A Model of Reference and Information Services
The final step in the data analysis process involved forming these six major themes into a model of reference and information services, shown in figure 1. As indicated in this model, the library user is now playing the part of reference provider as well as reference user, and the reference librarian is now playing the part of information receiver as well as information provider.
As in decades past, a reference transaction still begins with a user submitting a query to a librarian, although more often the user has conducted an initial search before contacting the librarian.
Even after the transaction with the librarian has begun, the user may concurrently search for information on his/her own, as indicated in figure 1 by the “search” and “research” arrows extending from “user” to “information resources.”
As such, this process is more often a collaborative effort between the users and the librarians, with the users searching and retrieving information throughout the transaction and the librarians searching, researching, filtering, and evaluating throughout the transaction. These collaborative efforts enable increased opportunities for instructing users on searching, evaluating, and other aspects of the process.
While users often searched for information throughout the reference process in the past, user searching tends to occur more frequently today, as well as being more extensive in nature. In this model, the available information resources vary widely in format, as indicated by the various information resource types listed in the upper right rectangle in the visual model. These resources include user-created content made available in blogs, wikis, and other social media platforms, as indicated by the “create” arrow between “user” and “information resources.” The line for the “create” arrow is dotted to indicate that while users are now becoming creators of information that is sometimes used during the reference process, the act of creating that content takes place outside of the reference process.
The same holds true for the dotted “create” arrow connecting the “librarian” to “information resources.” Today’s librarians create many types of information resources, such as blogs and video clips, and again, this information resource creation supports the reference process but occurs outside of it.
Aided by the explosion of diverse information and information resources accessible via the web, librarians’ roles now focus more heavily on filtering and evaluating resources for authority, accuracy, currency, and other indicators of trustworthiness than on providing answers to questions. Moreover, in this model the librarian may employ multiple modes of communication to interact with users, responding to them using new or emerging technologies, as indicated by the various media types listed in the lower right rectangle of the visual model. Finally, as indicated by the “research” arrows, the types of questions received are becoming increasingly complex in nature and are requiring deeper levels of research by both the user and librarian.
What does this model indicate about the evolving role of the reference librarian? With the explosion of digital information, the function of reference librarians has shifted to “filtering and selecting, given that information, usually in large quantity, can be easily found on almost any topic.”
41 This complex online information environment has other ramifications for the work of information professionals, including spending more time per reference transaction.
As Tenopir reported, “Enhanced searching abilities plus the addition of material we never had access to [before] makes it more difficult to give up on a question. We often go much further.”
42 This broader information milieu has led to the concept of “reference overload,” when a librarian inadvertently offers too many pertinent resources to a user. Reichardt explained that “in a digital world where access to resources is available at light speed, the temptation may be to push as many of these resources as are available toward the user . . . which could potentially overwhelm the user.”
43 Nearly a decade and a half ago, a symposium on the future of reference led to the conclusion that reference services were moving toward an increased emphasis on user education and on the role of the librarian as a tool builder for reference technologies.
44 The model presented here represents a thrust forward in libraries’ ongoing evolution toward an ever-increasing “focus on the users.”
45 Instead of users going to reference desks to ask questions, today’s reference librarians, according to one of the town hall meeting participants, “have to reach users where they are,” and they must reach them via users’ ever-changing technologies of choice. Of course, the best way to identify users’ technologies of choice is to ask them, making user input crucial to the successful provision of virtual reference and information services.
It is important to emphasize that this research represents a specific perspective on the reference process, that of reference and information service educators. Input from librarians is crucial to understanding how these issues play out in various library environments. Now that the model has been developed, the next stages in this research process are to seek input from librarians working in the field of RIS and to validate the model presented here in a variety of reference settings.
The participants in this research project were mainly public library experts and, to a lesser extent, academic library experts. Therefore the model is likely the most applicable to public library settings, and further research is needed to identify any differences in the reference process based on type of library.