Still Quiet at the Reference Desk

A Reference  Desk with No Patrons or Librarian

The Spring Semester has just begun and the downward trend in reference transactions continues.  At the beginning of semesters I generally get bombarded by textbook questions as students try to avoid purchasing the book by obtaining it from the library.  I have not received such a question.  Is the internet and Google killing reference librarianship?  I fondly remember the days when I worked at the Sci-Tech division of NYPL when there was a line of people waiting for reference services.  I certainly would not recommend a young person to pursue a career in reference librarianship.  The students seem tech savvy enough to learn to find information by themselves with minimal assistance

The output of this blog has diminished greatly as I now have only one or two entries a month.  I used to comment on interesting questions that I received.  I guess I need to vent on a cold Friday afternoon.