Folkbibliotekariers användning av sökverktyg på webben i referenstjänst

The web is a constantly growing medium that presumably plays an increasing role in public library reference services. In order to provide high quality reference service the librarians need to be able to master this medium. Therefore it is interesting to get an understanding of how librarians actually use the web. The aim of this Master s thesis is to investigate what web search tools are used by public librarians in reference service. Furthermore, the aim is to get an understanding of how the librarians think about those tools and what background factors influence their selection of tools. The first part of this thesis includes a survey of the literature on library reference service. The second, and main, part is an account of a questionnaire survey and its results. The questionnaire was sent to all public librarians working in reference service in the region of Scania, Sweden. The response rate was 52%. The results indicate that the librarians generally use a wide range of web search tools. However, there is little variation within each type of search tool. For example, Google is the widely preferred search engine and Artikelsök the number one database. The majority state practical reasons for their choice of a particular tool, although there are also some that give theoretical reasons. Background factors that seem to have an impact on how the librarians use the web are: professional experience, number of hours at the reference desk, courses on web seeking, and knowledge of the invisible web. These factors influence the extent to which the librarians use web resources that offer a degree of quality control