La calidad de la información telemáticaevaluación de servicios públicos de referencia digital

Abstract

The public digital reference services are the information services that offer to the citizens so that they ask questions on any topic and of any type and so that the questions are responded by specialized librarians, being used telematics systems in the whole communication process. The research begins with the study of the library reference services, establishing a theoretical framework, describing their methods and systematizing the types of demands of information, as well as the resources used to satisfy them. Likewise, delimiting the different manifestations of reference digital, designation used for reference services provided by libraries across the Internet. The quality of the information that offers on-line it is the axis of this doctoral thesis, where norms and methods used to evaluate the in presence and digital reference are studied. Also, we propose a model for the assessment of public services of digital reference, as they require specific procedures, because the libraries assisting users that are not registered and provide the service openly. We offer the results of the evaluation carried out to Pregunte: las bibliotecas responden (Ask: the libraries respond), the Spanish public digital reference service, which the proposed evaluation methods have been applied, examining the service and the quality of the information provided. The thesis is structured in four parts, more an introduction and annexes. The introduction shows the methodology and presents the state of the art of the digital reference. The introduction analyzes the bibliographical production on this topic, the main resources of information are commented and an bibliometric analysis on research in reference services is made, with particular emphasis on digital reference. In the first part the thesis offers the theoretical framework of the reference services, those traditionally provide the libraries to resolve the queries of the users. The first part includes a model of systematizing the information resources called Functional-formal Classification. The second part studies the digital reference, establishing definitions, introducing possibilities and exposing models employees in libraries around the world. Also, the concept of public digital reference services is described, analyzing the existent ones in the international environment. We propose a specific methodology for the evaluation of public digital reference services. The third part is the evaluation of Pregunte: las bibliotecas responden (Ask: the libraries respond), the model of the public digital reference service provided by Spanish public libraries. At the end of this part the conclusions of the study are developed. The fourth part corresponds to the specific resources of information that are presented in diverse categories. The annexes include the materials used for the qualitative assessment that was presented at the third party. This doctoral thesis is an investigation that studies step to step the digital reference services.