Reference Librarianship

A daily diary of actual interactions between a reference desk librarian and his patrons Reference Librarianship documents a year in the life of a young librarian working in the âœtrenchesâ at a library in the Midwestern United States. This one-of-a-kind book provides a daily diary of every librarian/patron transactionâno matter how mundane or absurdâto demonstrate not only how advances in technology have affected the reference librarianâs job but how the publicâs expectations have changed as well. The book also includes observations by a now-retired reference librarian on the current state of the field based on these unedited interactions. Over the past two decades the job of reference librarian has seen many changes. But in many ways reference desk work hasnât changed a bit with its mix of odd humorous routine and ridiculous requests that capture what itâs like to deal with patrons day after day. Reference Librarianship paints a clear picture of the field for library school students provides emotional and philosophical support to practitioners and reminds library administrators of what life was like on the âœfront lines. â A sampling of the daily transactions documented in Reference Librarianship: Monday May 19 2003: pencil pencil network down I tell people that I canât sign them up for an Internet terminal because the network is down and they just stand there staring into space One of them asks for three days worth of newspapers microfiche machine explanation Sorry Sir the network is still down (multiply by twenty and insert randomly into the remainder of the day) magic tricks but he pretty much knew where they were One of our large interior plate glass windows shattered. No one was hurt and it made a fascinating noise like a crystal waterfall landing on soil. âœBooks on prostitution you knowâwhores?â Someone from the County called to ask if any criminal activity had occurred on a particular street. Someone else referred her to us. She was dubiousâwith good reason. âœMath puzzles. â Okay. I show him the books. âœJust math. â Certainly. I show him the books. âœI need them in Spanish. â Grrr. Reference Librarianship is an enlightening educational and entertaining look at the real world of reference desk work. Itâs an essential read for reference librarians (both public and academic) library administrators and library school students as well as anyone who works with the public. . Language: English