<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 10 (filtered)">
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Tahoma;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.EmailStyle17
{font-family:Arial;
color:navy;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=blue>
<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Thank you, Emily and Caleb. As an
Old Person in the library world, no doubt my views on this subject will differ
from those of younger librarians.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I have been a library director for 20
years, and was an acquisitions librarian for five years before that. But
for my first decade in libraries I was an adult services (i.e., reference and
reader advisory) librarian. I still think of myself as a reference
librarian.</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>When I went to library school (which I did
twice, at two different schools) the curriculum was the opposite of what it is
today: there was </span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>ONE</span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'> (count ‘em) course on automation and the other courses
rarely if ever mentioned the subject. But for my MSLS I was required to
take a basic reference course and for my </span></font><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>CAS</span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'> I took an advanced reference course (which included a practice
reference interview which was taped for evaluation by the professor).</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>37 years after I took Basic Reference @
Eastern </span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Illinois</span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'> and 30 years after I took Advanced Reference @ North </span></font><font
size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:navy'>Texas</span></font><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> I still use those skills
almost every day. I have learned a fair amount about computers and
library automation along the way; enough to know that Evergreen is worse than
CLSI ever was. </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>If reference is outdated and irrelevant,
how will patrons get their reference questions answered by the next generation
of librarians now in training?</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>-Bob in beautiful downtown
Milton-Freewater, where we have dozens of computers in the library but I often
head to the reference shelves for answers</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>-----Original Message-----<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>From:</span></b>
libs-or-bounces@listsmart.osl.state.or.us
[mailto:libs-or-bounces@listsmart.osl.state.or.us] <b><span style='font-weight:
bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Emily Ford<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Wednesday, October 03, 2012
10:29 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b>
libs-or@listsmart.osl.state.or.us<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> [Libs-Or] does Oregon
need reference librarians?</span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:
.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Caleb,<br>
I'm so glad that you posted to Libs-Or about this. I wanted to but was
hesitant.<br>
<br>
I took a stand alone reference course in library school. Some of it seemed like
busy work. But I go back to the I gained knowledge each time I get a tough
reference question.<br>
<br>
But what was the greatest learning experience I had with reference as a student
was spending 6 months serving as a reference intern and then as an employee in
the trenches of adult services at Monroe County Public Library in Bloomington,
IN. Had I not had a course that covered the reference interview, reference
transactions, etc, my first few months at the public library would have been
awful. The course I took prepared with the theory, armed me with resources and
techniques. Translating them into practice was fulfilling. How many students
these days do reference internships? If they don't, how can a small portion of
a class prepare them for a future job without course and/or reference "in
the trenches" experiences?<br>
<br>
My take: we do need reference librarians and reference is not dead. It looks
completely different, but it still happens. Sure, lots of L-Net questions I
answer are about library accounts, fines, etc and lots of questions I answer at
the PSU Library desk deal with printing in our computer lab. But would I have
been able to answer students questions about finding tests and measures or
survey instruments without being a trained (in the classroom and in the
trenches) reference librarian? Probably not. <br>
<br>
Maybe the problem is not that reference is dead, but that the traditional
reference course curriculum is. How could a full on reference course capture
the breadth of "traditional" reference practices and also what's
happening with new technologies, new questions, and new literacies? There must be
a way.<br>
<br>
Emily<br>
<br>
<br>
</span></font></p>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>On Wed, Oct 3, 2012 at 10:01 AM, <<a
href="mailto:libs-or-request@listsmart.osl.state.or.us" target="_blank">libs-or-request@listsmart.osl.state.or.us</a>>
wrote:</span></font></p>
<div id=":39">
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2012 13:30:10 -0700<br>
From: Caleb Tucker-Raymond <<a href="mailto:calebt@multcolib.org">calebt@multcolib.org</a>><br>
To: "<a href="mailto:libs-or@listsmart.osl.state.or.us">libs-or@listsmart.osl.state.or.us</a>"<br>
<<a
href="mailto:Libs-Or@listsmart.osl.state.or.us">Libs-Or@listsmart.osl.state.or.us</a>><br>
Subject: [Libs-Or] does Oregon need reference librarians?<br>
Message-ID:<br>
<CAPO-dkfzY2W0vaQahXifEw=<a
href="mailto:k4LiWFT%2BXh6ojW8Kx_i_048cX3A@mail.gmail.com">k4LiWFT+Xh6ojW8Kx_i_048cX3A@mail.gmail.com</a>><br>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"<br>
<br>
Hi, everybody,<br>
<br>
As seen on the Hack Library School blog,<br>
<a href="http://hacklibschool.wordpress.com/2012/10/02/whither-reference/"
target="_blank">http://hacklibschool.wordpress.com/2012/10/02/whither-reference/</a>,
some<br>
library schools are no longer offering a standalone course in reference,<br>
but instead making reference a smaller component of a larger course. The<br>
rationale is that "reference is dead".<br>
<br>
My first reaction was, "oh no! not again!"<br>
<br>
But I'm interested to start a discussion here because what isn't mentioned<br>
in this post is that the author is discussing Emporia State University,<br>
which, through the Oregon cohorts of the School of Library and Information<br>
Management, is our local library school.<br>
<br>
I attended Emporia's most recent local graduation this past August, and I<br>
got to hear some great speakers contemplate the future of libraries. In<br>
addition, I recall that both our state librarian, MaryKay Dahlgreen, and<br>
the then-president of the Oregon Library Association, Abigail Elder, also<br>
talked about how grateful we all are here in Oregon to have a library<br>
school bringing new professionals into our community. I'm grateful also.<br>
<br>
Do we expect new professionals to begin their careers with knowledge of<br>
reference services and sources?<br>
<br>
To fuel my own curiosity, I looked at the past three months of OLA Jobline<br>
announcements shared with this list. Of 55 descriptions for positions in<br>
Oregon, 11 mentioned reference service specifically - 20%. I didn't get<br>
into which of those required an MLS, but from looking at the titles, only<br>
one is for "reference librarian":<br>
<br>
Archivist for Collections Management, Eugene, OR<br>
Information Resources and Instructional Librarian, Coos Bay, OR<br>
Library Assistant/Branch Lead Worker, Beaverton, OR<br>
Manager, Architecture and Allied Arts Library, Eugene, OR<br>
Part-Time Librarian, Happy Valley, OR<br>
Reference Assistant, Albany, OR<br>
Reference Assistant, Tigard, OR<br>
Reference Librarian, Grand Ronde, OR<br>
Research/Catalog Librarian, Portland, OR<br>
Special Collections Assoc., Portland, OR<br>
Youth Services Associate, Prineville, OR<br>
<br>
I'm interested in hearing your perspective!<br>
<br>
Caleb Tucker-Raymond<br>
<br>
Statewide Reference Service Coordinator<br>
Multnomah County Library<br>
<a href="tel:%28503%29%20988-5438" value="+15039885438">(503) 988-5438</a><br>
<a href="mailto:calebt@multco.us">calebt@multco.us</a><br>
<a href="http://www.oregonlibraries.net" target="_blank">www.oregonlibraries.net</a></span></font></p>
</div>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'> </span></font></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>