As librarians experience a changing climate for all information services professionals, in this book Cassell and Hiremath provide the tools needed to manage the ebb and flow of changing reference services in today's libraries.
Reference and Information Services: An Introduction Kay Ann Cassell
As librarians experience a changing climate for all information services professionals, Cassell and Hiremath provide the tools needed to manage the ebb and flow of changing reference services in today's libraries.
From the ongoing flood of misinformation to the swift changes occasioned by the pandemic, a myriad of factors is spurring our profession to rethink reference services. Luckily, this classic text is back in a newly overhauled edition that thoughtfully addresses the evolving reference landscape. Designed to complement every introductory library reference course, Cassell and Hiremath's book also serves as the perfect resource to guide current practitioners in their day-to-day work. It teaches failsafe methods for identifying important materials by matching specific types of questions to the best available sources, regardless of format. Guided by a national advisory board of educators and experts, this thoroughly updated text presents chapters covering fundamental concepts, major reference sources, and special topics while also offering fresh insights on timely issues, including
Each of the nine resource chapters include a wide variety of sample reference questions, major relevant reference sources, collection development suggestions, and ways to specifically evaluate reference resources. Additionally, each resource chapter concludes with a lengthy but practical listing of the recommended resources introduced throughout each chapter, suggestions for further reading, and works cited. These resource listings are extensive and highlight both print and electronic resources, which often extend beyond standard familiar sources. Also, these resource lists feature a balance of subscription and free resources, emphasizing government, academic, and nonprofit information sources. Lastly, to keep the text up to date, this book has a dedicated companion Website, which features biannual updates.
The nine resource chapters present information resources geared to answer questions on topics varying from current events to word etymology. Health information resources are included, but unfortunately they share a chapter with law and business resources. Most seasoned medical librarians would be familiar with the majority of classic resources that are introduced, like PubMed and MedlinePlus, but they may also find themselves pleasantly surprised by a few new resources that are worth further investigation and perhaps even adding to their collections. Because of the relatively small but proportionate amount of medical resource coverage, this text may not be regularly useful for medical librarians. However, medical librarians not necessarily used to answering questions about business or even travel may find this text invaluable when those rare questions do arise. Additionally, those medical librarians who serve a broad spectrum of patrons, which for example, may include health care consumers or public health students, may find this text and its wide variety of reference resources useful.
Designed to complement every introductory library reference course, this is the perfect text for students and librarians looking to expand their personal reference knowledge, teaching failsafe methods for identifying important materials by matching specific types of questions to the best available sources, regardless of format. Guided by a national advisory board of educators and practitioners, this thoroughly updated text expertly keeps up with new technologies and practices while remaining grounded in the basics of reference work. Chapters on fundamental concepts, major reference sources, and special topics provide a solid foundation; the text also offers fresh insight on core issues, including ethics, readers' advisory, information literacy, and other key aspects of reference librarianship; selecting and evaluating reference materials, with strategies for keeping up to date; assessing and improving reference services; guidance on conducting reference interviews with a range of different library users, including children and young adults; a new discussion of reference as programming; important special reference topics such as Google search, 24/7 reference, and virtual reference; and delivering reference services across multiple platforms As librarians experience a changing climate for all information services professionals, in this book Cassell and Hiremath provide the tools needed to manage the ebb and flow of changing reference services in today's libraries.
Keeping pace with the rapidly shifting environment for all information services workers, in this book provides readers with the knowledge and tools needed to manage the ebb and flow of reference services in today's libraries. From the ongoing flood of misinformation to the swift changes occasioned by the pandemic, a myriad of factors is spurring our profession to rethink reference services. Luckily, this classic text is back in a newly overhauled edition that thoughtfully addresses the evolving reference landscape. Designed to complement every introductory library reference course, Cassell and Hiremath's book also serves as the perfect resource to guide current practitioners in their day-to-day work. It teaches failsafe methods for identifying important materials by matching specific types of questions to the best available sources, regardless of format. Guided by a national advisory board of educators and experts, this thoroughly updated text presents chapters covering fundamental concepts, major reference sources, and special topics while also offering fresh insights on timely issues, including
Kay Ann Cassell is presently an adjunct professor at the Rutgers University Department of Library and Information Science where she teaches a variety of courses including reference and information services, collection development, public librarianship and government information resources. She has worked in public and academic libraries. She has been the director of several public libraries and was the Associate Director for Collections and Services at the New York Public Library. As NYPL's Associate Director of Collections and Services she oversaw the development of reference, collections, programs and services for all of the branches and initiated new programs and services. She received her MLS from Rutgers University and her PhD from the International University for Graduate Studies. She is the author of Managing Reference Today and Public Libraries and Their Communities, and she was selected as the 2019 winner of the Isadore Gilbert Mudge Award, the Reference and User Services Association's highest honor.
When I started getting acquainted with the book about reference and information service I thought that the authors have chosen a most interesting way to write it. Being both professionals and academics with the highest qualifications they were creating a reference book in collaboration with an authoritative advisory board of five other highly ranked academics and library professionals. The result is comprehensive in content and very reliable from the point of view of professional accuracy, exhaustiveness, and quality introduction to the present status of library reference work in the USA. It is also valuable as a summary of the possible future trends of development of reference services (mainly in libraries) for many other countries that have not yet reached the level of technological and economic development of American libraries. Though the emphasis lies on reference practice in the USA (which is a natural limitation of the book), one can find examples and cases from other developed countries. Most of them relate to English speaking states (e.g., Australia, the UK, Canada), but the ocassional reference points to France, Germany, or Scandinavian countries.
As is usual for many of the books on reference services, a huge proportion of it is devoted to the characteristics of the information sources of various types. The authors claim that they have used a novel approach to their presentation through relating them to the types of questions that may be answered by these sources. I would agree that placing the type of a request in the centre is a good strategy that is used by many teachers of reference and information work related courses, but put on paper it does not look very different from the usual enumeration of features of individual reference sources. However, in this case the presented items serve as illustrations of certain groups and types of sources (usually with the 'top ten' represented in tables). Besides, the whole book is structured as a reference source rather than a textbook (though has some features of the latter). A separate index of the reference resources described, in addition to the subject index, increases the value of the book as a reference tool. 2ff7e9595c
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