I hope you have enjoyed my blog! I wanted to end with some important key points on information retrieval that I hope we can all walk away with:

Remember that in information retrieval, you play an intergral part in the research community. You are often the key link between a customer and the information they require, and will most likely interact with many types of people doing many different types of research. Keep in mind that information retrieval has been changing very rapidly over the past few years, especially with the advent of, and widespread use of, the Internet and everything that went along with it. We will likely need to show the college student how to access information through more traditional manners (i.e. microfiche and interlibrary loan - yes! you sometimes have to work to get your information and perhaps even wait for the information to come to you!). You may need to show someone unfamiliar with databases that there is more out there than just books at the library and http://www.google.com/ for retrieving information. And you will definately be doing some instruction while providing such services on how to locate and retrieve information.

Do not make assumptions! We don't always know what the researcher needs most, and we should never make the assumption that they do or do not need a source that we have without first inquiring with them. As Webb, Gannon-Leary, & Bent (2007) explained, "each researcher will be at a different stage in terms of their information literacy development, so you might be starting with simple explanations or working very much at the edge of your own knowledge base" (p. 125).

The most important part of information retrieval, on the part of the librarian, is to make sure the reference interview (for children doing reports, adults looking for medical information, college students looking for journals, etc.) is thorough. Make sure you are doing everything you can to provide what they need. Once you have shown them some resources, check and see if the information sources have within them what the customer needed. If not, you must keep going. Use as many resources as it takes and do not be afraid to direct them somewhere that could provide more or better information than your institution can provide.

Webb, J., Gannon-Leary, P., & Bent, M. (2007). Providing effective library services for research. London: Facet Publishing.

I ran across this in my online searches. I found it to be incredibly pertinent and quite funny.





Beardwell, E. & Mishon, J. (2008). Computer Data cartoon 3 catalog reference rman57. Retrieved April 5, 2008, from Cartoonstock Web site: http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/rma/lowres/rman57l.jpg

I recently went to the Nova Southeastern University's library and found a book on information retrieval. I wanted to touch on a couple of very important sections of the book that I found pertinent to information retrieval and the librarian's role in it. According to Meadow, Boyce, Kraft, & Barry (2007), one type of information retrieval is called interactive information retrieval which is found today in three primary modes:

(1) A local system operating in one single computer that has a database and software used to retrieve the information,
(2) A central service containing many databases that usually have one system used for retrieval which is operated remotely with the use of a telecommunications network for access, and
(3) A search engine that is on the Web that searches for sites of others, as it does not have its own database (p. 3-4).

It is very important to understand that in information retrieval, there is almost never just one way to access the information that is needed. Librarians, or information specialists, are generally expected to know within their institution:
1. What kinds of information is available
2. The mechanics of using the information systems
3. The common terminology used, and
4. The methods of performing a reference interview (Meadow, Boyce, Kraft, & Barry, 2007, p. 17).

Finally, Meadow, Boyce, Kraft, & Barry (2007) mention the role of a "search intermediary" in which the librarian "compliments the user's knowledge of subject matter with knowledge of how to search" (p. 291) This is a very important role, as it includes helping with understanding the range of sources, knowledge of database content and structure, knowledge of seach engine variations and communication procedures, how to use post-processing functions that are available, and how to conduct the reference interview effectively to help the user realistically interpret and evaluate the output (Meadow, Boyce, Kraft, & Barry, 2007, p. 291).

Meadow, C. T., Bert, B. R., Kraft, D. H., & Barry, C. (2007). Text informatin retrieval systems. Amsterdam: Academic Press.

Click on the image above to view the chart at it's full size.

This is a modified version from one located at http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/brief/v6n6/sec4-1.gif
Based on this project, I have modified this chart to show the chart from the librarian's perspective, especially in helping a customer retrieve information through the library in such a way that they could perhaps do it again themselves.

Leng, Y. L. (2003, June). Bibliographic instruction: Search strategy for graduate students . Retrieved April 14, 2008, from CDTL Brief Web site: http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/brief/V6n6/sec4.htm

Last night, I asked a librarian I work with what she thought was the most useful information retrieval system that librarians use. She replied, "I don't think you are going to like my answer, but Google.com" (anonymous, personal communication, February 26,2008). We spoke in length about how librarians have gone from using card catalogs and textual indexes to using sophisticated online card catalogs, search engines, and online databases. She reminded me that we no longer even have microfiche and microfiche readers in most of the branches, including our own (anonymous, personal communication, February 26, 2008).

Our conversation left me wondering how much information retrieval has changed for librarians in not a very large amount of time. In going back to our Chronology paper, it is very easy to see how technological changes have impacted the world of librarianship, and inherently with it, the way we retrieve the information our customers request.

I thought I would start out the blog by using Joan M. Reitz's (2007) Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science to define the term for "Information Retrieval." What it yielded was:

"Information Retrieval (IR)
The process, methods, and procedures used to selectively recall recorded information from a file of data. In libraries and archives, searches are typically for a known item or for information on a specific subject, and the file is usually a human-readable catalog or index, or a computer-based information storage and retrieval system, such as an online catalog or bibliographic database. In designing such systems, balance must be attained between speed, accuracy, cost, convenience, and effectiveness" (Reitz, 2007, Information retrieval, ¶ 1).

At the present, the information retrieval systems I can come up with are WorldCat, local OPACs, online search engines, and online databases. Can anyone think of any others?

Reitz, J. M. (2007). Information retrieval. Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science. Retrieved February 25, 2008, from the World Wide Web: http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_i.cfm

Welcome!

Greetings and welcome to my blog page for LIS6260 (Info Science in Librarianship). This page will be devoted to the focus of the ways information professionals retrieve information. We'll explore this topic in depth as the semester progresses. For now, I'm trying to get this site in clean, working order.