like to interview patrons, but more knowledge of the context and guidance from the librarians would be required before I can approach that aspect of the situation. Patron interviews might be a “Phase II” or “Phase III” action research project after ethical issues have been explored and addressed according to the guidance in chapter 3.
Comments (2)
I'm curious to see where you go with this. It seems really specific and may be hard to find literature on. I'm also curious if it doesn't really speak to a greater need in the community. For instance, if that many patrons are heading to the university law library, might they be heading to even more resources to meet their other needs? You might just be chipping at the tip of the iceberg and while I realize that you have to focus in for your study, you might consider at least reviewing the broader possibilities. I know that at the library I work in, staff avoids giving anything that even midly resembles a professional opinion. They point out books of forms that patrons can use or reference titles that may help them find what they need, but since they have no legal (or medical, technical, etc.) training, they're encouraged to point patrons towards resources, not to be the resource themselves. Just a thought.
Posted by Kate Whyte | February 1, 2009 4:53 PM
Posted on February 1, 2009 16:53
Daniel,
I'm worried there may be an assumption in this part of your research:
"their patrons may be among those going to the law library."
What if you get into this and the librarians don't have much to tell you in this regard?
Could you perhaps go ahead and call the public library and ask someone if this is even an issue? I see that you've defined the issue for the law library, but it's probably best to ensure that this is an issue for the public library. Do a little pre-study work to see if this is a viable topic, and follow up with me.
Posted by Alecia Jackson | February 4, 2009 10:53 AM
Posted on February 4, 2009 10:53