LS407 R EFERENCE AND I NFORMATION S ERVICES Spring 2010 Laura Saunders

R OLES AND E XPECTATIONS What is the reference librarian’s job? And, what isn’t? Who relies on reference librarians? Patrons, colleagues & support staff, employers, professional organizations, etc. What do you expect from your career?

R EFERENCE Reference Transactions are information consultations in which library staff recommend, interpret, evaluate, and/or use information resources to help others to meet particular information needs. Reference transactions do not include formal instruction or exchanges that provide assistance with locations, schedules, equipment, supplies, or policy statements.

R EFERENCE Reference Work includes reference transactions and other activities that involve the creation, management, and assessment of information or research resources, tools, and services. Creation and management of information resources includes the development and maintenance of research collections, research guides, catalogs, databases, web sites, search engines, etc., that patrons can use independently, in-house or remotely, to satisfy their information needs. Assessment activities include the measurement and evaluation of reference work, resources, and services.

R EFERENCE What, exactly, do reference librarians do?

U SER E XPECTATIONS What do users expect? What should they expect?

E MPLOYER /C OLLEAGUE E XPECTATIONS What do employers want? What do we expect of each other?

P ERCEPTIONS How do our patrons see us?

P ERCEPTIONS OF L IBRARIES AND L IBRARIANS What are the perceptions of our field? Are perceptions important? Why?

P ERCEPTIONS - OCLC S TUDY

P ERCEPTIONS

W HAT D OES THIS T ELL U S … Future of libraries Areas of focus Areas of improvement

P ERCEPTIONS OF LIBRARIES AND I NFORMATION R ESOURCES OCLC. (2005). Retrieved from