Reinventing Reference

March 15, 2015

All professions are encountering change in connecting with their public, and libraries are no exception. Anderson (reference librarian, Rutgers Univ. Camden) and Cvetkovic (head of access and collection svcs., Rutgers Univ. Camden) use nine chapters to put reference services into historical context, provide insight into current trends, and offer a prognostication about the future. In some ways, they are successful in identifying the changes from static reference services to more proactive models such as using embedded services, QR codes, social media, chat offerings, and an expanded role in teaching. However, this work does have issues with outdated resources, which the editors readily admit in the introduction (e.g., there is a newer version of the "ACRL Top Trends in Academic Libraries" than the one cited here, and they use Google Blog Search, which has been discontinued). VERDICT Librarians who already work in forward-thinking libraries will find little new here, but less eager institutions may find value in using this resource as a starting point for discussions on moving into a new paradigm. This is not as practical as Laura Saunders, Lillian Rozaklis, and Eileen G. Abels's Repositioning Reference and therefore is best suited for beginning the conversation rather than as a roadmap to change.--Maria Bagshaw, Elgin Community Coll. Lib., IL

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