Some might suggest that this book shouldn’t exist at all. Many library critics, after all—and even a few librarians—believe that reference services are archaic endeavors, like making buggy whips or operating a telephone switchboard. Not that these are bad professions, the thinking goes—they are simply no longer very useful. On the way to obsolescence, however, a funny thing...

We gratefully acknowledge the support and encouragement of our Western Kentucky University Library colleagues, especially Brian Coutts, head of the Library Public Services Department; Connie Foster, dean of University Libraries; Rosemary Meszaros, coordinator of Government Documents and Law; and research assistant Jessica Barksdale. We also appreciate the guidance and hard work of our editor, M....

So in general terms, humans have collected, preserved, stored, and organized information in written form for about 5,000 years. But long before that, communities of humans found ways to preserve local and family knowledge, usually by establishing an oral tradition of storytelling and fact-repeating that was passed down through generations. And those oral traditions have lasted well...

Much of this busy-ness at libraries takes place around, but not in connection with, the reference desk, which at most libraries is in a visible and central place (though never as close to the front entrance as the circulation desk, if those two entities are separated). Only when the library user needs help—pursuing a research project, finding something in the library stacks, getting a...

Nowhere in a library is staffing more critical than reference services. Reference services staff are often the first line of contact, and their interactions with library users may have a powerful influence on the relationships users form with the library as a whole. Selecting and developing a reference staff can, however, be a challenging task, and one that has become increasingly complex. There...

John Gottfried is a faculty librarian and associate professor at Western Kentucky University. He is the reference services coordinator and business librarian for WKU Libraries. He completed his master of library science degree at Indiana University, Indianapolis, and his master of business administration and...

This innovative series written and edited for librarians by librarians provides authoritative, practical information and guidance on a wide spectrum of library processes and operations.