It seems this week is reference centric. For those that may have not read this, i offer an interesting article on the reference interview-do's and common mistakes:
Fox, Theodora. 2005. The lost art of the reference interview. One-Person Library 22(5): 3-5. Accessed LISA 25 October 2007.
LISA just has the abstract, and I recieved my copy of this article through a coworker, but it's definately worth checking out.
On to Jones, and his The Future of Reference Services Papers. Specifically, i wanted to talk about his "prediction" of ready reference. For years now I've seen the ready reference section at our library shrink from a shelf all on-its-own into a few small books. No doubt that popular search engines are cutting into the questions that ready reference had answers. Despite this, I found Jone's opinions on this matter quite comforting.
As technology improves, answers to quick questions become more available. I'm sure every student in this program whose focus is reference has been asked how they are going to compete with Google and others. The truth is, as Jones puts out, is that they don't compete.
While ready-reference may fade away, reference will continue to live on. At least, that's how I see it. Especially in an academic environment where convenience and speed must take a backseat to quality to insure good marks. Academia is a controlled enviroment that allows this, and will support the reference structure for years to come.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I am reading this article second time today, you have to be more careful with content leakers. If I will fount it again I will send you a link
Post a Comment