relevant, relatable reference services in your library

Relevant, Relatable Reference Services in

Your Library

3/09/2018

1

Relevant, Relatable Reference

Services in Your Library

Thank you for joining us for today’s webinar.

will begin at 1 p.m. CDT. Until then, enjoy the silence!

Today’s panelists:

Download the slides while you wait: bit.ly/TK

Tweeting?#ReferenceDesk

@ALA_Booklist

John Gottfried

&

Katherine PennavariaCo-Authors of

Providing Reference Services: A Practical Guide for Librarians

Friday, March 9

1 p.m. CDT

Susan MaguireSenior Editor, Collection

Management and Library Outreach



Katherine PennavariaKatherine Pennavaria

Coordinator of the Visual and

Performing Arts Library

Western Kentucky University Libraries

John GottfriedCoordinator of Reference Services

and Business Librarian

Western Kentucky University Libraries

4

Rowman & Littlefield PublishersMay 2017

978-1-4422-7911-7 • Paperback • $65.00

978-1-4422-7912-4 • eBook • $61.50

Special webinar discount:REFWEB18 will give 30% off!

Agenda

• Introductions

• A History of Reference

• Reference Now

• The Reference Interaction

• Going to Market

• The Future of Reference

• Question & Answer

5

A History of Reference: Where We’ve Been

6


Your Library

3/09/2018

2

Reference as we know it

is as old as the written word.

7 8

Library of Congress reference desk, c. 1900

9 10

1920s: telephone reference arrives

11

Chicago Public Library c. 1930

12


Your Library

3/09/2018

3

Sophie’s Choice, 1982 (set in 1947)

13

Desk Set, 1957

14

1969: William Katz redefines reference

15 16

17

Reference Services Now

18


Your Library

3/09/2018

4

What’s the problem?

• “Help doing things rather than finding things” (Kenney)

• Information as commodity

• What are they doing?

• What are the obstacles?

• The best possible solution• Faster• Cheaper

• Better

19

Sponsored by the New Jersey State Library and the New Jersey Library Association

Making connections

• “Bad Libraries build collections. Good libraries build services (of which a collection is only one). Great libraries build communities.” (Lankes)

• The goal is not getting people to use the library services; it is helping library users accomplish something

• Connect the library and its resources to what the library users are trying to accomplish

20

Staying Grounded

• Dig deeper

• Get the backstory

• Bend the resources and advice to fit the problem

21

The Reference Interaction

22

Reference & User Services Assn., 1996

• Approachability

• Interest

• Listening/Inquiring

• Searching

• Follow-up

23

BARRIERS TO APPROACHABILITY

24


Your Library

3/09/2018

5

25

BAD QUESTION: “May I help you?”

EVEN WORSE: “Did you need something?”

GOOD QUESTION: “What can I help you with?” or

“How can I help you?”

INQUIRY/LISTENING

26

BAD RESPONSE TO ANSWER:

[none, look at computer]

GOOD RESPONSE TO ANSWER:

“I’d be happy to help you with that!”

Let them know they’ve asked the right

person, that they have come to the right

place.

27

The “put a book in their hand” approach.

28

Going to Market

29

What is marketing?

• Ad campaigns, slogans, Super Bowl ads…and selling it!

• Or, developing useful, practical ways to help

• Respond to the patron’s needs, not the library’s

30


Your Library

3/09/2018

6

Meeting them where they are

• Understand how and why your patrons are seeking information

• Go where they go; help them do what they do

• You will not only gain better access to your patrons, but better knowledge of their circumstances

31

American Library Association

So where are they?

• Ask

• Ask again

• Obtain usage data

• Find benchmarks

• Make connections

32

New approaches?

• Newtechnologies

• New populations

• New locations

• New roles

33

The Librarians Television Series on TNT

What are we worth?

• How do you justify the time and expense of providing reference services?

• Use ROI or not?

• How to express the value of library services to your stakeholders?

34

Reference in the Future

35

Innovation

36

Bell Labs’ Videophone, 1964


Your Library

3/09/2018

7

Telepresence

37

Cisco telepresence 3000

The Big Bang Theory

Modern Family

Ro

mo

, the

Qu

irky Te

lep

rese

nce

Po

lycom

Vid

eo

Co

nfe

ren

cing

Virtual Reality?

38

Virtual Reference

• Email

• Email forums & lists

• Electronic Resources

• Chat/Instant Message

• Teleconferencing

• MOBILE PHONES

• Apps

• Wearable technology

39

Facing disruption

• Technology, funding, hurricanes, politics

• Change leadership

• Flexibility and mobility

40

Focusing on the future?

• Five-year plans are always focused five years away

• Realistic plans exist in the current environment

• Focus on the future as it unfolds

• Change must be served (Trott)

41

Questions? Ask Us!

John GottfriedEmail: [email protected]: (270) 745-6176

Katherine PennavariaEmail: [email protected]: (270) 745-6119

42


Your Library

3/09/2018

8

Thank you to today’s panelists:

John Gottfried

&

Katherine PennavariaCo-Authors of

Providing Reference Services: A Practical Guide for Librarians

Special webinar discount:REFWEB18 will give 30% off!

Today’s webinar will be archived at

www.booklistonline.com/webinars

Visit The Booklist Reader!

www.booklistreader.com Booklist’s digital edition is live!

Booklist subscribers now get print, online,

digital, and archive access to all the

Booklist content they love!

Not a subscriber? Get multi-format access

for only $99—that’s less than

$10/month—with this special URL:

www.booklistonline.com/webinaroffer

Check out the current and

past issues at:

booklistonline.com/issues

Thank you for attending our webinar

Special thanks to our sponsor:



relevant, relatable reference services in your library

Documents