A survey of Iranian academic reference services in terms of librarians' discipline Suggesting an organizational structure

Purpose - Considering the significant difference between the discipline reference librarians graduate in and how reference services are offered, this paper aims to test such a hypothesis by focusing on reference services offered by central libraries of Islamic Azad Universities (IAU) distributed in different regions and provinces of Iran. A second purpose of this paper is to suggest an independent organizational structure for reference departments of Iranian academic libraries. Design/methodology/approach - Research population is composed of 75 reference librarians working in central libraries of 33 IAU branches. To collect data a researcher-made questionnaire including 82 items is posted to mentioned libraries. Findings - There is a significant difference between reference librarians' discipline and how reference services are offered in IAU central libraries. Practical implications - Iranian academic authorities are advised to take the suggested organizational structure into consideration and meet Lewis's five strategies. In particular, reference librarians based on their discipline and education level should be brought together and not isolated in small departments. Additionally, for reference services to keep pace with users' needs academic libraries should employ expert and skilled reference librarians who hold library and information science academic degrees and can provide user education. Originality/value - This paper describes an organizational structure for Iranian reference librarians that is based on their educational background and training.