ABSTRACT
Research on reference service is still in the beginning stage. Librarians must select appropriate methodologies and carefully analyze the data collected in order to evaluate and improve reference service. Good measures are valid, reliable, practical and useful; standards must also be carefully chosen because so much assessment of effectiveness depends upon subjective values. Data collection strategies include quantitative measures derived from the experimental sciences and qualitative measures derived from the social sciences, including familiar methods such as surveys, questionnaires, interviews and case studies. These measures are discussed in terms of their appropriateness for reference service evaluation with citations to published studies.
