The rapid development of the Web and Web-based technologies has led to an ongoing redefinition of reference services in academic libraries. A growing diversity of users and the need and possibility for collaboration in delivering reference services bring additional pressures for change. At the same time, there are growing demands for libraries to show accountability and service value. All of these trends have impacted the field and will continue to shape reference and research services. And they have led to a need for increasingly specialized professional competencies and a literature to support them.
In order to reimagine reference service for twenty-first century learning environments, practitioners will need to understand several focal areas of emerging reference. In particular, collaboration with campus partners, diverse student populations, technological innovations, the need for assessment, and new professional competencies, present new challenges and opportunities for creating a twenty-first century learning environment. Librarians must not only understand, but also embrace these emerging reference practices. This edited volume, containing five sections and fourteen chapters, reviews the current state of reference services in academic libraries with an emphasis on innovative developments and future trends. The main theme that runs through the book is the urgent need for inventive, imaginative, and responsive reference and research services. Through literature reviews and case studies, this book provides professionals with a convenient compilation of timely issues and models at comparable institutions. As academic libraries shift from functioning primarily as collections repositories to serving as key players in discovery and knowledge creation, value-added services, such as reference, are even more central to librariesâ and universitiesâ changing missions.
Industry Reviews
The competencies needed by academic librarians are depicted here by a cross-section of such librarians from the United States and Canada. Studies are included that examine the need to transform reference service given changing demographics and technological developments. Descriptions of reference and research programs and services are described focusing on five major areas: collaboration, diversity, technology, assessment, and professional competencies. Literature reviews and case studies look at issues such as references services for the LGBT community, whether the reference desk still matters, and professional skills for virtual reference librarians. Forbes and Bowers have written extensively on library reference and research topics. . . .In a field that is rapidly changing, this guide offers knowledge of innovative developments and future trends. VERDICT Librarians looking to 'reimage reference and research services for the 21st century academic library' will get many ideas. Recommended for the professional collection of academic libraries. * Library Journal, Starred Review *
As the landscape in higher education continues to evolve, two University of Denver colleagues have assembled 14 forward-looking articles in Rethinking Reference for Academic Libraries. In an effort to improve the quality of service provided by reference librarians, subjects such as cultural diversity, professional assessment, technological issues, and outreach are explored. Drawing examples from the past and present and providing abundant bibliographies, the contributing authors offer a great deal of pertinent information in this compendium. For academic reference librarians who wish to continue a tradition of excellent service for patrons in a rapidly changing atmosphere, Forbes and Bowers provide an ample supply of food for thought and practical possibilities for emerging issues. * Booklist *
The advent of the internet and web-based technologies has had an extensive impact on the reference and research services provided by academic, corporate, and governmental libraries and library systems. This digitally driven evolution has resulted in an increasing demand for specialized professional competencies and support literature. Knowledgeably compiled and co-edited by Carrie Forbes (Associate Dean for Student and Scholar Services, Penrose Library, University of Denver) and Jennifer Bowers (Associate Professor and social sciences librarian, University of Denver), "Rethinking Reference for Academic Libraries: Innovative Developments and Future Trends" is a 262 page compendium comprised of fourteen informed and informative articles by experts in the field. These contributions are deftly organized into five major sections: Collaboration: Partnerships for Lifelong Learning; Diversity: Meeting the Information Needs of a Changing Demographic; Technology: Reference Service Beyond the Library Walls; Assessment: Does Reference Make a Difference?; Professional Competencies: Skills for a New Generation. Enhanced with the inclusion of a ten page Index, "Rethinking Reference For Academic Libraries" is a critically important contribution to academic library and professional Library Science reference collections and supplemental reading lists. * Midwest Book Review *
