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Trends in Staffing: Paraprofessionals and Librarians Talk about Working the Desk Jennifer Sweeney PhD Student Departmen

Trends in Staffing: Paraprofessionals and Librarians Talk about Working the Desk Jennifer Sweeney PhD Student Department of Information Studies, UCLA Jksweene@ucla.edu. Research questions.

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Trends in Staffing: Paraprofessionals and Librarians Talk about Working the Desk Jennifer Sweeney PhD Student Departmen

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  1. Trends in Staffing: Paraprofessionals and Librarians Talk about Working the Desk Jennifer Sweeney PhD Student Department of Information Studies, UCLA Jksweene@ucla.edu

  2. Research questions • What is the nature of reference work as it is perceived by paraprofessionals? Different than perceived by librarians? • What are the characteristics of working relationships among all reference workers in terms of tension or job satisfaction?

  3. Informant characteristics * Names have been changed.

  4. Informant characteristics, cont.

  5. Library characteristics

  6. Interview questions • Library position and experience; types of work performed • Education and training • Library/department organization • Reference desk staffing, procedures • Types of clients, types of questions, protocols for answering • Best/worst aspects of your job • Interpersonal work environment • Response to “For ethical reference, pare the paraprofessional” (McKinzie, 2002)

  7. Qualitative methods texts • Glaser, B. & Strauss, A. (1967). The Discovery of Grounded Theory. New York: Aldine. • Maxwell, J.A. (1996). Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

  8. Themes • Learning is central to reference activity on both sides of the desk. • The nature of teamwork • Availability of online reference tools

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