Extract
Ask! Your Library at the Hub: Penn State Libraries' Experiences Providing Reference Services at the Campus Student Union Building
Introduction
The academic reference desk is receiving less traffic than it once did, and many libraries have diversified their service models in order to address new modes of research that are in constant evolution-most now offer at least one form of electronic reference, many librarians have joined social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, and many are experimenting with various forms of roving reference. In addition, although the reference statistics reported annually by Academic and Research Libraries (ARL) are not entirely transparent due to individual differences in institutions, the overall number of reference transactions has been in a constant state of decline, down 48 percent between 1991 and 2005, indicating that assistance on a one-on-one basis is in much smaller demand than it once was (ARL 7,9). At first glance this drop might seem to convey a state of bleakness for library service in general; however, this trend has been accompanied by an almost directly inverse 58-percent increase in group presentations, with the number of participants in these sessions u...See the full content of this document
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