Conference report: Digital Reference Research Symposium (August 1 -3, 2002)

[Sloan, Bernie]

FYI...

Bernie Sloan

-----Original Message-----
From: Joanne Silverstein [mailto:jlsilver at ERICIR.SYR.EDU] 
Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2002 8:57 AM
To: JESSE at LISTSERV.UTK.EDU
Subject: Conference report: Digital Reference Research Symposium (August
1-3, 2002)

The Information Institute of Syracuse (IIS) at Syracuse University in
conjunction with the National Library of Canada, the Association of College
and Research Libraries (ACRL), Harvard University, and QuestionPoint ,
convened  the Digital Reference Research Symposium at Harvard University on
August 1-3, 2002 in Cambridge, Massachusetts  with participation by the
Institute of Museum & Library Services, and the Library of Congress.

The goal of this two-day symposium was to create a research agenda in
digital reference that bridges the areas of digital reference, library
practice, and digital libraries. The group comprised of researchers and
educators from the United States and Canada who work in the fields of
digital reference, information science, and digital libraries.  Together the
group was able to identify a variety of issues to include in the research
agenda for digital reference.

Dr. R. David Lankes opened the symposium on Friday morning by welcoming
participants and suggesting  an agenda and some anticipated outcomes for the
next two days. He also provided a brief orientation to the eBooks provided
by Gemstar that were distributed to each symposium participant. Each eBook
contained an electronic copy of the six white papers commissioned for the
symposium and participants were able to refer to these electronic copies
during our discussions.

The authors were commissioned to write white papers on various aspects of
digital reference that were identified  during the 2001 Virtual Reference
Desk Conference. Each author presented his or her topic during the symposium
along with issues and questions for discussion. After each presentation,
symposium participants had an opportunity to discuss the topic and provide
feedback to the authors. Presenters and topics included:

*       Mr. Jeffrey Pomerantz from Syracuse University presented the "Fit of
Digital Reference into the Digital Library Arena".
*       Dr. Linda Smith from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
presented "Education for Digital Reference Services".
*       Dr. Michael McClennen from the Internet Public Library presented
"Standards, Systems and Software for Digital Reference".
*       Dr. Jo Bell Whitlatch from San Jose State University presented
"Policies
for Digital Reference".
*       Dr. R. David Lankes from Syracuse University presented the "Impact
of
Digital Reference in Primary and Secondary Education".
*       Dr. Joseph Janes from the University of Washington presented his
paper on
"Question Negotiation in an Electronic Age".

Each of the white papers was presented and discussed over two days. At the
end of the second day, Dr. Lankes presented   a framework for developing the
digital reference research agenda. . The symposium participants then
brainstormed a list of issues for the agenda.

Over the next few weeks, the white paper authors will review takethe
comments and suggestions made during the symposium and incorporate them into
a final version of their papers. A final research agenda for digital
reference will also be developed. These final documents will be published in
an ACRL monograph available in 2003. The research agenda will be presented
at the 4th Annual Virtual Reference Desk Conference in Chicago, Illinois on
November 11-12, 2002.

For additional information regarding the Digital Reference Research
Symposium, visit http://quartz.syr.edu/symposium.