The document summarizes the results of a global survey on reference resources and budgets. Some key findings include: - Reference budgets have decreased in most libraries over the past 5 years and are predicted to continue decreasing or remain steady over the next 5 years. - Budget lines are being consolidated, with reference spending coming from subject funds or electronic resources funds. - There is a strong preference for electronic reference resources over print. - Librarians perceive that undergraduates and research faculty use reference resources the most. However, many patrons are unaware of available reference resources. - Discovery of reference materials is challenging, as they are often not well-represented in discovery services or library catalogs.

1. The current state of
reference:
Select results of the
global reference
survey
Elisabeth Leonard, MSLS, MBA
Market Research Analyst,
SAGE
Twitter: @ElisabethAnn, #RefTalk
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

2. Agenda
 Budgets
 Perceptions of reference
 Questions and comments
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

3. What I did
 Invitations to complete the survey were sent
to various listservs, including publib, colldev,
acqnet, and SLA chapter lists globally.
 Email invitations were sent to 800 reference,
collection development, and acquisition
librarians.
 There were 32 questions.
 Completed surveys were eligible to win an
iPad mini.
 Followed up with interviews and focus
groups. @ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

4. Demographics
Demographics
 471 responses (600+ came to the first page)
 90% came from North America, 6% from Asia
Pacific, 2% from Europe, 1% from South
America, and 0.5% from Africa.
 58% were from academic libraries, 13% from
corporate libraries, 12% from government or
military libraries, and 1% from school libraries.
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5. Trends: budgets
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6. Reference budgets: last 5 years
Academic Public Special
Increased 10% 15% 12%
Stayed the
same
34% 15% 29%
Decreased 49% 65% 49%
Don’t know 7% 5% 9%
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

7. Reference budgets: next 5 years
Academic Public Special
Increase 10% 6% 18%
Stay the
same
34% 44% 32%
Decrease 54% 50% 44%
Don’t spend
now
1% 0% 5%
Eliminated 0.6% 0% 0.9%
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

8. Comparing trends in special
libraries
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Increased Stayed the same Decreased Don’t know
Last 5 years
Next 5 years
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

9. General trends: budgets
Libraries are consolidating their budget
lines, with some no longer including a
separate budget line for reference
Spending often comes out of subject funds
and e-resources fund
A preference for e-reference
Growth to support new programs
Reduction because of journals spend and
increased e-resources spend
Importance of one time funds
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10. Spending comes from subject
funds
“We have not had a reference budget for
some time now. Reference resources that
are acquired now come out of subject
area budgets along with any resources
needed for that area.”
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

11. Funds move to e-resources line
 “Although the amount of the reference
budget is probably about the same, the
type of materials purchases are quite
different. We used to spend considerable
money on paper monographs, standing
orders, and reference serials. We spend
very little on any of those, but much of the
money we spent has now been
transferred into the budget for online
resources.”
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

12. Consolidation of budget lines
“We continue to purchase reference materials but
we don't have a separate "reference" budget line.
We engaged in some reorganization a few years
ago, and that included folding many separate
small budget lines into fewer, larger, ones.”
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

13. A preference for e-reference
“We have a shared fund for purchases of
online resources - many of which are A&I
databases and thus 'reference'. But they
are not charged to our 'reference' fund.
Our 'reference' fund is only for print material.
So our online reference buying is increasing
each year. Our print reference buying is
holding steady or decreasing.”
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

14. Growth from new programs
“Our budget was cut last year, but we will
be gaining 3 new residency programs.
Therefore, in certain areas, I think our
budget will increase to meet GME
requirements.”
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

15. Importance of one time funds
“We've seen fluctuations in our reference
purchasing because, though we have definitely
seen cuts in the amount of monies we spend, we've
also been the beneficiaries of one-time money
which has then been used to purchase all sorts of
materials, including reference materials. This has
had the overall effect of off-setting cuts in the
budget.”
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

16. “E” (and a little print)
Academic Public Special
Print only 0.5% 0% 3%
Print preferred 4% 5% 6%
Online only 7% 0% 11%
Online preferred 68% 35% 50%
No preference 22% 60% 31%
No longer purchase
reference
1% 0% 5%
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

17. Perceptions of reference
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18. Who is reference for
 Undergraduates more than graduates
 Research faculty more than teaching
faculty
 Doctors more than nurses
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19. Who is reference for?
“Sometimes the requests come
from patrons, but more often
from colleagues (after dealing
with patrons and noticing a
need) and professors.”
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

20. But they do ask for
 Subject handbooks
 Databases
 Encyclopedias
 Dictionaries
 Updated editions
As well as journals, articles and textbooks
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

21. But is it “reference”?
 “We have tried to use the term [reference]
less since today's students do not identify with
the term. I also find for my business students
that encyclopedias, handbooks and the like
are not necessary items. They need industry
report, market report types of resources. They
use the article databases, but frankly they
can find so much on the open web, that
even those article databases are only half as
valuable as they once were.”
Business Librarian, Academic Library, USA
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

22. Perceptions of awareness
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23. % of patrons librarians believe are
aware of reference resources
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24. Librarian satisfaction with
perceived patron awareness
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25. Top ways librarians think patrons
discover reference resources
 Following the direction of a librarian
 Following the direction of an instructor
 Searching online (eg. Google)
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

26. Are librarians satisfied with the
use reference resources get?
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

27. Issues with discovery
 The Discovery service doesn't make it possible
to filter for this content. Our catalog does a
great job, but the students don't start there.
Our major reference vendor's content isn't in
the Discovery service (yet). Reference
Universe, the index to reference
content, does not work well enough in the
Discovery Layer or even on its own to get
students to that content. A problem that
needs to be fixed.
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

28. It’s not just discovery
 It can always be better
 Free alternative resources
 Patrons are not on board
 Not enough value for the money
 Not enough promotion
 The value is in the answer
 C’est la vie
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

29. What does it all mean?
 User behavior has changed
 Information sources have changed
 Reference is no longer a place
Therefore definitions for reference have
changed and buying of “reference” has
changed
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

30. It’s bigger than reference
“I always want people to know what we
have and to use it more. It is an uphill
battle to get them to use the library
instead of Google (or other search
engine) as their starting place.”
Library Director, US
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk

31. Questions? Comments?
Elisabeth Leonard, MSLS, MBA
Twitter: @ElisabethAnn
Email: elisabeth.leonard@sagepub.com
@ElisabethAnn and/or #RefTalk