Library jargon : client understanding of technical language used by librarians in reference interviews

This study investigated the clients' understanding of technical terms commonly used by librarians during reference interviews, derived from actual librarians' e-mail replies to clients' queries. Two sample groups of client were used for the study. The first group consisted of clientel...

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Main Author: Yeo, Meng Choo.
Other Authors: Abdus Sattar Chaudhry
Format: Theses and Dissertations
Language:English
Published: 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/42573
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-425732020-09-27T20:14:33Z Library jargon : client understanding of technical language used by librarians in reference interviews Yeo, Meng Choo. Abdus Sattar Chaudhry School of Applied Science DRNTU::Library and information science::Libraries::Public libraries This study investigated the clients' understanding of technical terms commonly used by librarians during reference interviews, derived from actual librarians' e-mail replies to clients' queries. Two sample groups of client were used for the study. The first group consisted of clientele of the National Reference Library of Singapore. The second group comprised of relatives or acquaintances of the staff from the Library Support Services of the National Library Board of Singapore, who might be potential or actual library clients. Both groups of client were asked to complete a multiplechoice questionnaire, consisting of 20 technical terms, each accompanied with one correct and three incorrect definition options. The findings revealed that the participants were able to define the technical terms correctly three quarter of the time. However, 65% of the participants faced difficulty in defining at least one technical term. The reasons underlying the participants' choices included the appearance of the term in the chosen option and greater familiarity with the selected definition. The methods that were frequently used by the participants to derive the answers were guessing and knowing the meaning in another context. It is recommended that librarians adopt a balanced approach towards the use of technical terms when communicating with the clients. While there is no need to refrain from using technical language totally, librarians should exercise discretion and care when using technical terms. Master of Science (Information Studies) 2010-12-30T06:10:43Z 2010-12-30T06:10:43Z 1999 1999 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10356/42573 en 63 p. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
country Singapore
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic DRNTU::Library and information science::Libraries::Public libraries
spellingShingle DRNTU::Library and information science::Libraries::Public libraries
Yeo, Meng Choo.
Library jargon : client understanding of technical language used by librarians in reference interviews
description This study investigated the clients' understanding of technical terms commonly used by librarians during reference interviews, derived from actual librarians' e-mail replies to clients' queries. Two sample groups of client were used for the study. The first group consisted of clientele of the National Reference Library of Singapore. The second group comprised of relatives or acquaintances of the staff from the Library Support Services of the National Library Board of Singapore, who might be potential or actual library clients. Both groups of client were asked to complete a multiplechoice questionnaire, consisting of 20 technical terms, each accompanied with one correct and three incorrect definition options. The findings revealed that the participants were able to define the technical terms correctly three quarter of the time. However, 65% of the participants faced difficulty in defining at least one technical term. The reasons underlying the participants' choices included the appearance of the term in the chosen option and greater familiarity with the selected definition. The methods that were frequently used by the participants to derive the answers were guessing and knowing the meaning in another context. It is recommended that librarians adopt a balanced approach towards the use of technical terms when communicating with the clients. While there is no need to refrain from using technical language totally, librarians should exercise discretion and care when using technical terms.
author2 Abdus Sattar Chaudhry
author_facet Abdus Sattar Chaudhry
Yeo, Meng Choo.
format Theses and Dissertations
author Yeo, Meng Choo.
author_sort Yeo, Meng Choo.
title Library jargon : client understanding of technical language used by librarians in reference interviews
title_short Library jargon : client understanding of technical language used by librarians in reference interviews
title_full Library jargon : client understanding of technical language used by librarians in reference interviews
title_fullStr Library jargon : client understanding of technical language used by librarians in reference interviews
title_full_unstemmed Library jargon : client understanding of technical language used by librarians in reference interviews
title_sort library jargon : client understanding of technical language used by librarians in reference interviews
publishDate 2010
url http://hdl.handle.net/10356/42573
_version_ 1681056668393144320