Reference Renaissance

While reading the library literature recent I found references to the following book:

Radford, Marie L, and R D. Lankes. Reference Renaissance: Current and Future Trends. New York: Neal-Schuman Publishers, 2010

Based on my recent experiences as a reference librarian, I felt I had to obtain this book. It can be a real drag to sit at the reference desk for hours and get few if any real intellectual interactions. It is actually proceedings from a conference sponsored by the Bibliographic Center for Research of Aurora, Colorado and the Reference and User Services Association, a division of ALA.

I will make a few notes based on reading part I.

R. David Lankes, Director of the Information Institute of Syracuse and one of the editors said that the best days of reference are ahead, not behind. Reference librarians must become change agents and build bridges out to the community and identify innovation.

Carla Stoffle of the University of Arizona says that we must embed the library where the customer is.

Marie L. Radford of Rutgers University another editor states that cognitive and behavioral skills are important to today's reference expert.

Perhaps as I read further into this book, I'll post more comments.