What is the future of reference librarianship?

The biggest change in reference librarianship is the great decline in the number of transactions that come to the reference desk. With each succeeding semester the number of people that come to the desk is less and less. I just hate it when someone approaches the desk and says “I’m sorry to bother you.” We are there so people can bother us. For a few years student workers have staffed the reference desk for many hours each week. They are instructed on how to answer the basic questions and know when to refer the difficult questions to the reference librarian on call. This has worked out very well.

I sense that many students are learning to use information resources in their field by themselves.  When they become aware of the resources available to them, they learn to use them intuitively.  Perhaps the thought processes involved in searching Google and Wikipedia are easily transferred when they search a publisher database.  Thus I question the effectiveness of classes that librarians give.  Perhaps there should be a true information competency exam which could compare the grades of students who have received formal training from a librarian to those who didn't.

I guess I am not answering the question that I am posing in the title of this journal entry.  Should librarians be more assertive in their relationships with faculty?  That could backfire.  I never like to impose myself on people.  I don't want to be like an overly aggressive salesman.

Should reference librarians work more closely with their colleagues in technical processing?  I certainly would like to learn more about digitization projects.

I guess I am thinking aloud on a rainy Sunday morning.