Joan Coachman Durrance

Biographical Information

Dr. Joan Coachman Durrance is currently a professor in the School of Information at The University of Michigan.

Education

Dr. Durrance received her bachelor's degree from the University of Florida, her MSLS from the University of North Carolina, and her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan (http://si.umich.edu/people/faculty-detail.htm?sid=32). She also earned a specialist certificate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (http://www.si.umich.edu/~durrance/).

Professional Accomplishments

In January 2004, the University of Michigan Board of Regents named Dr. Durrance the Margaret Mann Collegiate Professor of Information. This chair was named in honor of a past professor of the same name from the School of Information(http://si.umich.edu/about-SI/news-detail.htm?NewsItemID=406).

Dr. Durrance is an active researcher who has published numerous articles and book chapters. Much of her work centers around public libraries and their roles as community information centers. She is also well-known for her contributions to reference scholarship which has gotten her the ALA's R.R. Bowker-Isadore Mudge Award in 1997 (http://www.si.umich.edu/~durrance/). Dr. Durrance has also had numerous projects funded by the W.K. Kellog Foundation and the U.S. Institute for Libraries and Museums (http://www.si.umich.edu/~durrance/).

Other awards and honors include . . .

• "Scholar in Residence" Chicago Public Library (Nov. 2004)
• Citation for Service __Washtenaw County (1997)
• "Faculty Excellence Award" School of Information and Library Science, Univ. of Michigan (April 1995)
• "Distinguished Alumna Award" School of Library and Information Science, Univ. of North Carolina__
• "Who's Who in America" (2002)
• "Who's Who of American Women" (1995)
• "Who's Who in the Midwest" (1988)
• "Who's Who in American and Library Science"
• "International Honorary Library and Information Science Society" __Beta Phi Mu__
• "International Honor Society" __Phi Theta Kappa, Univ. of Florida__
• "Rackham Doctoral Fellowship" __Univ. of Michigan (1978)

(http://www.si.umich.edu/~durrance/ 19 Oct. 2006)

Contributions to Reference Librarianship

In 1986, Durrance published an informative study about the client-librarian relationship by focusing on variables thought to influence this relationship. She and her graduate students found that ' only 10 percent of all users look for particular library staff,' which she believes shows a lack of a true relationship between the client and librarian (Richardson, 1992, 213).

In another study on reference interviews, Durrance (1989) defines reference interview success as the willingness of a library user to return the same staff person with another question. She found that the accuracy of information provided is not the only significant factor influencing success; in fact, she contends that the library environment and the behavior of the library staff person were also important factors.

References

Durrance, Joan C. Personal Website. <http://www.si.umich.edu/~durrance/index.html> Accessed on November 19, 2006.

Durrance, Joan C. (1989). Reference Success: Does the 55 Percent Rule Tell the

Whole Story. Library Journal, 114, 31-36. Retrieved November 2, 2006 from

the Wilson Education Index database.

Richardson, John V. Jr. (1992). The Current State of Research on Reference Transactions. In Frederick C. Lynden (Ed.), Advances in Librarianship Vol. 26, (pp. 175-230). Amsterdam: Academic Press.

School of Information Website on Joan Durrance. <http://si.umich.edu/people/faculty-detail.htm?sid=32> Accessed on November 19, 2006.

Benjamin J. Sandoval