pathfinder (library science)

Pathfinders are intended to be a launch point for research on a particular topic, via the collection of select materials available in a particular institution on that topic. However they are not generally an exhaustive collection of all of the materials on a given topic- they are designed for beginners in research to find the fundamental information they need to get started.{{cite journal |last1=Stevens |first1=Charles H. |last2=Canfield |first2=Marie P. |last3=Gardner |first3=Jeffrey J. |title=Library Pathfinders: a New Possibility for Cooperative Reference Service |journal=College & Research Libraries |date=1 January 1973 |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=40–46 |doi=10.5860/crl_34_01_40|doi-access=free |hdl=2142/38905 |hdl-access=free }} In addition to this basic concept, many research guides include other complex goals, such as "teaching how to complete a given task, providing access to tools for actually doing it, promoting collections and services, educating users about the research process, and providing disciplinary context for in-depth research needs".{{cite journal|last1=Sinkinson|first1=Caroline|last2=Alexander|first2=Stephanie|last3=Hicks|first3=Alison|last4=Kahn|first4=Meredith|title=Guiding Design: Exposing Librarian and Student Mental Models of Research Guides|journal=Portal: Libraries and the Academy|date=2012|volume=12|issue=1|pages=63–84|doi=10.1353/pla.2012.0008|url=http://eprints.rclis.org/19291/1/12.1.sinkinson.pdf|hdl=2027.42/89875|s2cid=62732271 |hdl-access=free}} Pathfinders also help to teach essential information and technology skills, and promote books and reading.Kuntz, K. (2003) Pathfinders: Helping Students Find Paths to Information. Multimedia & Internet Schools. Vol 10(3) http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/may03/kuntz.shtml They are broader in scope than subject headings, and have been chosen from university course descriptions, thesis titles, and from term paper titles.{{cite journal|last1=Harbeson|first1=Eloise L.|title=Teaching Reference and Bibliography: The Pathfinder Approach|journal=Journal of Education for Librarianship|date=1972|volume=13|issue=2|pages=111–115|doi=10.2307/40322211|jstor=40322211}} Breaking down the topic the pathfinder is about is recommended to reduce the cognitive load for users.{{cite journal |last1=Little |first1=Jennifer J. |title=Cognitive Load Theory and Library Research Guides |journal=Internet Reference Services Quarterly |date=26 February 2010 |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=53–63 |doi=10.1080/10875300903530199|s2cid=62177231 |hdl=20.500.12648/2563 |hdl-access=free }} For public libraries, it has been suggested to use surveys, past experience and hot topics from local media to find topics for pathfinders.Wang, H. and Hubbard, W.J. (2004), “Integrating electronic pathfinders in digital libraries: a model for China”, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, No. 3334, pp. 618-25. as cited in {{cite journal|last1=Vileno|first1=Luigina|title=From paper to electronic, the evolution of pathfinders: a review of the literature|journal=Reference Services Review|date=7 August 2007|volume=35|issue=3|pages=434–451|doi=10.1108/00907320710774300|citeseerx=10.1.1.476.1509}} It has been argued to expand the purpose of a research guide from being a list of resources to also incorporating instruction on information literacy, both in 1984{{cite journal|last1=Jackson|first1=William J.|title=The user-friendly library guide|journal=College & Research Libraries News|date=1984|volume=45 |issue=9 |pages=468–71|url=https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/view/18579/21131|doi=10.5860/crln.45.9.468|doi-access=free}} and 2014.{{cite journal|last1=Pendell|first1=Kimberly|last2=Armstrong|first2=Annie|title=Psychology guides and information literacy|journal=Reference Services Review|date=3 June 2014|volume=42|issue=2|pages=293–304|doi=10.1108/RSR-10-2013-0052}}

MIT pathfinders in the 1970s had the following format:

• Scope - a definition of the subject covered by the pathfinder.WARNER, AS 1983, 'Pathfinders: a way to boost your information handouts beyond booklists and bibliographies', American Libraries, 14, pp. 150-151, Library Literature & Information Science Retrospective: 1905-1983 (H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost, viewed 27 November 2015.
• An introduction to this is in... - typically an encyclopedia or specialised dictionary.
• Books - alerting readers to relevant subject terms.
• Reference Works - citations for specific books.
• Bibliographies - lists of sources which are too long to include in the pathfinder.
• Journal Articles - referring readers to indexes.
• Journals - referring readers to journals and magazines to browse that might have some information.
• Reviews, government sources, etc. - other sources as appropriate.

Although the format varied, it emphasised subjects that were broad in scope and providing many different types of sources to the reader. In contrast, some academic libraries created specific pathfinders that functioned as a partial bibliography.{{cite journal|last1=Nuttall|first1=Harry D.|last2=McAbee|first2=Sonja L.|title=Pathfinders On-Line|journal=College & Undergraduate Libraries|date=19 April 1997|volume=4|issue=1|pages=77–96|doi=10.1300/J106v04n01_10}} Jackson rejected the bibliographic format in 1984, arguing that search strategies should be taught in a pathfinder. In 2012, a study on mental models of research guides showed that students preferred guides which were format-agnostic rather than grouped by format type. In 1995, Jim Kapoun argued that key features of good pathfinders were "compactness and basic informational resources".{{cite journal|last1=Kapoun|first1=Jim M.|title=Re-Thinking the Library Pathfinder|journal=College & Undergraduate Libraries|date=21 April 1995|volume=2|issue=1|pages=93–105|doi=10.1300/J106v02n01_10}} Browser extensions like alternative search plugins have been added to subject guides.{{cite journal |last1=De Sarkar |first1=Tanmay |title=Access, organize and communicate: the strategic use of browser plugins in libraries |journal=Library Hi Tech News |date=3 June 2022 |volume=39 |issue=7 |pages=19–23 |doi=10.1108/LHTN-04-2022-0049|s2cid=249295110 }}

Booklists have been produced by libraries since at least the 1950s. Patricia Knapp, in the 1960s, integrated librarianship with academic instruction,{{cite journal|last1=Hemmig|first1=William|title=Online pathfinders|journal=Reference Services Review|date=March 2005|volume=33|issue=1|pages=66–87|doi=10.1108/00907320510581397}} but the term pathfinder was coined in 1972 by Marie Canfield.{{cite journal|last1=Vileno|first1=Luigina|title=From paper to electronic, the evolution of pathfinders: a review of the literature|journal=Reference Services Review|date=7 August 2007|volume=35|issue=3|pages=434–451|doi=10.1108/00907320710774300|citeseerx=10.1.1.476.1509}} From approximately 1973-1975, the Model Library Program sold pathfinders among libraries, but there was not enough interest to continue selling pathfinders, as most libraries preferred to create their own. However, this was an expensive proposition, as collection-tailored pathfinders took about 8{{cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=Glenn J. |last2=Stevens |first2=Barbara R. |title=Library science students develop pathfinders |journal=College & Research Libraries News |date=1 May 1985 |volume=46 |issue=5 |pages=224–225 |doi=10.5860/crln.46.5.224|doi-access=free }} - 20 hours of librarians' time as of the 1980s.{{cite journal |last1=Koskiala |first1=Sinikka |title=Library Pathfinders Come Alive |journal=Journal of Education for Librarianship |date=1981 |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=345–349 |doi=10.2307/40322698 |jstor=40322698 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40322698 |issn=0022-0604|url-access=subscription }}

From the mid-1990s, as the Internet became more popular, libraries began including web resources in their pathfinders and putting the pathfinders on their websites.{{cite journal|last1=Prentice|first1=Katherine A.|last2=Gaines|first2=Julie K.|last3=Levy|first3=Linda S.|title=New "Starting Points" for Resources by Subject|journal=Medical Reference Services Quarterly|date=28 January 2009|volume=28|issue=1|pages=88–97|doi=10.1080/02763860802616110|pmid=19197747|s2cid=23965221 }} This was not true for hospital libraries, as the technical complexity of the web and centralised control of hospital websites made it difficult for librarians to make web-based pathfinders.{{cite journal |last1=Oelschlegel |first1=Sandy |last2=Luhrs |first2=Jennifer |last3=Lindsay |first3=J. Michael |title=Transitioning Technologies: Pathfinders of the Future |journal=Journal of Consumer Health on the Internet |date=2 January 2017 |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.1080/15398285.2017.1279920|s2cid=78471807 }} Webliographies became popular, lists of web links that were curated by librarians on a topic. These differed from pathfinders because they did not focus on the library's collection.{{cite journal|last=Morris|first=Sara|author2=Bosque, Darcy Del|title=Forgotten Resources: Subject Guides in the era of Web 2.0|journal=Technical Services Quarterly|date=15 March 2010|volume=27|issue=2|pages=178–193|doi=10.1080/07317130903547592|s2cid=62555954 }} As library services became increasingly accessible online, options for creating online pathfinders expanded, including webpages, [http://springshare.com/libguides/ LibGuides], and open-source content management systems.{{cite book|editor1=Aaron W. Dobbs |editor2=Ryan L. Sittler |editor3=Douglas Cook |title=Using LibGuides to Enhance Library Services : A LITA Guide|date=2013|publisher=American Library Association|location=Chicago, [IL]|isbn=9781555708801|pages=3–4}} LibGuides was "ubiqutious" as of 2019, thought to be due to its ease of use.{{cite journal |last1=Del Bosque |first1=Darcy |last2=Morris |first2=Sara E. |title=LibGuide Standards: Loose Regulations and Lax Enforcement |journal=The Reference Librarian |date=2 January 2021 |volume=62 |issue=1 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.1080/02763877.2020.1862022|s2cid=233464244 }}

Library clients can use pathfinders at their own pace, and may find them "more approachable" than a reference desk. Electronic pathfinders on a library website can be used 24 hours a day.

In higher education, embedding library subject guides into a learning management system has been shown to increase use of library resources among students.{{cite journal|last1=Bowen|first1=Aaron|title=A LibGuides presence in a Blackboard environment|journal=Reference Services Review|date=10 August 2012|volume=40|issue=3|pages=449–468|doi=10.1108/00907321211254698}} Pathfinders are often introduced to students as part of a one-shot library orientation session.{{cite journal |last1=Mahaffy |first1=Mardi |title=Student Use of Library Research Guides Following Library Instruction |journal=Communications in Information Literacy|date=2013 |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=202–213 |doi=10.15760/comminfolit.2013.6.2.129|doi-access=free }} A 2011 study found that students often do not use library guides simply by not knowing they exist, or preferring to use a search engine or a trusted bibliographic database instead. This study found that students would use the subject guides if they didn't know where to begin, or if they were navigating a new discipline or if their lecturer told them to.{{cite journal|last1=Ouellette|first1=Dana|title=Subject Guides in Academic Libraries: A User-Centred Study of Uses and Perceptions/Les guides par sujets dans les bibliothèques académiques : une étude des utilisations et des perceptions centrée sur l'utilisateur|journal=Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science|date=2011|volume=35|issue=4|pages=436–451|doi=10.1353/ils.2011.0024|s2cid=58107235 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/456406 |doi-access=free}} While the stated audience for pathfinders are library clients, Jackson and Pellack reported that reference librarians regarded them as a useful tool for training and for librarians at the front desk.{{cite journal|last1=Jackson|first1=Rebecca|last2=Pellack|first2=Lorraine J.|title=Internet Subject Guides in Academic Libraries: An Analysis of Contents, Practices, and Opinions|journal=Reference & User Services Quarterly|date=Summer 2004|volume=43|issue=4|pages=319–327|jstor=20864244}} as cited in {{cite journal|last1=Vileno|first1=Luigina|title=From paper to electronic, the evolution of pathfinders: a review of the literature|journal=Reference Services Review|date=7 August 2007|volume=35|issue=3|pages=434–451|doi=10.1108/00907320710774300|citeseerx=10.1.1.476.1509}} It has been proposed that creating and maintaining library guides may be considered a professional development activity for librarians,{{cite journal|last1=Bagshaw|first1=Anna|last2=Yorke-Barber|first2=Phil|title=Guiding Librarians: Rethinking Library Guides as a Staff Development Tool|journal=Journal of the Australian Library and Information Association|volume=67|date=3 December 2017|pages=31–41|doi=10.1080/24750158.2017.1410629|s2cid=169011130 }} and their creation has been used as an assessment in library studies education programs.

It has been argued that pathfinders do not take a user-centred approach. Inconsistent formatting and overly-complex language have also been pointed to as being key points to watch out for.{{cite journal |last1=Dahl |first1=Candice |title=Electronic Pathfinders in Academic Libraries: An Analysis of Their Content and Form |journal=College & Research Libraries |date=1 May 2001 |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=227–237 |doi=10.5860/crl.62.3.227|doi-access=free }} Some students become frustrated with dead links on subject guides, or the omission of resources that they consider essential. Maintaining and updating pathfinders is considered problematic. The use of Web 2.0 tools such as wikis and blogs are considered to be helpful in enabling smaller libraries to quickly update their pathfinders. Additionally, automatically checking web links to see if they are still working may be useful.{{cite journal|last1=Courtois|first1=Martin P.|last2=Higgins|first2=Martha E.|last3=Kapur|first3=Aditya|title=Was this guide helpful? Users' perceptions of subject guides|journal=Reference Services Review|date=June 2005|volume=33|issue=2|pages=188–196|doi=10.1108/00907320510597381}} Individual librarians may consider themselves to "own" particular subject guides, rather than seeing a subject guide as one part of the institution's suite of subject guides.{{cite journal |last1=Gardner |first1=Sarah |last2=Ostermiller |first2=Hillary |last3=Price |first3=Elizabeth |last4=Vess |first4=David |last5=Young |first5=Alyssa |title=Recommendations Without Results: What We Learned About Our Organization Through Subject Guide Usability Studies |journal=Virginia Libraries |date=10 November 2021 |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=6 |doi=10.21061/valib.v65i1.624|s2cid=243997222 |doi-access=free }} It has also been said that librarians take a compilatory rather than a research attitude to creating a pathfinder.{{cite journal|last1=Hjørland|first1=Birger|title=Domain analysis in information science|journal=Journal of Documentation|date=August 2002|volume=58|issue=4|pages=422–462|doi=10.1108/00220410210431136}} as cited in {{cite journal|last1=Vileno|first1=Luigina|title=From paper to electronic, the evolution of pathfinders: a review of the literature|journal=Reference Services Review|date=7 August 2007|volume=35|issue=3|pages=434–451|doi=10.1108/00907320710774300|citeseerx=10.1.1.476.1509}} Little study has been done on how well a pathfinder covers its subject matter. A study found that pathfinders did not show the multi-disciplinary nature of literary studies well.Neilson, J. (2004), “Electronic subject guides in literary studies: a qualitative content analysis”, unpublished Master of Science in Information Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, available at: https://ils.unc.edu/MSpapers/2996.pdf as cited in {{cite journal|last1=Vileno|first1=Luigina|title=From paper to electronic, the evolution of pathfinders: a review of the literature|journal=Reference Services Review|date=7 August 2007|volume=35|issue=3|pages=434–451|doi=10.1108/00907320710774300|citeseerx=10.1.1.476.1509}} Jackson and Pellack examined similar subject guides at different institutions to find out about duplication of effort in pathfinders. They found that there was little overlap between subject guides at different institutions, and that some websites used were of questionable quality. Furthermore, they found that libraries did not typically delete outdated pathfinders, because "something was better than nothing". When academic libraries' subject guides are reviewed, they are mainly reviewed by the original authors.{{cite journal |last1=Logan |first1=Judith |last2=Spence |first2=Michelle |title=Content strategy in LibGuides: An exploratory study |journal=The Journal of Academic Librarianship |date=January 2021 |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=102282 |doi=10.1016/j.acalib.2020.102282|s2cid=228919300 }} When pathfinders at the course level are created, it may cause confusion to the students if the teacher also creates their own resources list, or faculty may regard the librarian as overstepping their role.{{cite journal|last1=Brazzeal|first1=Bradley|title=Research guides as library instruction tools|journal=Reference Services Review|date=July 2006|volume=34|issue=3|pages=358–367|doi=10.1108/00907320610685319}} It has been recommended to involve faculty in the creation and promotion of library subject guides.{{cite journal |last1=Khailova |first1=Ladislava |title=Developing and incorporating impactful library research guides for online and hybrid learners |journal=Creating Inclusive and Engaging Online Courses |date=17 May 2022 |pages=103–119 |doi=10.4337/9781800888883.00019|isbn=9781800888883 }} While the literature on pathfinders regularly discusses pathfinders' potential as a pedagogical tool, often the focus of the literature is shifted to merely optimising the form of the pathfinder.{{cite journal |last1=Paschke-Wood |first1=Jeremiah |last2=Dubinsky |first2=Ellen |last3=Sult |first3=Leslie |title=Creating a Student-Centered Alternative to Research Guides: Developing the Infrastructure to Support Novice Learners |journal=In the Library with the Lead Pipe |date=21 October 2020 |url=https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2020/student-centered-alternative-research-guides/}}

• Distance education
• Guide to information sources
• Library instruction
• Metabibliography
• Study guide

{{reflist}}

• {{cite journal |last1=Canfield |first1=Marie P.|title=Library pathfinders |journal=Drexel Library Quarterly |date=1972 |volume=8 |pages=287–300}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Mason |first1=Elisa |title=Using a wiki to publish a research guide |journal=Library Hi Tech News |date=24 October 2008 |volume=25 |issue=9 |pages=17–21 |doi=10.1108/07419050810946213 |s2cid=62540764 |url=http://eprints.rclis.org/13785/1/Using_a_Wiki_to_Publish_a_Research_Guide-1.pdf}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Sugarman |first1=Tammy S. |last2=Demetracopoulos |first2=Constance |title=Creating a Web research guide: collaboration between liaisons, faculty and students |journal=Reference Services Review |date=June 2001 |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=150–157 |doi=10.1108/00907320110394218 |url=https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/univ_lib_facpub/37|url-access=subscription }}
• {{cite journal |last1=Lee Eden |first1=Bradford |author1-link=Bradford Lee Eden |last2=Goans|first2=Doug |last3=Leach|first3=Guy |last4=Vogel |first4=Teri M. |title=Beyond HTML: Developing and re‐imagining library web guides in a content management system|journal=Library Hi Tech |date=January 2006 |volume=24|issue=1|pages=29–53|doi=10.1108/07378830610652095}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Ghaphery |first1=Jimmy|last2=White|first2=Erin|title=Library Use of Web-based Research Guides|journal=Information Technology and Libraries |date=3 March 2012|volume=31|issue=1|pages=21|doi=10.6017/ital.v31i1.1830|doi-access=free}}

Category:Bibliography

Category:Library resources