Rethinking Reference for Academic Libraries

By Carrie Forbes and Jennifer Bowers

Rethinking Reference for Academic Libraries: Innovative Developments and Future Trends, 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.

AcknowledgementsIntroductionCollaboration: Partnerships for Lifelong Learning1 Step Away from the Desk: Re-casting the Reference Librarian as Academic PartnerMichael Courtney and Angela Courtney2 The Scholarly Commons: Emerging Research Services for Graduate Students and FacultyMerinda Kaye HensleyDiversity: Meeting the Information Needs of a Changing Demographic3 The Rainbow Connection: Reference Services for LGBT Community in Academic LibrariesMatthew P. Ciszek4 Reference Services in a Shifting World: Other Languages, Other ServicesValeria E. Molteni and Eileen K. Bosch5 As Needs Change, So Must We: A Case Study of Innovative Outreach to Changing DemographicsLi FuTechnology: Reference Service Beyond the Library Walls6 Roving Reference: Taking the Library to Its UsersZara Wilkinson7 Connecting Questions with AnswersEllie Dworak and Carrie MooreAssessment: Does Reference Make a Difference?8 Transforming Reference Services: More than Meets the EyeKawanna Bright, Consuella Askew, and Lori Driver9 Dialogic Mapping: Evolving Reference into an Instructional Support for Graduate ResearchCorinne Laverty and Elizabeth A. Lee10 Does the Reference Desk Still Matter? Assessing the Desk Paradigm at the University of Washington LibrariesDeb Raftus and Kathleen CollinsProfessional Competencies: Skills for a New Generation11 From Ready Reference to Research Conversations: The Role of Instruction in Academic Reference ServiceMelanie Maksin12 Necessities of Librarianship: Competencies for a New GenerationDanielle Colbert-Lewis, Jamillah Scott-Branch, and David Rachlin13 Professional Competencies for the Virtual Reference Librarian: Digital Literacy, Soft Skills, and Customer ServiceChristine Tobias14 Digital Primary ResourcesPeggy KeeranIndexAbout the Authors