Tuesday, May 4, 2010

A Page from the Changing Nature of Reference Services Textbook

Link to May 4 Appleton Post-Crescent article, "Fox Cities schools on digital fast track".

Excerpt:   Students no longer page through encyclopedia books looking for information. They Google it.

They don't own dictionaries. They go to dictionary.com.  [Though Retiring Guy recommends they go here instead.]

They don't consult librarians. They ask ChaCha
.


For what it's worth, this article provides a (mostly) high school perspective.

What's about the post-secondary landscape?

Well, Retiring Guy has a snapshot of his own.

Based on 4 weeks of practicum reports by UW-Madison School of Library and Information Studies graduate students, I can safely assert that librarians haven't been completely pushed aside.   College students, particularly undergraduates, are heavy users of....


And at College Library, students still ask for in-person assistance at the Reference Desk in significant numbers during certain times of the week.

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