ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries T ra in in g r e fe r e n c e sta ff p rior to co n so lid a tin g scien ce co llectio n s B y A lice L. P r im a c k Bibliographic Instruction Coordinator University o f Florida Science Library a n d A n ita L. B a ttiste Reference Librarian University o f Florida Science L ibrary Tours, tests and team w ork as part o f the cross-training program before Marston's move. M arston Science L ib rary a t th e University of F lo rid a is a recently b u ilt stru ctu re in w hich w ere consolidated th e ag ricu ltu ral, biological, physical and e arth sciences, an d m athem atics collections from four b ra n c h libraries a n d th e m ain collection (see ’’T h e U niversity of F lo rid a’s M oving Experi­ en ce,” p p . 467-71). Staff tra in in g of reference staff w ho w ould be m oving to th e n ew b u ild in g was an integral p a r t of p lan n in g and p re p a ratio n for th e move. T w o years before th e m ove, a C om m ittee on C ross-T raining w as appointed. A fter exploration a n d discussion, th e c o m m ittee reco m m en d ed a p lan w h ich w as approved by th e science librarians. T h e cross-training w as extended to include lib rary technical assistant staff w ho w o u ld b e w orking in reference. T h e goal a n d objectives of th e cro ss-train in g w ere stated as follows: Goal A lib r a ria n , a fte r co m p letin g th e o rie n ta tio n course, should be able to u n d erstan d and answ er m ost of th e reference questions presented a t th e ref­ erence desks in th e science lib rary , an d should be able to refer all other questions correctly to th e a p ­ p ro p riate person. Objectives 1. T he lib rarian should be able to m ake effective use of th e m ajor abstracting an d indexing sources (both p rin t an d online) in each subject field to be included in th e science library. 2. T h e lib rarian should b e able to use o th er m a ­ jor reference tools in general science an d in th e spe­ cific subject fields covered in th e science library. 3. T h e lib rarian should know th e other science librarians a n d th e ir areas of specialization an d feel com fortable asking for th eir help. 4. T h e lib ra ria n should be fam iliar w ith special features a n d problem s of docum ents, m icroform s, a n d m aps w hich w ill be in th e science library. 5. T h e lib ra ria n should be fam iliar w ith th e m a ­ jo r research program s a t th e U niversity of F lorida. T h e p lan for m eeting these objectives included use of tests, tours of existing science b ra n c h li­ braries on cam pus, lectures, an d inform al w orking together. Im plem entation As th e first step in im p lem en tatio n of th e p lan , questions for use on a pre-test w ere solicited from lib rarian s in each subject area, a n d a test w as m ade u p of questions selected from these. Some of th e questions on th e test d e alt w ith all subject areas, such as: •N a m e tw o or th ree m ajo r cu rren tly published indexing or ab stractin g services in th e following subject areas: agriculture, chem istry .... June 1989 / 473 • N a m e tw o to th ree m ajor journals in th e fol­ low ing subject areas (at least one n o t a society p u b ­ lication): agriculture, chem istry......... O th e r questions w ere quite specific, such as: • W h e r e w ould you look to answ er this ques­ tion: I w a n t to find out all I can ab o u t extracting tita n iu m from beach sands in F lorida, especially Jacksonville and D ay to n a Beach. And finally th e test sought to point u p existing subject strengths: •W h ic h librarians now on th e U F staff have a specialty in each of th e following subjects: agricul­ tu re , ch em istry .... T h e pre-test w as distributed to all science lib ra r­ ians an d to technical assistants w ho w ould be in­ volved in reference. T h e test w as for personal use only in seeing in w h a t areas individuals w ould like to learn m ore about reference tools. I t w as not col­ lected o r “g ra d e d .” T ours of th e existing science b ra n c h libraries (A griculture, E n g in eerin g , Physics/A stronom y, and Chem istry) w ere given a t tw o different times to enable all staff to atten d . T h e next com ponent of th e cross-training con­ sisted of presentations on specific reference m ateri­ als. These p resen tatio n s w ere su p p lem en ted by h andouts of bibliographies an d notes, and p u b ­ lished lite ra tu re guides w here appropriate. Again, each p resentation was m ade a t tw o different times in order to allow p articip atio n of all reference staff. Presentations w ere m ade on th e following subject a n d special fo rm at areas: chem istry, e a rth sci­ ences, engineering, life sciences, m a th em atics, physics and astronom y, docum ents, an d maps. E ach lib rarian and reference technical assistant w as encouraged th ro u g h o u t th e cross-training p e ­ riod to “tra il” reference librarians in other areas. F o r a period of several m onths schedules w ere set up betw een certain branches for “sitting in ” on ref­ erence du ty , an d a t other times inform al exchanges w ere m ade. Individual use of th e test was again encouraged after this m uch of th e cross-training pro g ram , as a m easure of w h a t each person h a d learned an d to p o in t up areas for fu rth er study. T he sam e ques­ tions as those used on th e pre-test w ere again dis­ trib u ted , this tim e as a post-test. As before, th e tests w ere not collected or “g rad ed ,” b u t w ere for p er­ sonal evaluations. Copies of all bibliographies and other handouts from our cross-training sessions w ere assembled and placed in notebooks at th e tw o inform ation desks in th e new library. A lthough locations of m a­ terials w ere of course changed, as w ere some call num bers, these subject listings w ere consulted by staff dealing w ith questions in u n fam iliar subject areas. G rad u ally during th e course of our first year w e developed a series of guides to various subject areas, w hich w ere for both p a tro n and staff use. These w ere generally one page in length an d listed titles, call num bers, and locations of m ajor refer­ ence tools such as dictionaries, handbooks, indexes and abstracts, and cu rren t aw areness tools. These subject guides w ere gathered into a separate note­ book at each reference desk, along w ith o th er re­ sources such as translations of abbreviations for com m only asked-for periodicals. In ad d itio n , d u rin g our first year w e instituted a weekly m eeting of all reference staff, b o th profes­ sionals an d technical assistants. As p a rt of m any of these m eetings, various staff m em bers m ade infor­ m al presentations on reference tools or on finding specific kinds of inform ation. Evaluation Shortly before th e move took place w hich con­ solidated b ran ch collections into th e centralized Science L ib rary , an evaluative survey of th e cross­ tra in in g program w as done. A survey form was sent to each p a rtic ip a n t, along w ith a brief review of w h a t h a d been done so far in th e cross-training. T he survey asked how m any of th e cross-training activities th e person h ad atten d ed , how they rated th e overall experience, w h a t w ere problem s and th e m ost and least helpful parts of th e train in g , and w h a t they w ould like m ore w ork in. Results of this anonym ous survey showed th a t most respondents h ad atten d ed all or most of th e activities. O verall ratings of th e train in g process clustered around “m oderately h elp fu l,” w hich w as th e m iddle r a t­ ing, w ith one below and th ree above. A strong p a rt of th e tra in in g w as getting a generally m ore com ­ fortable feeling, an d getting to know o ther lib ra ri­ ans’ areas of expertise. A big p ro b lem w ith th e tra in in g w as lack of tim e an d difficulty in a tte n d ­ ance because this m ean t leaving regular areas u n ­ derstaffed. T h e consensus was th a t m ore tra in in g was needed after th e move, an d th a t th e n a tu re of th e tra in in g w ould be determ ined in p a rt by w h a t w ould come u p —for exam ple, problem s w ith spe­ cific reference tools. O verall review and general discussion w ere also m entioned as im p o rtan t. Plans for the future Plans for th e fu tu re include co ntinuation of p re ­ sentations a t weekly reference staff m eetings. A re ­ cent survey a t one of these meetings showed defi­ n ite in terest in a w id e ra n g e of topics fo r these presentations, ranging from th e use of specific ref­ erence tools to overviews of categories of th e litera­ ture. P la n n in g also takes a d irectio n to w a rd m ore aw areness of m ajor research program s a t th e uni­ versity now and in fu tu re years. This effort is being helped by th e cu rren t developm ent of profiles of th e various academ ic program s w hich are served by th e science lib rary , an d w hich are being done p rim arily as a collection developm ent function. These profiles w ill be filed in notebooks a t th e in­ fo rm atio n desks. In a d d itio n , w e w o u ld like to h av e facu lty or lib rarian -selecto rs speak ab o u t th eir academ ic subject areas. ■ ■ 474 / C& RL N ew s