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Footnote

Rez in: JASIST 55(2004) no.4, S.365-366 (D.A. Agosto): "In this entry in the Library and Information Science Series, Saxton and Richardson present a meticulously explained quantitative study of reference service effectiveness, drawn from public library data collected for this project. The study is based largely an Saxton's dissertation work, for which Richardson served as chair. Based an original data, the researchers examine three desired outcomes of the reference process: utility, user satisfaction, and accuracy. The authors collected a large body of data (N = 3520) comprised of in-person and telephone reference transactions, as recorded by responding librarians. Although the research was conducted in public library settings, the results should be transferable to most academic and school libraries, and to many special libraries as well. The relatively brief text (roughly half of the book consists of appendixes and bibliographies) is organized into seven chapters, with an extensive bibliography for each chapter. Chapter 1 lays out the research goals that underlie the study. These include an attempt to discover the factors that contribute to high levels of research performance, an attempt to identify the best indicators of successful reference performance, and an attempt to determine how well the data collected support the proposed model. The next two chapters, which combined constitute more than a quarter of the text, present and critique related research. Chapter 2 provides an in-depth literature review of past reference service evaluation research. Above all, this chapter brings to light the lack of theory driving this body of past work, a gap that Saxton and Richardson endeavor to fill. Chapter 3 evaluates the major methodologies that have previously been used to study reference service evaluation. In this chapter, Saxton and Richardson critique the existing body of reference-related research an methodological grounds. They cite as the most significant problems insufficient sample sizes, the widespread lack of the use of random sampling, and the minimal use of theory to underpin study design. Chapter 4, which lays out the methodology of Saxton and Richardson's study, is the strongest of the seven chapters. It emphasizes issues surrounding sampling, the proposed variables, data gathering methods, and data analysis. The authors do a good job of explaining the statistical theories and methods that they employ, turning the book into a sort of mini-review course in multivariate statistics.