Users' preferences for answer forms to reference questions in libraries

Abstract

Reference service is one of the significant user support services in libraries, and in the service, the librarian provides appropriate information to a user's needs. Studies of a social question and answer (Q&A) site revealed preferences held by users for an answer in terms of subject relevance or prediction. In order to provide a higher quality service, we investigated users' preferences for answers given in libraries. To understand what users prefer for answers, we defined four "answer forms" from the perspectives of the "amount of information" and "whether it includes any explanations of information resources or not." Respondents ranked four answers, which were developed from the answer forms in response to reference questions. The purpose was to discover their preferred way to be answered in the reference service. Results indicated that people prefer an answer, which provides multiple information resources and attached explanations of the resources, rather than an answer that only gives information resources without offering explanations. In addition, we found relationships between answer preferences and user attributes, such as age and frequency of library use.