"Explores the praxis, history and practice of reference librarianship in the context of social justice"--

A daily diary of actual interactions between a reference desk librarian and his patrons Reference Librarianship documents a year in the life of a young librarian working in the “trenches” at a library in the Midwestern United States. This one-of-a-kind book provides a daily diary of every librarian/patron transaction—no matter how mundane or absurd—to demonstrate not only how advances in technology have affected the reference librarian’s job, but how the public’s expectations have changed, as well. The book also includes observations by a now-retired reference librarian on the current state of the field based on these unedited interactions. Over the past two decades, the job of reference librarian has seen many changes. But in many ways, reference desk work hasn’t changed a bit, with its mix of odd, humorous, routine, and ridiculous requests that capture what it’s like to deal with patrons day after day. Reference Librarianship paints a clear picture of the field for library school students, provides emotional and philosophical support to practitioners, and reminds library administrators of what life was like on the “front lines.” A sampling of the daily transactions documented in Reference Librarianship: Monday, May 19, 2003: pencil pencil network down I tell people that I can’t sign them up for an Internet terminal because the network is down and they just stand there, staring into space One of them asks for three days worth of newspapers microfiche machine explanation Sorry, Sir, the network is still down (multiply by twenty and insert randomly into the remainder of the day) magic tricks, but he pretty much knew where they were One of our large interior plate glass windows shattered. No one was hurt and it made a fascinating noise, like a crystal waterfall landing on soil. “Books on prostitution, you know—whores?” Someone from the County called to ask if any criminal activity had occurred on a particular street. Someone else referred her to us. She was dubious—with good reason. “Math puzzles.” Okay. I show him the books. “Just math.” Certainly. I show him the books. “I need them in Spanish.” Grrr ... Reference Librarianship is an enlightening, educational, and entertaining look at the real world of reference desk work. It’s an essential read for reference librarians (both public and academic), library administrators, and library school students, as well as anyone who works with the public.

More than 30 stellar authors have contributed to these up-to-date essays on public services librarianship, including timely topics such as new service configurations, the impact of e-resources in reference and collection development, and innovative outreach. The roles of reference and public librarians are constantly changing. Today, it's not unusual for librarians to also serve as trend trackers, data analysts, project managers, IT troubleshooters, marketers, and staffing specialists. Academic and public libraries across the country are experimenting with new service models to accommodate new technology, budget constraints, and a clientele with new needs and expectations. Not surprisingly, librarians are assuming revised roles as a result. Reference Reborn: Breathing New Life into Public Services Librarianship is a collection of over two dozen essays on developments and trends in reference and public services librarianship, highlighting some of the best thinking on reference services, outreach initiatives, the migration from print to e-reference collections, staffing 21st century libraries, library school curriculum, and more. This text will appeal to library and information science students and educators, beginning and seasoned reference librarians and managers of public service departments in academic and public libraries. The education and training of reference librarians receives special attention.

Providing Reference Services: A Practical Guide for Librarians was written with the working librarian in mind; it focuses on specific methods and information to help foster effective, exceptional results. Topics covered include: Reference services: basic information and background Reference resources and tutorials Organizing and providing services Staffing and performance management Forming helpful partnerships (internal and external) The future of reference Readers will come away with a solid foundation in reference services. They will have the knowledge to update or restructure an existing reference program, or to create a program from the ground up. Individual chapters and subsections provide constructive tips and advice for specific reference issues. Taken as a whole, this book provides a valuable, inclusive source of information for all major aspects of reference service. Providing Reference Services is an appropriate resource for nearly all librarians in public-service positions, especially those with reference responsibilities, whether they are working reference librarians at any level of experience, reference supervisors, or administrators with oversight of reference services. The content is relevant to academic, public, school, and special libraries—any library or organization, in fact, that offers reference or research assistance.

Reference librarians are no longer expected to know much about the information they find; they are merely expected to find it. Technological competency rather than knowledge has become the order of the day. In many respects, reference service has become a matter of typing search terms into a library's online catalog or a web search engine and providing the patron with the results of the search. Calling for a re-intellectualization of reference librarianship, this book suggests another approach to providing quality reference service--reading. The authors surveyed both academic reference librarians and public library reference personnel in the United States and Canada about their reading habits. From the 950 responses, the authors present findings about the extent to which librarians read newspapers, periodicals, fiction and nonfiction, and recount and analyze stories about how reading has made them better librarians. The authors also report that North American professors in the humanities and social sciences believe that the best reference librarians are those who have wide-ranging, subject-based knowledge as opposed to the type of process-based, functional knowledge that is increasingly dominating the curricula of many Library and Information Science programs.

Students come to the school library every day with questions ranging from “How many people live in China?” to “I need to find out how the Sun began for my science paper.” Helping students find the answers to their questions is one of the most important responsibilities school librarians have. In Introduction to Reference and Information Services in Today's School Library, one of America’s premier school library educators covers the A-Z of both reference and information services for today’s library. Everything from teaching students how to use sources to both in-person and virtual reference service is covered. A key feature of the text is an annotated bibliography of core print and electronic sources for elementary, middle, and high school collections. Yes, reference and information services are vital library functions in the digital age. Even students who appear to be tech savvy have trouble finding the right information efficiently - and knowing what to do with it. This book examines information needs and behaviors, and provides strategies for assessing and meeting the informational needs of the school community. The book also addresses the conditions for optimum service: physical access (including virtual access), effective interaction and collaboration, instructional design, and systematic planning. Newer issues such as embedded librarianship, curation,collective intelligence, and web 2.0 intellectual property are also addressed. This book introduces the entering professional, and updates practitioners, to current standards and useful strategies.