The role of Multimedia in Effective Reference Services Delivery in University Libraries

Abstract

The paper looked at the university as a place established for the purposes of teaching, learning, research and community services, and the university library as the principal instrument of the university in the conservation of recorded knowledge. The paper emphasized that the section of the library that gives direct personal assistance to users in their quest for information is the reference section. Reference services are direct personal assistances to users in their quest for information that will lead them to knowledge. Provision of reference services must be done effective for maximum user satisfaction in the university libraries. The paper then reiterated that effective reference services in the university libraries can only be achieved with the integration of multimedia technology into reference services delivery. This is because multimedia combines data carriers, for example video, CD-ROM, floppy disks, Internet and software in which the possibility for an interactive approach is offered the Interactive component of the multimedia in reference services delivery, enables the end users of the application to control the content and flow of information. The paper then looked as ICT and how it has facilitated effective and satisfactory reference services delivery and lauded the multimedia technology for making it possible.