Thomas Allen Childers

(1940-) was born on July 2, 1940 in Chillicothe, Ohio. He was a founding pioneer in using the "unobtrusive method" of survey to assess quality in reference service. Most famously, his findings that only 55 percent of reference transactions resulted in a correct answer had a profound effect on the reference library community. His unobtrusive method has become the standard for subsequent research into reference quality.

Educational and Professional Background

Dr. Childers graduated magna cum laude from University of Maryland in 1962 in English. He attained his Masters of Library Science in 1963, then a PhD. in 1970, from Rutgers University . He is currently Professor Emeritus at the College of Information Science and Technology at Drexel University. Childers was recognized with the Isadore Gilbert Mudge Citation in 1985 (American Library Association, 2006). View his faculty page here

Contributions to Reference

Childers published his work Information Service in Public Libraries: Two Studies (1971) with Terence Crowley. He was interested in the question, “Are there correlations between and among the statistics about library operations collected by the New Jersey State Library and the apparent 'quality' of replies to reference questions?” (Crowley & Childers, 1971, p. vi). The study consisted of a preset list of short-answer reference questions, with the answers as objective in nature, to be asked by telephone. It aimed to be as unobtrusive as possible, meaning that the subjects did not know they were participating in a study and the conductors were alert for any signs of a reactive situation. The statistics collected from the survey were then compared to published state statistics. Childers' method has been frequently copied due to its scientific nature and because it can be easily replicated. In 1987, Childers contributed to an article published in the Journal of Academic Librarianship arguing that his original study was limited in nature in order to produce quantitative results. In no way, he stated, was the "55 percent" a measure of overall reference correctness; rather, "To say that reference performance is generally half-right or half-wrong is an assertion without empirical foundation. The field knows something about a limited aspect of reference service." (Hernon et al, 1987, p. 74). This is due to the fact that reference questions are more often in-depth subject questions that Childers did not attempt to measure.

Childers' wrote the 1984 book Information & Referral: Public Libraries, which investigated the phenomena of the library as an I&R service point. After his work The Public Library Effectiveness Study: The Complete Report in 1993 with Nancy A. Van House, Childers returned to quality in reference with Reference Performance in California Public Libraries, 1996-1997. Through the use of user and library staffer surveys, Childers concluded that libraries overall were successful in reference service. The user satisfaction rate was 81 percent, and dissatisfaction was normally attributed to lack of locally held materials rather than the performance of the staffer.

Recently, Childers has been involved in the unification of San Jose State University's library and the San Jose Public Library. The two pooled resources to build a new cutting edge facility, but encountered difficulties determining whether to have one or two reference desks. Based upon Childers' surveys, it was decided that a merged reference desk was better than separate "public" and "academic" desks. The San Jose experiment demonstrates the changing role of the reference desk in the coming years (Conaway, 2000).

See also

• Effectiveness

• Nancy Van House

• Obtrusive Studies

• Quality

• Terence Crowley

• Unobtrusive Studies

Reference List

American Library Association. (2006). Isadore Gilbert Mudge–R. R. Bowker Award. Retrieved November 21, 2006, from http://www.ala.org/Template.cfm?Section=sherajesseh&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=98155

Childers, T. (1984). Information & Referral: Public Libraries. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.

Childers, T. (1997). Reference Performance in California Public Libraries, 1996-1997. Philadelphia: Drexel University, College of Information Science and Technology.

Conaway, P. (2000). One reference service for everyone? Library Journal, 125(12), 42-44

Crowley, T., & Childers, T. (1971). Information Service in Public Libraries: Two Studies. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, Inc.

Hernon, P., McClure, C. R., Childers, T., Shapiro, B. J., Daniel, E. H., & Webster, D. E. (1987). Library reference service: an unrecognized crisis-a symposium. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 13(2), 69-80.

Van House, N., & Childers, T. (1993) The Public Library Effectiveness Study: The Complete Report. Chicago: American Library Association.

Works Consulted

Ash, L. (Ed.). (1970). A Biographical directory of librarians in the United States and Canada (5th ed.). Chicago: American Library Association.

Childers, T., & Van House, N. (1993). What's Good? Describing Your Public Library's Effectiveness. Chicago: American Library Association.

Directory of library & information professionals (Vol. 1). (1988). Woodbridge, CT: Research Publications.

Duckett, B. (2004). From reference library to information service: services in danger. Library Review, 53(6), 301-308.

Lee, J. (Ed.). (1982). Who’s who in library and information services. Chicago: American Library Association.

Meserve, H. (2006). Evolving Reference, Changing Culture: The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library and Reference Challenges Ahead. The Reference Librarian, 93, 23-42.

Olszak, L. (1991). Mistakes and failures at the reference desk. Reference Quarterly, 31(1), 39. Retrieved November 21, 2006, from Expanded Academic ASAP database.

The Virtual Reference Desk. (2003). 6.0 Module Profile: Evaluating Measuring Effectiveness and Efficiency of AskA Service. Retrieved November 21, 2006, from http://www.vrd.org/StarterKit/Mod6.pdf

Who’s who in the East (24th ed.). (1993/1994). Chicago: Marquis-Who’s Who.

Kelley P. Talevich