Article #2

Buckland, M. (2008). Reference library service in the digital environment. Library & Information Science Research (07408188), 30(2), 81-85. doi:10.1016/j.lisr.2008.03.002.

Buckland's article focused on the premise that a reference library's goal should ultimately be to empower the user to find information on their own (as opposed to empowering the library staff to find the answers). It went back through history to discuss how reference service has almost always been defined with the librarian as the mediator between the patron and the answer.

I think the biggest problem we face in moving to an atmosphere where users are capable of using the resources on their own, is the fact that librarians are still having a hard time using the continually changing reference tools. However, the current generation of librarians entering the field are digital natives and will find it much easier to teach the tools that they grew up using.

Therefore we may be moving toward a time where we are capable of changing the meaning of "reference service." The tools are much simpler now than they were 20 years ago, so the required skill/experience/intelligence level to have a self efficient patron is much lower.

This is a core belief that I held long before the article brought it up, however, because I want people to be comfortable looking for their own answers and have worked to teach this for a long time. A movement to change the views of our field is great, but my views were pretty much there all along.