FUTURE OF REFERENCE AND

INFORMATION SERVICES
• Lessons in Module 7 include:
I. Trends in Reference and Information Services

• Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of this module you are expected to:
1. Know the trends and issues of reference and information
servicing ; and
2. Prepared for the future of reference and information servicing.
 REFERENCE SERVICES

✓ The reference service is considered as the heart of the library service. It is a service
facilitated by a reference librarian which meets the information needs of users with
desired information.
✓ The development of computing technology and the rise of internet have led to
irrevocable paradigm shifts in the work of library and information science
professionals.
✓ Crucially, such developments are not static, and the growth of the technological
sphere is ongoing. Librarians must, by consequence, now focus on what technology
their users have adopted and how they can use that same technology in the library
to better support patron needs.
 VIEWS OF THE FUTURE REFERENCE

✓ Many have sought to provide us with a view of the future of reference.

o David Tyckoson (2003)-
▪ identified features of libraries that will remain constant and those that will
change
▪ He said that the constant were the service the libraries provide to their
community which is the..
• Four basic basic functions outlined by Samuel Green in 1876
o Instruction
o Answering questions
o Readers’ advisory service
o Promotion
▪ The changes Tyckoson foresaw were newer and better tools as a result of
technology, an increase in demand for instruction, a decrease in demand for
ready reference, and a role for librarians in the creation of information as
well as in its conservation.
 VIEWS OF THE FUTURE REFERENCE

o Joseph Janes (2003)

▪ - suggested that librarians should continue to work in areas where
their strengths lie. These are concerns about evaluation and quality of
information sources, sophisticated tools and techniques for
searching, understanding the nature of users, their communities, their
needs and situations, compiling and organizing and packaging
information resources for their use, helping them to understand how
to help themselves and how to use and evaluate information
▪ He also envisioned a future that focuses “less on the answers to
specific questions and more on providing assistance and support to
people with more detailed, more demanding, more comprehensive
information needs of all kinds.
 VIEW OF THE FUTURE REFERENCE

o James Rettig (2003)

▪ -suggested that “reference will remain place-based, but will
no longer be place-bound. The place at which it is based will
not be a reference desk staffed by a reference librarian.
▪ Instead it will be an information consultation room in which
a librarian can work face-to-face with a user and from which
a librarian can work screen-to-screen with remote users.
✓ The advancement of ICT (Information, Communication and Technology) has brought a lot
of changes not only on the library and information services but also on the roles and
expectations of the librarians and information professionals.

✓ These current trends somehow or rather will have a bearing in shaping librarians and
information services in the new era. They are summarized as follows:
o Library functions in information and knowledge-based society
o Knowledge-based economy- information and knowledge as drivers to boost the
economy
o Information management recognized as an important discipline
o Librarians expanded and changes in digital environment
o Leadership skills
o Access role replace custodial role
o Librarians need new management knowledge skills
o Trend to develop digital contents to facilitate access
o And many others…
 N E W WAY S O F D O I N G B U S I N E S S

✓ As the internet has become part of our daily existence, libraries have chosen to
compete by adding first email reference, then chat reference, and now reference using
IM (instant messaging).
✓ E-mail reference was a simple addition. Even using basic e-mail software, libraries
began to communicate with their users.
✓ Chat reference was patterned after some of the commercial enterprises already using
this technology. The software has improved and has been made more usable for
libraries.
o The advantage of chat reference can be done through a consortium or regionally to
spread the expense and allow the libraries involved to offer more hours of service.
 N E W WAY S O F D O I N G B U S I N E S S

✓ Instant Messaging (IM) has been adopted by academic

libraries, since they find this appeals to their user
population. It is immediate and interactive and can be
done from any location.
✓ Libraries staff can do it during the same hours as the
library or can additional hours if needed.
 P ROV I D I N G N E W M AT E R I A L S A N D FO R M ATS

✓ Though books will always remain part of the reference picture, digital
versions of print titles and new materials in digital format only have
flooded the market.
✓ Slowly, reference titles available only in print are receding and digital
titles are multiplying.
✓ More access to online databases is available beyond the library
✓ The library’s users can access the databases at home, in their office, or
elsewhere.
✓ This improved access results in making it easier for the user who finds
it inconvenient to visit the library during its hours of service.
 P ROV I D I N G N E W S E RV I C E S

✓ Face-to-face reference service has declined in the last few years as the internet has become a
more prominent part of users’ lives.
✓ Libraries have also noted the decline in the number of ready reference questions and an
increase in more complicated questions. Users only consult the reference librarian after trying
unsuccessfully to find the information on the internet.
✓ They also have to provide access through the web to the library and its resources in order to
reach users wherever they are.
✓ Librarians have begun to spend more time on information literacy.
✓ The complexity of the library’s resources, especially the online databases, has made it
imperative that the users receive assistance in using them.
✓ The information literacy instruction may be one-to one at the reference desk or in an e-mail
or chat session; or it may be a class- either a one-shot class to get users started or a part of
collaboration with a teacher or professor to help students get started on a particular
assignment.
 W H AT W I L L L I B R A R I A N S D O ?

✓ This newly defined reference service means that the role of the librarian must change.
✓ Of course, librarians will continue to answer reference questions, although there may be less of ready
reference and more of complex.
✓ Many of these requests will be made online rather than in person though users will continue to come to
the library.
✓ Librarians will continue to do collection development. With less print to order, librarians will
concentrate their attention on the evaluation and selection of electronic resources.
✓ Librarians will do more information literacy instruction- both one-on-one and in groups. Users need to
learn use electronic resources, the online catalog, and other databases that are available.
✓ Librarians will develop their reader’s advisory skills to provide more personalized service to their users.
✓ Librarians will learn more about marketing.
✓ Reference librarians’ role will change as reference continues to evolve. Their new role will be
multifaceted and more proactive than in the past. They will work to design better systems that meet their
users more personalized needs.