Repositioning Reference

Laura Saunders is an assistant professor at Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science, where she teaches in the areas of user instruction, reference, intellectual freedom, and academic libraries. Her research interests include information literacy, assessment, and social justice aspects of information access and literacy. Lillian Rozaklis is an independent consultant in user research, learning analytics, and information services, with prior roles as a reference librarian in public libraries and as a research analyst in higher education. She received her Ph.D. in Information Studies from Drexel University's College of Information Science and Technology and an M.S. in Library and Information Science from Syracuse University's School of Information Studies.Eileen G. Abels is dean and professor at Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science. Her primary teaching areas are reference, business information, and special libraries. Her research interests include information access, the future of libraries, and the future of library and information science education.

There have been many books published in the last few years aimed at those who are rethinking, reimagining, rebooting, and now repositioning reference service. These books all take the approach that reference service needs to be redesigned if it is to survive as a service in modern libraries. This version is somewhat different than the rest of the pack. Rather than consisting of a collection of articles from a range of contributors, this work is the product of three educators at Simmons College. These authors take a research-based approach and include extensive references from the literature to support their ideas. Topics covered include the evolution of reference service, competitive pressures facing the field, implications for change, entrepreneurship, and leading and managing change. This slim volume will be very helpful for any librarians seeking ideas and methods for evolving their existing reference services.

• PrefaceChapter 1: Evolution of Reference ServicesChapter 2: Competitive Pressures Facing ReferenceChapter 3: Implications of Change: Competencies and PhilosophiesChapter 4: Thinking Outside the Box: Entrepreneurship in Reference Service ProvisionChapter 5: Leveraging Environmental Scanning for RepositioningChapter 6: Leading and Managing Change for Organizational RenewalIndex