Remote Reference in U.S. Public Library Practice and LIS Education

This article submitted to IUPUI ScholarWorks as part of the OASIS Project. Article reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Permission granted through posted policies on copyright owner’s website or through direct contact with copyright owner.The state of remote reference services in the United States was assessed by surveying remote reference availability at 100 U.S. public libraries, examining remote reference in the syllabi of American Library Association (ALA)-accredited library and information science (LIS) courses in the U.S., and analyzing national competencies and guidelines. Findings indicated that the telephone was the most common medium in use for remote reference services at public libraries, followed by e-mail and chat. In teaching, however, syllabi at LIS programs addressed digital remote reference media far more often than the telephone. Reference standards and guidelines primarily focused on general practices applicable to both remote and face-to-face reference work, rather than on specifics relevant to differing remote reference media types. Included in this study are recommendations to address this apparent disconnect among reference practices, teaching, and professional guidelines

Aftercare and readmission: A dutch psychiatric case register study

A cohort of 795 patients aged 15–65 years, discharged from a variety of psychiatric in-patient services between 1974 and 1978, was followed for a period of 1 year with the help of a psychiatric case register. The register covers the 45,000 inhabitants of a town in northern Holland. Fifty-three percent had aftercare of some kind during the 12 weeks following discharge. Previous out-patient care was the best predictor of aftercare. The rate of readmission during the year following discharge was 38%. The best predictor of readmission was a previous admission. The rates of readmission of patients with and without aftercare did not differ