R EFERENCE O VERVIEW : History and Organization

H ISTORY OF R EFERENCE Original purpose of libraries: Collect, organize, and preserve. Early researchers relied on private or subscription collections Libraries development reflect changes in education and culture Early academic libraries: Closed stacks Limited hours Little assistance

H ISTORY OF R EFERENCE Development of reference Late 19 th to early 20 th century Reflected changing curricula, shift to research universities More support for patrons Public Libraries Educate the citizenry Samuel Green, 1876 paper Need to guide reading selections

H ISTORY OF R EFERENCE Assistance with access Assistance with research Reader’s advisory Instruction Balance of user needs and user desires Physical and virtual space Who decides? Future of reference?

O RGANIZATION OF R EFERENCE Service Models

R EFERENCE S ERVICES Mediated Services Proactive Services Question answering (ready reference, bibliographic verification, research) Reader’s Advisory Instruction Research assistance Selective dissemination of information Referral

S ERVICE M ODELS Service Models: Traditional Centralized Combined service points Information commons Decentralized Tiered service Roving reference Digital/ Virtual/ Remote