(DOWNLOAD) "Digital Reference: What the Past has Taught US and What the Future will Hold." by Library Philosophy and Practice # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Digital Reference: What the Past has Taught US and What the Future will Hold.
- Author : Library Philosophy and Practice
- Release Date : January 22, 2004
- Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines,Books,Professional & Technical,Education,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 213 KB
Description
In his 1876 paper, "Personal Relations Between Librarians and Reader," Samuel Green wrote that it is essential to provide reference assistance to help users locate information because the public is not trained to find information (Bopp & Smith, 2001). By the end of the nineteenth century, the role of the librarian had expanded to include reference service, and it has been part of the profession since then. In the interim, great advances have been made in the field of librarianship. New technologies change the way we search for information and what we expect from reference service. With the introduction of the computer and the Internet, libraries expanded the role of reference beyond the use of the mail, telephone, or the fax machine. However, Green's point remains pertinent: having access to sophisticated technology and more information does not mean that users have better research skills. In the past ten years, libraries have become both more sophisticated and more dependent on new technologies. For example, libraries migrated from card catalogs to online catalogs. With so many changes in the profession, reference service has also changed. Today, librarians not only help patrons at the reference desk but also in cyberspace. This new type of service, called digital or virtual reference, has emerged as the result of various factors, including the advent and wide use of the Internet and the development of software capable of providing synchronous and asynchronous service. Digital/virtual reference is quite new, but has quickly become popular because of demands by patrons to access information anytime, anywhere.