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Potential future of reference presentation keough 2016
- 1. POTENTIAL FUTURE OF REFERENCE: The Next Five Years Maryland Library Association/Delaware Library Association Joint State Conference May 5, 2016 Ocean City, Maryland Presenters: Joe Thompson, Senor Administrator-Public Services, Harford County Public Library Laura Bosley, Senior, Research Program Coordinator, Johns Hopkins University Cathay Keough, Statewide Coordinator, Delaware Reference Services, Delaware Division of Libraries
- 2. Goals/Objectives – When you leave today, you will be able to: 1. identify at least 2 ways in which library reference service has evolved 2. know at least 2 resources for identifying user behavior trends in order to make informed decisions regarding library reference services 3. have 2 to 3 ideas for developing and adapting library services to meet the changes in patron reference services needs Format for our workshop: Past (how did we come to this point?) Today (what does the data show us?) Tomorrow (potentially where all this is leading us) Ask, interrupt, have conversations!
- 3. How did we get to this point?
- 4. Who does reference work in a library?
- 5. Agree? “The Reference Desk or Information Desk of a library is a public service counter where professional librarians provide library users with direction to library materials, advice on library collections and services, and expertise on multiple kinds of information from multiple sources.” -Anne Patricia Badique (MLS student assignment) https://youtu.be/cdNprq9Wsgo (YouTube February 26, 2010)
- 6. The questions: Where is reference service headed? What do we need to do to prepare?
- 7. Evolution of Reference – a speedy look
- 8. Reference Services 1876-1930s • 1876: Samuel Green (considered the Founding Father of Reference) published “Personal Relations between Librarians and Readers” http://pacificreference.pbworks.com/f/Personal%20Relations%20Between%20Librarians %20and%20Readers.pdf • The American Library Association was formed on October 6, 1876 – Melville Dewey was one of the founders. The goal was "to enable librarians to do their present work more easily and at less expense." (American Library Association). • 1890s: Assistance to patrons became well known as “reference work” • 1900-1930s: Dedicated space and services for reference services spread nation-wide, such as “reference rooms” and patron assistance over the telephone Samuel Green
- 9. Quotes of the library from 1922 “All round the room my silent servants wait, My friends in every season, bright and dim.” -Barry Cornwall, My Books: Reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 439-40. “A great library contains the diary of the human race.” -Rev. George Dawson, Address on Opening the Birmingham Free Library: Reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 439-40. “Libraries are as the shrines where all the relics of the ancient saints, full of true virtue, and that without delusion or imposture, are preserved and reposed.” -Francis Bacon, Libraries: Reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 439-40. “A library is but the soul's burial-ground. It is the land of shadows.” -Henry Ward Beecher, Star Papers, Oxford, Bodleian Library: Reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 439-40. “Shelved around us lie The mummied authors.” -Bayard Taylor, The Poet's Journal, Third Evening: Reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 439-40. By The original uploader was Dpbsmith at English Wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Matthiasb., CC BY-SA 3.0, of Bates hall, Boston Public Library https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?cu rid=3611945
- 10. • 1960s: Instructional reference was formalized (instructional classes for patrons and students) • 1980s: Bookstores became popular • 1990s: Digital/Internet/Search Engines • Amazon (1994) • Google (1998) • “Reference is Dead” Reference Services 1960s - 2016
- 11. Top Challenges Competition Image Bookstores Stereotypes Internet/Search engines/Google Marketing Affordable technology Professional online presences “A librarian should be as unwilling to allow an inquirer to leave the library with his question unanswered as a shop-keeper is to have a customer go out of his store without making a purchase.” – Green, Personal Relations between Librarians and Readers Competition Image Bookstores Stereotypes Internet/Search engines/Google Marketing Affordable technology Professional online presences
- 12. Bookstores threaten – sample articles • Michael Sullivan. “The Fragile Future of Public Libraries.” Public Libraries, Sept/Oct 2003. Retrieved: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/libraries/inside/units/bibcontrol/osmc/sullivan.pdf • Jim Trelease, and Stephen Krashen. "Eating and reading in the library." Emergency Librarian 23.5 (1996): 27. General OneFile. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. • Eileen Coan. “The Use of Reference Tools and Skills by Bookstore Employees.” January 1993. Retrieved: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED355952.pdf • Craig Clark. “Defining User Behavior in the Coffee Shop Area of a Super Bookstore, a Grounded Theory Approach.” 1999, 42p.; Master's Research Paper, Kent State University. Retrieved: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED435397.pdf
- 13. Top Challenges : Our perceived competition Competition Image Bookstores Stereotypes Internet/Search engines/Google Marketing Affordable technology Professional online presences From: “The Future of Search” Marcus Tandler November 2013 TedX – Munich YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa4jQIW2etI See also Search Engine history: http://www.searchenginehistory.com/
- 14. Inception of Internet and Affordable Technology (2003 – Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) “Our Original Libraries Work is Complete The foundation’s original libraries work is complete. The U.S. libraries program invested $240 million to connect 99% of all U.S. public libraries to the Internet with computers and training.” http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Who-We-Are/General-Information/History
- 15. Professional development- guidelines from the past “A librarian should be as unwilling to allow an inquirer to leave the library with his question unanswered as a shop-keeper is to have a customer go out of his store without making a purchase.” – Green, Personal Relations between Librarians and Readers, 1876
- 16. Types of Reference Services •Locations, directions (such as for finding library equipment, bathrooms, study and meeting rooms) •Where can I find…? •Library tours •Classes, tutorials and workshops •Guided, supportive experimentation (Maker labs) •Reader’s Advisory •Advice/Editing (usually one- on-one assistance) •Selective services and information in and through library (such as community partnerships) •Ready Reference •Bibliographic •Information & referral •Research Information Guidance Directional (?) Instruction
- 17. Top Challenges : Our perceived image Competition Image Bookstores Stereotypes Internet/Search engines/Google Marketing Affordable technology Professional online presences
- 18. Professional development – more recent guidelines “The face of Reference Services has changed significantly since the original RUSA Guidelines for Behavioral Performance were first published in 1996… “…the world of Reference was moving beyond the traditional Reference Desk.” Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers (revised 2004) Reference and Users Services Association http://www.ala.org/rusa/resources/guidelines/guidelinesbehavioral
- 19. Examining the beginnings of today’s evolution • R David Lankes. “AskA‘s Lessons Learned from K-12 Digital Reference Services.” Reference & User Services Quarterly; Fall 1998; 38, 1; Research Library, pg. 63 http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/Publications/Journals/AskAsLessonLearned.pdf • Richard A. Danner. “Redefining a Profession.” 1998. http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1254&context=faculty_sch olarship • Dennison, Russell F. “Technology and Reference Changes in the 1990s: An Annotated Bibliography.” 2000. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED477453.pdf
Editor's Notes
- Let’s look at two factors: First, we’ll get on the same page – or at least the same area – with some definitions of ‘library reference services’ – the who, what, why of it. Then we’ll have a crash course on the history of reference services, to look at how we came to this point. Image: http://www.morguefile.com/archive
- Raise hands – who here does reference work? No need to define what that is…just if you think you do, then raise your hand.
- Okay, so now let’s see if we can agree on what that work is, that you do. Let’s start with a general look at a definition of reference from an MLS student. Do you agree? (interactive)
- The answers to these questions are finally gaining shape. We’ve been asking these questions for more than two decades - the first question has us looking externally around us. Laura will give us more on that with current data. The second question allows us to examine our profession, its internal parts and resources. Reference services has various types, for example; we’ll get to that soon. But first, let’s take a quick look at reference services history.
- Sometimes when we look back it gives us clues about where we are headed.
- Let’s start with the early inception of reference services – this began in the latter part of the 1800s. In 1876, Samuel Green (who is considered the founding father of library reference) published a groundbreaking work that set library reference service on its current path. Even then, he was a leader in identifying the need to provide a context for understanding how to help library customers through an intentional interaction that removed a librarian’s biases. But the understanding of what a library is, and who can provide reference services, got stuck. (See the quotes on the next slide.)
- There are many examples of how the library and its services were viewed, many from historical references. These quotes are from 1922, just before the telephone became used on the library’s reference desk. I get a sense of dust, silence, strictness, lofty, saintly, holy, and old. No wonder some of the first libraries were built to look like cathedrals. Banks, government buildings and libraries often had architecture with pillars reminding us of something strong and ancient, something reverential when entering and using, something bigger than ourselves. It also implied that we, as librarians, were the gatekeepers to important information.
- Now let’s look at the last 50 years or so. We can see that the need to help patrons and students learn how to use the tools and resources we had access to became important enough that instructional reference was formalized; leading to all types of workshops that we see today. There were other challenges rearing up, and for the first time librarians began wondering if their profession was going to become obsolete.
- One of the most prominent challenges was in the 1980s when bookstore chains, like Borders and Barnes and Noble, became widely popular. Many librarians felt threatened but also many wondered how to make their libraries more like bookstores, to make them more appealing. I learned from someone I work with, who used to work in a bookstore many years ago and is now a librarian, that the flow of traffic, lighting, displays and events were all tremendously essential to the commercial bookstore. Libraries began learning how to incorporate an atmosphere that invited lingering and browsing, such as through areas with cozy furniture, by partnering with coffee shops, extending their hours and questioning policies that created barriers to library use, and working on improving customer service. This began a new and deep examination of reference services
- The perceived threats actually prompted libraries to examine ways in which to improve..
- During this same time, the wide-spread use of Internet, the first Search Engines, and computers were exploding. Does anyone know the name of the first search engine of the 1990s? WebCrawler – 1994 Of course, librarians were being asked about this promising new way to find information.
- Now add in other major events of the time: the quickly-rising use of the Internet (and getting beyond the slow modem) and the decreasing costs of computers and technology. During the turn of the century, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provided Microsoft-loaded PCs and training in public libraries across the nation. This had a big effect on reference services. Many library staff questioned – and still question – how far to go and through what methods when helping patrons with questions that have to do with computers, smart phones, Internet service/wifi/Bluetooth. Virtual reference through chat and email kicked off around this time, too. Still, the nature of our work remains – the core elements stood.
- Within our profession we explored library reference service to adapt, and increasingly make necessary changes, but when we look back, we see that much of the tone of what we’re about is constant, especially regarding customer service and having good communication skills, knowing your resources, and being generally helpful no matter what platform or method you use to provide assistance. We can also briefly drill down into the types of reference services.
- Here is a quick overview to show that there are various types of reference services – just for interest. But I don’t want to get bogged down in the details, and questions about what is really reference (like directional questions) is a matter of debate for another time. We’re speaking on a general level and it may be a moot point in the end. But when reminded about the many levels of reference work and details here, it’s obvious that there is still quite a need for these reference services.
- Many of the challenges continue, especially regarding our image as librarians. For example, how well do we market ourselves? How effective are we at changing how we are perceived when someone learns we are a librarian? (I have two books to show.) How well do we present ourselves online through websites, and interactively through social media and virtual reference? Our professional guidelines and education have to change and adapt to keep up, too.
- RUSA was formed first as an ad hoc committee in 1992, and then as an Association within the American Library Association in 1996, out of an obvious need to address this core element of library service. It was recognized that “the world of reference was moving beyond the traditional reference desk” – even before RUSA put this in writing. We’re still exploring this concept, not only motivated by the fear that our profession was dying but also seeing that change is what libraries are all about. Not in every way, but in relevant ways – because without the ability to change there is no learning. And we’re all about learning!
- Here are some top articles that talk about libraries and change.
- I’ll end my part of today’s workshop with a quick story. There is the question of whether reference is dead – it’s kind of like the elephant in the room. Some point fingers at library patron usage stats and reports and exclaim that the sky is falling, that reference is indeed dead, that we should just move on and be a community activity/creation-focused location more than anything, for example. Story: Walking at ALA midwinter to a keynote speaker’s event and saw a colleague, joined up with her, started talking about reference work and virtual reference work, and she said, “Well you know Cathay, reference is dead.” I stopped in my tracks and turned to her and said, “I don’t agree – reference is not dead. It’s evolving. We’re just finding out where the dust is settling and I think we can see some of that now.” And with that, I’ll turn this over to Laura to show you some recent research.