Today's researchers need to find quickly information that is usable, .
relevant, authoritative and verifiable. To meet that need, libraries must .
adapt our traditional strengths of acquiring, describing, and serving .
information to an environment that is not bound by time or physical .
place, the virtual library without walls. So how do we take the reference .
desk to cyberspace?.
We can start with what libraries are good at. Libraries are good at .
organizing information using controlled vocabularies and other .
standards tools to make materials accessible. Libraries evaluate materials .
carefully before selecting them and according to documented policy .
statements and guidelines. Libraries have both digital and analog .
collections which are regularly mined by highly skilled and trained .
subject, language and navigation experts. Finally, the communications .
options for libraries have been increasing in number and variety. People .
can conduct research and ask questions in person, in writing, by phone .
and fax, and online by email, and experiments using chat rooms and .
video conferencing have begun. .
For researchers to be productive and be able to use information .
around the clock from anywhere, information needs to be organized and .
available. For information to have intellectual and economic value, it .
needs constant refreshing with new information, and needs the hands-on .
touch of the skilled reference librarian to provide context and added .
value.
Until the mid 1980's, most database searching was conducted by .
expert intermediaries. Reference librarians familiar with the database .
and trained in information retrieval would conduct searches for the end-.
user and then present to the user a highly relevant set of references.
In my experience as an end-user,when I was in high school it was a long .
process. .
I would need to set up a reference interview with the reference .
librarian. A few days later I would then get back from the intermediary .