Reference in Library and Information Science Education

TECHNOLOGY HAS AFFECTED THE REFERENCE and information culture in libraries. With the increasing scope of information transfer, users have higher service expectations of library and information science professionals. The emergence of a digital information environment has changed the century-old role of the reference professional. After the rise ofthe Internet, many skeptics foresaw the end of a need for librarians, particularly those working in traditional positions such as reference. Nevertheless, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates an increase in the number of information professionals by the year 2008. Reference professionals are becoming more-not less-essential. Graduate programs must examine the curriculum for reference and information access professionals. Greater access to information sources by users has highlighted the need for reference and information professionals to develop new skills including more technological knowledge, a better understanding of user informationseeking, new instructional techniques, and better communication skills. In addition to live classroom instruction, most schools offer reference and information access courses to a more diverse student body by employing distance-learning technologies. INTRODUCTION This is an exciting time to be an information-access professional providing reference services. Abels (1997) broadly defined reference services as “those services that provide access to information through direct or indirect intermediation” (p.136).With the increasing scope and rapidity of YvonneJ. Chandler, School of Library dnd Information Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203 LIBRARY TRENDS, Vol. 50, NO. 2, Fall 2001, pp. 245-262 02007 The Board of Trustees, University of Illinois 246 LIBRARY TRENDS/FALL 2 0 0 1 information transfer and the many new opportunities opened up by network technolqgy, the pace of information change has accelerated. In response to expectations placed on the information profession, graduate programs must examine reference and information-access training. The movie Desk S P t illustrates the fear of replacement that afflicted many librarians after the introduction of the computer. This was one of the first visualizations of the “human versus the machine” debate in the information profession. Although only hired to install a computer to better handle research requests, the presence of the computer specialist causes rampant paranoia as the staff rvorries about losing theirjobs to the machine. Early reaction to the development and growing popularity of the Internet was a sequel to this fear. o n the contrary, the importance of reference hbrarldns is actually growing in this age of the Internet. Keller (2000) reports that the number of reference librarians working at puhlic libraries in the United States has grown from 2,634 reference librarians in 1995to 4,100 in 2000. In addition, a survey conducted by the Urban Libraries Council in 2000 confirmed that the Internet is not driving people away from libraries. More than threefourths of the surveyed Internet users reported that they also use libraries. The study found that access to the subscription journals and databases in libraries keeps those users coming back. Crosby (2000) reported in the Occupational Outlook Quarterly that the number of librarian jobs is projected to grow about 5 percent between 1998and 2008. By 2008, librarians will hold 7,000 more positions than they did in 1998 (p. 9). The Ocmpcitio?znlOutlook Handbook (2000) describes the changes in the informatioil access profession: The traditional concept of a library is being redefined, from a place to access paper records or books, to one which also houses the most advanced mediums, including CD-ROM, the Internet, virtual libraries, and remote access to a wide range of resources. Consequently, librarians are increasingly combining traditional duties with tasks in\.olving quickly changing technology. The Handbook specifically defines the need for reference librarians: Librarians in user services, such as reference and children’s librarians, work with the public to help them find the information they need. This involves analyzing users’ needs to determine what information is appropriate, and searching for, acquiring, and providing information. It also includes an instructional role, such as showing users how to access information. For example, librarians commonly help iisers navigate the Internet, showing them how, to most efficiently search for relrrant information, Information technolocgy is an ever-changing field that has affected the reference and information culture of libraries. Libraries are in the midst of a phenomenal explosion of technological change that began during the CHANDLER/REFERENCE IN LIS EDUCATION 247 1990s.From high-speed Internet access to desktop hookups for laptops and computers to full-text electronic books, journals, documents, newspapers, and articles, technology offers multiple ways for today’s information user to retrieve, send, or receive information. The advent of the electronic library, digital library, data warehouse, or virtual libraries, however they may be termed, has changed society’s thoughts on libraries in general. Libraries, such as the Library of Congress with the National Digital Library, provide access to the library’s historical collections in schools and homes. Peek (1998) wrote in an essay on library buzzwords, “In a simpler time, we had no problem defining the term library. Libraries were a collection of information, usually databases called books, held in a specific location. The presumption is that this information was intended to be shared-perhaps not shared with the entire world, but available to a specific community” (p. 36). In her definition of a digital library, Peek (1998) identified three sirnilarities between a physical and digital library: “Both own and control the information; Both provide access to information, not merely pointers to it; and Both must have a unified organizational structure so there are consistent points for accessing the data” (p. 36). Traditional print and virtual libraries have a great deal in common. Crawford (1998),a selfdescribed “lifelong technologist,” wrote that the future will include “both print and electronic communication. . . . Both linear text and hypertext. . . .Both mediation by librarians and direct access. . . . Both collections and access. . . . The future means a library that is both edifice and interface.” During the “Library of Congress Institute on Reference Service in a Digital Age” participants grappled with the issues of delivery and quality of reference provision in digital environments. Over 130professionals representing 25 statesplus foreign countries attended the Institute, which focused on how reference professionals can assist users in making the transition to digital libraries. During the keynote address, Nardi (1998) stated, The notion of the “keystone species” is taken from biological ecology and centers on the idea that some species are more critical to the functioning of the ecology than others, because of the special roles they play. . . .In the information society, librarians are a keystone species. With the advent of massive amounts of information available on the lnternet, librarians are increasingly important. The Internet provides our clients with the same bewildering array of information sources they encounter in the library-only much worse! The intelligent search and filtering provided by human agents needs to be part and parcel of the electronic world. (p. 49) Issues addressed during the Institute included providing services to diverse users or clients, distance information services, and education. Delivering quality reference and information services in a print or digital environment will require a commitment to providing traditional and remote reference services to widely dispersed users and clients. Information technologies and 248 LIBRARY TKENDS/FALI. 200 1 advanced teleconimunications such as Web-based chat and conferencing programs can provide these services. The role of the librarian has also changed, requiring a much higher level of interactivity. TRENDS AND INFORMATION EDUCATION IN LIBRARY SCIENC Cnrriciilurn changes have resulted from the dispersion of technology throughout the profession. These trends include a focus on the user of information, in whatever context 01setting, and on the diversity of information behaviors. Xde-institutionaliratioii of the focus of information seryices is also reflected in education for the inforination profession. The development of the “library without walls,” “the digital libraq,” or the “virtual librar-y” has dissolved the boundaries forproviding inforination in a physical facility or a limited area. The recent Kellogg-XLISE Information Professions and Education Reneival ( W I P E R ) projcct is the most extensive examination of library and information science education since the Williamson Report, published in 1923.The purpose of the KXI.IPERprOject was to analyze the nature and extent of major curricular change in 1JS education. In a sumniary of KALIPER study findings made at the Annual Meeting of ALlSE in 2000, Dur-