ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


83

B ibliographic Instruction

R eference A ssistance P roject 
at the U niversity o f W isconsin-P arkside

The B eference Assistance Project (BAP) is a 
program for minority students recently developed 
by the Library/Learning C en ter at the University 
of Wisconsin-Parkside. Its im m ediate purpose is 
to improve the success rate of minority students 
in satisfying the library com ponent of the univer­
sity’s Collegiate Skills Program. Its ultim ate p u r­
pose is to increase the retention rate of minority 
students at the university.

E n r o llm e n t fig u res a t th e  U n iv e rs ity  of 
W isconsin-Parkside in recen t years had led the 
university administration to establish the goal of 
increasing the retention rates of minority students 
as a high university-wide priority. In the fall of 
1980, th e  r e f e r e n c e  sta ff of th e  u n iv e r s ity ’s 
Library/Learning C en ter observed that minority 
students, in general, did not seem  to make use of 
reference services to the extent that could be ex­
pected, even given th eir low enrollm ent figures. 
T his o b s e rv a tio n  le d  th e  L /L C  sta ff to ask 
w hether its basic library instruction program was 
m eeting the needs of minority students. The in­
struction program requires all entering students 
to com plete a self-paced workbook based on the 
Miriam D udley UCLA m odel and to pass a li­
brary skills com petency exam by the m iddle of 
th e  sophom ore year. Research  su g g ested  th at 
m inority students, in general, were not com plet­
ing th e workbook and passing th e com petency 
test within the normal tim e frame.

Given the inhibitions that patrons typically feel 
in asking for help, the reference staff theorized 
that minority students m ight be particularly in­
h ib ite d  sin c e  th e  r e f e re n c e  desk was staffed 
primarily by non-minority librarians. It was also 
suggested that, since relatively few minority stu­
d e n ts  h a d  c o m p le te d  th e  p ro g ra m , e n te r in g  
minority students lacked strong role models.

A plan was developed which called for the re ­
cruitm ent of minority students who had satisfied 
th eir collegiate skills library requirem ent and who 
could assist other students still completing their 
basic skills workbook. Librarians hoped that stu­
dents would be less reluctant to approach their 
peers for assistance and that, furtherm ore, these 
peers would serve as positive role models. It was 
envisioned that the student assistants would work 
closely with reference librarians at the reference 
desk. A $500 grant was secured from a faculty 
developm ent program on campus, the C en ter for 
Teaching Excellence, to im plem ent a pilot proj­
ect. This project was called the Reference Assist­
ance Project, or BAP.

Minority students who had satisfied their col­
legiate skills com petency req u irem ent were iden­
tified, several w ere in te rv ie w e d  and two w ere 
hired to start in January, 1981. The grant allowed 
the Library/Learning C en ter to hire them  for 12 
hours/week for approximately eight weeks.

The first week was devoted to training. This 
consisted of reviewing the basic skills workbook, 
completing a short program m ed instruction unit 
on a few ready reference sources, and participat­
ing in a role-playing session designed to prepare 
them  for situations commonly encountered at the 
reference desk. In addition, th e stu d en ts w ere 
given instruction in handling directional questions 
and in taking messages for librarians. A special ef­
fort was made to teach the students to distinguish 
betw een reference questions requiring a librar­
ia n ’s k n o w le d g e  of so u rc e s a n d  in te rv ie w in g  
skills, and w orkbook q u estio n s, for w hich th e  
BAP students were primarily responsible.

The rem aining seven weeks of the project were 
scheduled to coincide with the period when the 
basic skills workbook w ould be in tro d u c e d  in 
classes. To help integrate the BAP students into 
the reference process and make them  feel a part 
of the “tea m ,” the students w ere given a desk 
close to the reference desk with a sign proclaim­
in g , “ Basic Skills W o rk b o o k  H e lp  A v ailab le 
H e re .’’ Name tags identified them  as student ref­
erence assistants. They were urged to be aggres­
sive in seeking out students who seem ed to need 
assistance, rath er than m erely waiting to be ap­
proached.

The BAP stu d en ts’ close proximity to librarians 
on reference duty made it possible to refer pa­
trons from one desk to the other and enabled li­
brarians to m onitor th e BAP students’ perform ­
ance w ithout being obvious. Any problems were 
discussed at th e  desk and suggestions for im ­
p ro v e m e n t w ere m ade on th e  spot. M eetings 
were held with the students each week to iden­
tify and resolve any further difficulties. Although 
th e referen ce assistants’ prim ary responsibility 
was to handle workbook questions, they w ere en ­
couraged to observe when librarians were helping 
patrons with other questions which m ight be of 
interest to them .

At the end of the seventh week, the program 
was evaluated. The BAP students had kept statis­
tics to show the num ber of contacts they had had 
with patrons; these figures indicated that patrons 
welcomed the program, since the total num ber of 
contacts at the reference desk with all those completing



84

 th e  w orkbook in creased  by m ore th an  
50% from the previous year. Subjective p ercep ­
tions of the program were solicited from partici­
pants. The reference assistants had kept a diary 
to record their thoughts on the program, and e n ­
tries m ade indicated both th e ir increased con­
fidence in using the Library/Learning C en ter and 
a growing interest in other facets of the library 
instruction program. They also reflected the seri­
ousness with which the students approached the 
Reference Assistance Project.

Especially gratifying were indications that the 
RAP students believed the program had contrib­
u ted to their personal growth. Reference librar­
ian s w e re  u n ifo rm ly  im p re s s e d  w ith  th e  e n ­
thusiasm and business-like approach of the RAP 
stu d e n ts. T hey also felt th a t th e  program  im ­
proved the L /L C ’s ability to reach students n eed ­
ing help in com pleting the workbook. Although 
RAP was in te n d e d  to h e lp  m in o rity  stu d e n ts  
specifically, th e reference assistants and librarians 
agreed that all students had probably benefited. 
F u rth er study is planned to establish and use ob­
jective criteria to determ ine w hether the Refer­
ence Assistance Project is actually an effective 
m ethod of helping minority students to complete 
their library com petency requirem ent.

A side benefit of using students as assistants 
was the fresh perspective they brought as they 
m oved from receiving to providing instruction. 
The RAP assistants w ere able to point out several

places in the workbook which confused students 
and which w ere changed when it was updated. 
They also suggested initiating tutoring sessions to 
help students prepare for the library skills com­
petency exam, an idea which was im plem ented 
the following year.

Because the Library/Learning C en ter felt that 
th e R eference Assistance P roject had excellent 
potential, it was extended through the end of the 
school year with L /L C  funds. As th e sem ester 
progressed and workbook questions decreased, 
the RAP students handled more directional and 
informational questions, such as assisting patrons 
in using microform m achines and finding p e ri­
odicals on the shelves. They also worked on vari­
ous projects utilizing th eir increased bibliographic 
skills, including assisting librarians in testing ma­
terials developed for advanced levels of library 
instruction.

The U niversity, recognizing th e p o ten tia l of 
RAP to help realize the goal of improving m inor­
ity students’ effectiveness in the academic setting, 
provided funding the following year to continue 
th e  p r o je c t in d e f in ite ly .— L in d a  J. Piele a n d  
Brian Yamel.

Editor’s Note: Linda J. Piele is head o f  the Public 
Services Division, and Brian Yamel is reference/ 
in stru c tio n  lib ra ria n  at the L ib r a r y  /Learning  
C e n te r , U n iv e r s ity  o f  W is c o n s in - P a r k s id e , 
Kenosha. ■■

Highlights of the Midwinter Meetings 
of the ACRL Board of Directors

The Board of D irectors of th e Association of 
College and Research Libraries m et twice during 
the ALA M idw inter Meeting: on Sunday, January 
24, 1982, and Tuesday, January 26, 1982.

Activity Model for 1990
David Kaser, chair of the Activity Model for 

1990 C om m ittee, rep o rte d  to the board on the 
d e v elo p m en t of a s ta te m e n t o u tlin in g  A C RL’s 
mission, goals and objectives, and on a model d e ­
scribing the activities of ACRL in the 1990s. He 
noted that the purpose of the model was to pro­
vide a framework for the activities of ACRL as a 
w hole, ra th e r than lim it th e activities of in d i­
vidual ACRL units. The final draft of the activity 
m odel will a p p ea r in th e  May issue of C & RL 
N ew s an d  will b e p r e s e n te d  to th e  b o a rd  in 
Philadelphia for action.

Bibliographic Instruction
Carla Stoffle p resen ted  to the board a proposal 

for cosponsorship of a National Bibliographic In ­
struction L eadership Conference with th e University

 of Wisconsin-Parkside. The board voted to 
lend advisory support to the conference and re ­
f e r r e d  th e  p ro p o sa l to th e  A C R L E x e c u tiv e  
C om m ittee for final action, p e n d in g  rev iew  of 
cosponsorship guidelines.

Chapters
The board approved the petition for the estab­

lishm ent of an Arizona Chapter.

Choice Editorship
T he bo ard  d e le g a te d  th e  approval of a new  

Choice editor to the ACRL Executive C om m it­
tee, in view of the short tim e frame in which a 
selection m ust be made.

Discussion Groups
The board voted to approve th e  creation of 

three new ACRL discussion groups: an English 
and Am erican L ite ratu re  Discussion G roup, an 
E x ten d ed  Cam pus Library Services Discussion 
Group, and a Public Relations in Academic and 
Research Libraries Discussion Group.

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