Notices of interest are included in the University's monthly Focus and, occasionally, articles and paid advertisements appear in the student-managed Pine Log . The desk is primarily staffed by professional librarians, who may be assisted by reference assistants and selected students employed and trained by the reference department. Informational questions are answered as needed. Consistent with national trends, the Reference Department's annual report for FY98 indicated a drop in the total number of inquiries at the desk, from 46,356 in FY96 to 36,735 in FY98. However, it appears to be at least partially due to the fact that there is an increase in extended transactions, normally counted when reference desk staff assist a user with a reference question or provide instruction for over 5 minutes.
Priorities are on in-person assistance, with instruction and increased library literacy as the goal.
Reference librarians and reference staff employ a variety of print and computer-based resources to fill information requests. Reference online searching policies govern the use of librarian assisted online searching for answering reference queries and for conducting in-depth research by appointment. Prior to the academic year 1999-2000, Ralph W. Steen Library was open 98.5 hours per week. Beginning with the academic year 1999-2000, Ralph W. Steen Library is open 106 hours per week. Reference desk services are available 85 hours per week.