What Will Become of Reference in Academic and Public Libraries?

O'Gorman, Jack; Trott, Barry

doi:10.1080/01930820902832421

Cited by 23 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…If, in fact, reference librarians are increasingly engaging in off-desk activities that require a changing set of skills, then someone else must be staffing the reference desk in their absence. For more than two decades, that someone else has often been a paraprofessional, as Jack O'Gorman and Barry Trott [41] noted in the case of public libraries and other scholars [42,43] found among academic libraries. Although some writers have decried the use of paraprofessionals (e.g., [44]), several studies have shown that a trained nonprofessional could answer the majority of patrons' questions.…”

Section: The Changing Landscape Of Reference Librarianshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role Reinvention, Structural Defense, or Resigned Surrender: Institutional Approaches to Technological Change and Reference Librarianship

LeMaistre

Embry²,

Zandt

et al. 2012

The Library Quarterly

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Section: The Changing Landscape Of Reference Librarianshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role Reinvention, Structural Defense, or Resigned Surrender: Institutional Approaches to Technological Change and Reference Librarianship

LeMaistre

Embry²,

Zandt

et al. 2012

The Library Quarterly

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“…LIS professionals today have to provide service to a wide range of populations with different information needs and levels of information literacy (Allison, 2013; O’Gorman and Trott, 2009; Robinson et al, 2015; Taylor, 2012), so they need excellent interpersonal and communication skills to be able to provide information services to patrons face-to-face as well as for remote services across the globe (Murray, 2014) and help them become proficient searchers (Burns and Bossaller 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing scales for identifying and classifying library and information science skills and competencies: An Israeli perspective

Bronstein

Nebenzahl

2018

Journal of Librarianship and Information Science

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The purpose of this study is to present the development of a skills and competencies scale for LIS professionals. Scales for the identification and classification of the skills and competencies needed to work in the library and information science profession can contribute to the development of academic and professional programs. This empirical survey was conducted in Israel among members of two library and information science listservs. The final sample included 183 valid questionnaires. The study tested the viability of a typology comprised of 46 skills and competencies as items in multi-items scales. Factor analysis and Cronbach’s Alpha were utilized in performing the analysis that resulted in four clusters: technology skills, information skills, personal competencies and traditional librarianship skills and show that 25 out of 46 original skills contribute to the explanation of 44% of the total variance. The study contributes to the literature on the subject by proposing updated scales that examine practitioners’ views and opinions of which skills and competencies they needed in information work. The typology that resulted from the study ascertains that, regardless of the rapid changes that the profession has confronted in the last decades, the skills that have been at the core of the profession are still relevant alongside technological skills related to online environments such as website development and management.

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“…Librarians continue to promote intellectual freedom and to adapt technologies for better serving the public (O'Groman & Trott, 2009). In fact, for some the shift in most libraries from print to electronic tools reflects users' preferences.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reference as Outreach: Meeting Users Where They Are

Aguilar

Keating

Schadl

et al. 2011

Journal of Library Administration

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Academic libraries have seen a dramatic decline in face-to-face traditional reference desk interactions over the past decade. Due to new initiatives at the University of New Mexico, reference services are flourishing even though traditional desk reference interactions are declining. Incorporating more engaged librarians within the academic and surrounding communities has expanded reference services and created new opportunities for librarians to consult with users in multiple settings. The establishment of a virtual service desk has increased the accessibility and visibility of the library to "meet users where they are" in an electronic environment.

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What Will Become of Reference in Academic and Public Libraries?

Cited by 23 publications

References 3 publications

Role Reinvention, Structural Defense, or Resigned Surrender: Institutional Approaches to Technological Change and Reference Librarianship

Role Reinvention, Structural Defense, or Resigned Surrender: Institutional Approaches to Technological Change and Reference Librarianship

Developing scales for identifying and classifying library and information science skills and competencies: An Israeli perspective

Reference as Outreach: Meeting Users Where They Are

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