A number of factors are having a significant impact on the reference department, both in terms of the physical space we operate in and the types of services we provide. Some of the factors at play are:
Demand for on-site reference assistance lessening - Over the course of the past decade, reference desk transactions have steadily declined in each of five categories - directional, technical microform, electronic resources and print resources. At the same time, the number of reference transactions taking place via phone, email and text have increased. Student workers can answer many of the "standard" reference questions. This set of circumstances can be viewed as an opportunity for reference librarians to rethink the manner in which they provide services and come up with better ways to provide in depth reference and research assistance to their students.
Collection shrinking - The reference department engages in a constant process of weeding our collection, removing outdated and unused volumes from the collection. At the same time, we seed to add new titles to the collection. We're increasingly finding that many of those new items (particularly those in the physical, life and social sciences are being replaced with electronic resources that are more current.
Ebook collection growing - This semester the library added two significant ebook collections to our list of resources - ebrary and Ebooks from EBSCO. Anecdotally, we can say that these resources have proved to be useful across multiple subject areas. As a result of the shrinking physical collection, we are now considering removing a number of reference shelves, clearing additional space on the reference floor.
Off campus access available - Authenticated library patrons don't need to physically come to the library to access our resources. The ebook collections and virtually all of the databases are available to students from off-campus. Many of the "directional" questions we receive from both faculty and students center around issues related to off-campus access.
Student have multiple ways of interacting with a librarian - Students do not need to come to the library for assistance, they are able to call, email or text a reference librarian. In the case of most reference transactions, the communication doesn't need to be done in person.
Well qualified student workers can field most reference questions - Many of the questions posed to reference librarians deal with finding items within the library, determining whether an item is available full-text or getting advice on particular resources to search. In depth reference transactions requiring the expertise of a reference librarian are more time consuming and most often take place face to face.
Opportunities to partner with the college's writing center - The Writing Center, located on the third floor of the library, offers drop in writing assistance from peer tutors. Through conversations with writing center staff, it's become clear that many of those seeking writing center help in fact need research or citation help. There is an opportunity to have a writing center representative available on the library's first floor to provide "one stop shopping" for writing/reference assistance.
Taken together, these factors are contributing to a phenomena experienced at many academic libraries, the abandoning of the traditional reference desk to be replaced with a "front - line" multi-service center (Garrison, 2011).
