INFO 521 Chris Veneziale: IPL Project

INFO 521 Chris Veneziale: IPL Project Question (1): Entertainment: Factual Question Introduction: This question asked what the average cost would be for a 2011 MLB game in August. However, what the patron really wanted to know was the cost of the X-Box 360 game MLB 2K11. Unfortunately, he didn t specify that in the original query or let me know this until I put in the time researching and answering what the average cost would be to attend a Major League Baseball game in August 2011. Time: About 3.5 hours to answer both the wrong and right questions Sources Consulted and Strategies Used: Keyword Searching, Type of Literature Model, Web browsing. Initially, I went to MLB s official website and started looking up ticket prices for individual teams. However, I realized that approach would take me forever, and it did not include things such as parking, food and drink, or buying sports paraphernalia. It did give me a general idea of the price ranges I was looking at and I did use their site in my first answer. Then I searched Google, Yahoo, and the IPL site using keywords trying to find the average cost of attending a MLB game. I tried narrowing down my search by using the TOL model and looking to sports almanacs, catalogs, and magazines like ESPN and Sports Illustrated. I was still not having any luck and browsing all the search results was proving to be too time consuming. Finally I narrowed my search further by specifying I was looking for the costs to attend a game in 2011. That was when I had luck. One of the first links that resulted was to a sports marketing company that specifically focuses a large part their research on the costs of attending sporting events. I found a PDF that had the average costs to attend a MLB game, including tickets, parking, food, etc. and even included a breakdown of costs per team. They had done all the work that I was trying to accomplish, and I figured I wasn t going to find anything more definitive without doing possibly weeks of research on my own so I stopped my search and used their website as well as the official MLB site. My answer then was the following: The cost of the average ticket in 2011 is expected to be $26.91, and the average cost of a premium ticket is expected to be $85.16. These prices are only for individual tickets and do not include extras such as parking, food, beverages, sports memorabilia, etc. The average Fan Cost Index for a MLB game in 2011 is expected to be $197.35. The Fan Cost Index comprises the prices of four adult average-price tickets, two small draft beers, four small soft drinks, four regular-size hot dogs, parking for one car, two game programs and two least expensive, adult-size adjustable caps. It wasn t until after I posted my answer to what I thought the patron was asking for that I found out he really wanted the cost of an X-Box video game! That was a much easier and far less time consuming question to answer, especially since I ve done much online comparison shopping myself in the past. I went directly to Google Shopping and Nextag and found the costs for the X-

Box 360 game MLB 2K11 and reported the average cost range to the patron using those websites. The prices were similar on the other sites I checked (Yahoo Shopping, Amazon) so I only used the first two since I didn t see the need for supplying the patron with repetitive information. My answer was that the average cost of this game is expected to be $59.99, though it could be found for $48.50 and up to $88.99. (a) My level of satisfaction: Overall I was very satisfied with both of my answers, even if the first one was not what the patron really wanted! It was easy for me to know when I found exactly what I was searching for and although it took me a while to find what I thought the patron was asking for the first time, when I did locate it I knew I wouldn t find anything more conclusive. Finding what he did want was actually much easier and direct and had a definitive answer. (b) What I would have done differently: In hindsight, I would have asked the patron to specify his query before I put in all the effort to answer an entirely different question. This was my first attempt at answering a real/non-practice question, so it took me a long time to formulate the answer per the IPL guidelines, which did not help matters since I had to do it twice. Also, I would have narrowed down my search to the year 2011 when doing my initial search as that got me the desired results much quicker. At least these were lessons I learned early on in the project, and making these discoveries did help me to be more efficient going forward.

Question (2): Entertainment: Factual Question Introduction: This question asked when Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers would return to the major leagues from his recent injury. The patron specified he did not care to know when Hamilton would be playing in the minor leagues, only when he would be back playing with the Rangers. Time: Less than 2 hours Sources Consulted and Strategies Used: Keyword Searching, Type of Literature Model. This was probably the easiest question for me to answer as I knew exactly where to go for my research. I knew the Texas Rangers are based in Dallas, so I figured the first source to check would a Dallas newspaper. I went to Google and search for Dallas news and from there easily found the major paper for the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas. I searched for news stories on Josh Hamilton using the Dallas News and found a story containing his expected return to the Rangers, which was the week of May 23rd. I used this as one of my references. After that I performed similar searches for stories about Josh Hamilton on other sports websites such as ESPN, Yahoo Sports, MLB s website, Sports Illustrated, and Fox News. Sports Illustrated ended up being the only other source where I was able to find the same expected return date of May 23rd for Hamilton that was specified in the Dallas News. None of the other sites I consulted had a specific date listed and just said something to the effect that he was likely to return later in the month. As such, I used Sports Illustrated as another source to back up my initial source of information. (a) My level of satisfaction: I was very satisfied with my answer. It was easy for me to know when I found exactly what I was searching for and where to go to look. Since this was only my second question, again formatting the answer probably took me the longest amount of time here. (b) What I would have done differently: Nothing. I went to the source most likely to have the answer first and found what I wanted. From there I proceeded to other sports related news sites that were likely to have the information and was able to find the same answer in support of what I found during my initial search. It was efficient and the most logical way to approach the query.

Question (3): Entertainment: Factual Question Introduction: The patron asked where he could mail a letter to Nelson Cruz of the Texas Rangers. Time: 3 hours Sources Consulted and Strategies Used: Keyword Searching, Controlled Vocabulary, Type of Literature Model. Web browsing. Ostensibly this was an easy question in theory, but it did take a bit of searching before I was satisfied that I could not find a more specific answer. I ended up giving the patron the address for the Texas Rangers ballpark once I was sure I would not be able to get an address for Cruz specifically. Texas Rangers 1000 Ballpark Way Arlington, TX 76011 Phone: (817) 273-5222 Fax: (817) 273-5243 I did go to the Rangers official website first to get their addresses and I found it without much trouble and ended up using their information in my answer. I called the stadium and was told that employees are not authorized to give out players addresses or phone numbers. I then consulted the IPL site and its sections on baseball and softball, and finding people and getting addresses, however neither was useful for locating celebrities or athletes. I tried consulting online directories also to no avail. Finally I started using search engines to do some web browsing. Google ended up supplying me with a website that hosts addresses for celebrities, as well as a forum where anyone can go on and request information for a specific celebrity or athlete. On this website (fanmail.biz) I ended up finding the same address for the Rangers I got from the MLB site. I searched further to make sure there was nothing listed for Nelson Cruz and did not come up with anything for him other than the Rangers address. In my search of the celebrity site, I did come across a couple posts from people who claimed that they did send mail to baseball players at their respective ballparks (none of them the Rangers though), and that they got responses, autographs, etc. from the specific players that they were soliciting. Once I saw that, I was confident that if I gave the patron the Rangers ballpark address it would be sufficient. I used this information in my answer as well, and pointed the patron to the forum section in case he wanted to ask specifically for Cruz s address. (a) My level of satisfaction: I was generally satisfied with my answer, but I was hoping to find an address other than that of the Texas Rangers, which seemed the obvious choice. It was hard for me to stop searching for this question because I wanted to locate a different address. It wasn t until after more than a couple hours of looking that I gave up. Once I found the posts on the

fanmail.biz website where people said they had luck reaching the athletes they were looking for by reaching out to their organizations and head offices, I decided the address I found would be satisfactory, especially since I could point the patron toward a forum where he could ask himself if he wanted something further. The searching was what took me longest as by this point I was comfortable with putting together the proper IPL response. (b) What I would have done differently: I m not sure I would have done anything differently. I went to the places that were most likely to have the information I needed and did find a serviceable answer. I think the only other thing I could have done would be to try to get an answer on the telephone, but that would prove equally daunting and frustrating as I have no idea where in Texas Nelson Cruz lives, assuming he even lives there.

Question (4): Health: Reference Question Introduction: This question was in regard to finding information about the science behind weight training and muscle building. The patron claimed that many people try to give advice on types of exercises to perform to get bigger muscles, but wanted the science that supports proven techniques in weight training. He was also interested in the science of nutrition for muscle development. Time: Over 3 hours Sources Consulted and Strategies Used: Keyword Searching, Controlled Vocabulary, Type of Literature Model. Web browsing. This was another time consuming question that required a lot of searching since it was one that had no specific answer, but rather required pointing the patron in a few directions where he could go to find what he was looking for. I felt the first obvious place to look was the American College of Sports Medicine as they are the experts in this type of query. That was the first place I recommended. The only drawback is that they require a subscription to access a lot of their information, which I did qualify and point out. There is some useful content on there for non-members as well so I was okay with using it. Secondly, I recommended a book titled Science and Practice of Strength Training that I located on Amazon by doing a Google search for science weight training. It seemed to be the most relevant title in terms of the kind of questions the patron was asking. I also recommended that he look for it in his local libraries in the event that he did not want to buy it. While I felt these were good recommendations, I wanted to find something free online that might have what the patron needed. I started searching medical abstracts, magazines, websites, and articles, but I was having a very difficult time finding what I wanted. I tried using Pubmed.com, Scienceresearch.com, MedHunt, and Healthline figuring a scientific website would be my best source for information. However, the problem I was running into was that the thousands of results I found were extremely specific, and mostly about strength and muscle recovery or repair after injury or surgery. Any controlled or keyword searches I did regarding weightlifting training resulted in articles on weight loss and maintaining healthy weight, and searches using strength resulted in pieces that detailed how to strengthen muscles, but not in the way that the patron was asking about. When I tried to narrow my search by including terms like science behind it only made matters worse as so many articles had some mention of science in them. It was actually when I turned to Yahoo that I found the kind of article I wanted. I conducted a search for the science behind muscle growth and the seventh result was what I wanted. It was an article titled Muscle Growth: The Science Behind Why, And How, Does A Muscle Grow And Get Stronger? and it answered the patron s question exactly as I understood his query. The article was written by a doctor who is also a well-known figure in the weightlifting community, and it was detailed and described the science behind muscle growth. I thought this was a very good fit and used it as another recommendation in my answer. Finally, I advised the patron check out the International Society of Sports Nutrition, which I located doing a search for sports nutrition on Yahoo. Although the ISSN also has subscription-

based services, they have a library section with free access to their journal and articles. I looked into some of their articles and it seemed like the patron would be able to find some suitable references in his search for information on the nutrition needed for muscle development. I pointed the patron both to the ISSN website and the link to their journal in my answer. (a) My level of satisfaction: I was generally satisfied with my answer, but I imagine I could have found more if I could have figured out a more accurate search description, controlled vocabulary, or keywords. I feel that I was looking in the proper places, but just not getting the results I wanted. The results I was getting were either too many, too few, too specific, or didn t have the information I needed. If I had more time I may have been able to figure out a more effective way to search, but ultimately I think I delivered a satisfactory answer with some good places to start looking for the information requested. (b) What I would have done differently: Again, I m not sure I would have done anything differently other than try to figure out more accurate keywords or search descriptions. Had I known I would have been able to find a good article using Yahoo instead of the scientific sites I consulted, I could have saved myself some time there, but ultimately I went to the places that were most likely to have the information I needed and did find a serviceable answer. (Too bad the patron wasn t looking for information on how to rehabilitate muscles, since I found the most information on that subject!)

Question (5): Science: Factual Question Introduction: The question was whether or not cats could hear better than humans, and if so, by how much. Time: Just over an hour Sources Consulted and Strategies Used: Keyword Searching, Web browsing. My last question ended up being the easiest and taking the least amount of time. The answer to this query is that the hearing range of cats extends from 45 Hz to 64 khz, though one study found that cats' hearing may even extend up to 85 khz. This gives cats one of the broadest hearing ranges among mammals. Their hearing range is approximately 1.6 octaves above that of a human. To find the answer, I used Google and Wikipedia. By searching for cat hearing range on Google, I found a scientific study conducted at the University of Kansas that tested exactly how high a domestic cat could hear. It gave exactly what information the patron was looking for and I included it in my answer. My Google search also resulted in another study conducted at Louisiana State University that listed the hearing range for over 30 mammals, including humans. Here I found the hearing range for cats as compared to humans, which is what the question asked for. This was my second reference in my answer. The last reference I gave in my answer was the entry for cat senses on Wikipedia. It confirmed the numbers that were mentioned in the other sources I found, and the citations mentioned in the article were from reputable sources. As such, I felt this was another good source for information. (a) My level of satisfaction: I was very satisfied with my answer, as it was specific, detailed, and gave exactly what the patron was asking for. (b) What I would have done differently: Nothing. I found precisely what I wanted quickly and efficiently. It took me longer to write up the response than to find the answer.

Overall Comments: This was a very worthwhile and valuable exercise, especially since this was my first class and beginning foray into the MLS program. It gave me an appreciation for the kinds of questions patrons ask, how difficult some of them can be, and how long it can take to find acceptable answers. Some of these questions may have been more difficult to find if this were in an inperson or chat format, so I those instances it was helpful that this was conducted via email. The other positive aspect of the email questions and format is that the reference librarian does have the time and available resources to make sure he or she finds the correct answer, response, or the right places to point the person asking the questions in the proper direction. The only drawback as I see it is that answers are not immediately forthcoming and there is a lapse between when the question is asked and answered. However, I would expect a patron would not be using the email format when looking for an instant answer. As such, I think this is a valuable system for any library to embrace as a supplement to the other forms of in-person, phone, and chat interviews.