Delivering Reference Services

Reference Interviews, cont.

http://www.usc.edu/libraries/about/reference/tutorials/training/reference_interviews/reference_interviews.html

Impacts of the Digital Age on Reference Services

With reference collections becoming increasingly digital, how can reference librarians remember what used to be in the former print reference collection? In the case of newer librarians, how can they know what is a reference resource at all? Here are some ideas:

Scoping of the online catalog. The Penrose Encore catalog is scoped for "Reference" and "E-Reference".

Reference Guides

• Guide to Reference (Print title was Guide to Reference Books)
• ARBA Online (Print title was American Reference Books Annual)
• Walford's Guide to Reference Material
• The New Walford: Guide to Reference Resources
  

• Databases (Previous took up zip codes in our reference collections; now available as subscriptions or sometimes purchases). To allow us to clear out our reference stacks, we are in the process of purchasing online versions of large reference indexing tools: Reader's Guide Retrospective, Social Sciences Index, Humanities Index, Business Periodicals Index, Art Index, Biography Index, Education Index, Essay & General Literature Index, Short Story Index, etc.
• Reference Portals 
• Gale Virtual Reference Library
• Oxford Reference Online
• Credo Reference

Philosophy of Reference
Does your reference department give fish, or teach how to fish? Is there a place for each philosophy?

What expectations do library users have? Do they expect every reference librarian to know how to direct them to the appropriate information? What if you (the reference librarian) do not know the answer?
Time expectations
Thoroughness expectations
Expertise expectations

What about remote reference? What are user expectations for answers to email reference questions?

Role of Reference Librarians
What has been the traditional role of reference librarians throughout the analog (print) era? What will be the role in the evolving digital age? Are Google and social networking replacing reference librarians? What steps do we need to take to educate people about the value of reference librarians?

New Models for Reference
What will reference work look like 10 years from now? 20 years? How do we prepare ourselves for this future?