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| Preface | |
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| Acknowledgments | |
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| Reference, Digital and Otherwise | |
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| What Is Reference? | |
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| Reference According to RUSA | |
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| Reference According to Katz, Bopp, and Smith | |
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| Why Is It Called "Reference" Anyway? | |
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| A Brief History of Reference | |
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| The Nineteenth Century | |
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| The Twentieth Century | |
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| The Present | |
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| The Future | |
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| Why Libraries Offer Reference Services | |
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| The Values behind Reference Work | |
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| Digital Reference | |
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| Defining Digital Reference | |
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| That Which We Call "Reference" Is at a Crucial Turning Point | |
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| Questions for Review | |
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| Endnotes | |
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| References | |
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| Understanding Users, Communities, and Their Needs | |
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| Planning for Reference Services in a Digital Age | |
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| Serving the New 24/7 User | |
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| The Changing Role of the Reference Interview | |
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| The Synchronous Reference Interview | |
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| The Asynchronous Reference Interview | |
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| Today's Reference "Noninterview" | |
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| Asynchronous Reference Service Models | |
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| E-mail and Web Forms | |
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| Asking Why | |
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| Limitations of Web Forms | |
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| Design Considerations for Web-Based Forms | |
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| Asynchronous Interactivity | |
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| Questions for Review | |
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| Endnotes | |
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| References | |
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| Responding to Information Needs | |
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| Mediation: What We Do Best | |
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| Conducting the Search | |
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| Digital Reference Process Issues | |
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| Selecting the Right Resources | |
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| Choosing the Right Interfaces | |
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| Recognizing the "Good Enough" Response | |
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| Utilizing Print Resources | |
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| Respecting Intellectual Property and Copyright | |
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| Guidelines and Policies for Asynchronous Reference Services | |
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| What to Do before Trying to Answer a Question | |
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| When to Give Up | |
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| Mandatory Response Components | |
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| Transcript Records | |
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| User Privacy Policies | |
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| Closure | |
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| Asynchronous Guideline Checklist | |
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| Real-Life Questions and Responses | |
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| Idiom Search | |
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| Franklin's Passed Gas | |
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| History Videos for Kids | |
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| Guidelines for Synchronous Reference | |
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| Transcript Excerpt from Synchronous Reference | |
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| Professional Collaborations for Providing Reference Service | |
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| Stumpers-L | |
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| Do Reference Collaborations Go Against the Grain? | |
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| Ask-an-Expert Services | |
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| Answering In-House Questions Digitally | |
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| Breaking Boundaries of Time and Space | |
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| Questions for Review | |
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| Endnotes | |
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| References | |
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| Technology | |
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| Technological Options for Providing Reference Services | |
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| E-mail | |
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| Web Forms | |
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| Chat and Instant Messaging | |
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| Videoconferencing | |
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| Call-Center-Based Software | |
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| What Do Reference Librarians Really Want Technology to Do? | |
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| Practical Issues Raised by the New Technologies | |
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| Infrastructure | |
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| Collaborative Service Standards | |
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| Service Design | |
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| Glitches | |
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| User Authentication | |
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| Deeper Issues Raised by the New Technologies | |
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| Profiling Users | |
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| Taking the Opportunity to Be Innovators | |
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| Encountering a New Generation of Questions | |
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| 24/7 Expectations | |
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| Matching Services with Expectations | |
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| Questions for Review | |
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| The Evolution of Practice and the Staff of the Future | |
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| The Challenge of Serving the Evaporating Patron | |
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| Managing Internet-Based Reference | |
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| Restructuring Resource Utilization | |
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| Fitting Print into the Picture | |
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| FAQ ASAP? | |
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| Matching the Question with the Best Library to Answer It | |
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| Using Experts as Resources | |
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| The Morphing Reference Interview | |
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| Bringing Dead Time Back to Life | |
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| The Time-Lag Drag | |
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| Staff Development in Times of Constant Change | |
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| Training for Tomorrow | |
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| Turning Existing Skills into Online Skills | |
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| A Call for Criteria? | |
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| Successful Staffing Models | |
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| Opportunities for Innovation | |
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| Matching the Best Librarian with the Right Reference | |
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| Questions for Review | |
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| Endnotes | |
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| References | |
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| Making It Work: Creating and Institutionalizing a Service | |
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| Planning to Plan Means Having a Vision | |
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| First, Fit the Mission | |
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| Second, Achieve Buy-In from Staff and Administrators | |
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| A Ten-Step Process for Planning a Reference Service | |
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| Analyze the Community and Its Information Needs | |
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| Describe the Overall Nature of the Service | |
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| Predict the Volume of Traffic | |
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| Describe the Service Points | |
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| Determine Staffing and Training Needs | |
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| Determine Resource Needs | |
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| Develop a Marketing Plan | |
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| Determine How the Service Will Be Evaluated | |
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| Explore Relevant Policy Issues | |
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| Develop an Implementation Schedule | |
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| Plan for Success | |
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| Questions for Review | |
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| References | |
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| Syncope | |
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| Play to Our Professional Strengths | |
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| Begin by Starting Over | |
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| Final Thoughts: "All These Things and More" | |
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| Question for Review | |
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| Endnotes | |
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| References | |
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| Index | |
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| About the Author | |