Neal-Schuman's The New Library Series focuses on the virtual, electronic, or digital library of today and the future. Finding Common Ground, the first title in the series, published in 1998, was the complete proceedings of a conference held in 1996, including not only the presented papers but also posters, which considered the future of libraries and librarianship with the new technology and challenges faced with the Internet [1]. With the sixth book, Digital Reference Service in the New Millennium, the series returns to a conference, “Reference in the New Millennium” held in 1998. What makes this book different from the first is that the chapters are based on the conference presentations but are not the actual proceedings. Selected papers were expanded for inclusion in this work.
The book is divided into five parts, numbered I to V, along with an introduction, conclusion, and appendix of digital reference resources. The appendix is a bibliography of books and articles including the uniform resource locators (URLs) for those available online. The introduction to the appendix states that this resource list will be updated regularly and gives the URL where it is posted. Following the appendix are brief biographies of each of the contributors and editors. Completing the book is a detailed alphabetical index, incorporating not only the relevant subjects discussed and presented, but also those companies and universities mentioned predominately in the text. The authors are also incorporated in this overall arrangement.
The three editors are heavily involved in education and digital access to information. Lankes and Kasowitz work on the Virtual Reference Desk, a special project of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) Clearinghouse on Information and Technology, which is part of the Information Institute of Syracuse (IIS). Lankes is the director of IIS and cofounder of the AskERIC project. Kasowitz has also worked on KidsConnect, another IIS project. Collins is currently consulting with the United States Department of Education on developing and implementing the National Education Network, having just finished working on designs for the National Library of Education. Though Lankes and Collins are employed as library professors or librarians in academic institutions, Kasowitz is the only one whose biography clearly states she has a library science degree.
Collins's preface and McClure's foreword tout the book as a mix of theory and practice, knowledge and “how-to,” so that anyone reading it will come away with something. Collins outlines the five parts, each based on themes and each containing two to four chapters. The only mistake in Collins's preface is that in naming each part of the book, he uses the title of the introduction in place of the title for part I. Both the introduction and first section deal with the same theme, which can initially confuse readers going back to quote or locate something at the beginning of the book.
Lankes's introduction presents a theoretical approach to what digital reference is currently and may become in the future. Some practical problems and two key issues are presented. The first is scalability, defined as the ability for services to grow. The second is ambiguity, defined as the ability to identify the resources needed to meet users' needs before answering questions. Both of these have existed in the print or old version of the reference desk or section but now take on greater challenges in the electronic, digital, or virtual reference mode.
Each chapter of the book begins with an abstract summarizing its main points. At the beginning of each part is a brief overview of the themes and focuses of the chapters within it. “The New Reference Collection: Traits and Trends,” first of the five parts, expands Lankes's introduction by reviewing digital reference as compared to traditional reference services. The four chapters forming this section are more theoretical in approach, hypothesizing what the future may be like, what librarians and libraries will have to do to meet users needs, and who those users may be. Lessick's chapter, “Transforming Reference Staffing for the Digital Library,” presents a practitioner's view rather than the complete theoretical side using three services implemented by the University of California, Irving (UCI), between 1996 and 2000. One should note that the chapter expanding upon the UCI Web reference service later in the book is in part IV and not part V, as referred to in Lessick's chapter.
The Library of Congress's Collaborative Digital Reference Service and IIS's Virtual Reference Desk Project are the subjects of the two chapters that constitute “Building Digital Reference Services and Networks,” the second part of the book. These begin the true practical advice portion of the book, presenting the background for creating the two systems. The goals, meetings, criteria, questions and concerns, standards, and revisions in setting up both systems are presented. Conclusions note the expectations for future expansion of the Collaborative Digital Reference Service and the suggested use of the criteria and standards for the Virtual Reference Desk Project as a model to build upon for any Web reference service.
Four chapters constitute “Managing Digital Reference Services,” the third part of the book. The four systems—AskERIC, AnswerBase, MAD Scientist Network, and ASK a Librarian—are used to illustrate the pros and cons and ups and downs of implementing and running a digital reference service. All four systems varied in size of staff, user population, subject matter, access to the information by the staff and users, and usage. While all shared common problems, the solutions and unique challenges to each—based on size, type, and facility (nonprofit, for-profit, academic) providing the service—are illuminating.
The methods of surveying users and tracking usage of UCI's “Ask a Question” and the National Museum of American Art's Web reference service form the two chapters in the fourth part, “Evaluating Digital Reference Services.” Based on the available resources and user populations, both are different approaches to surveying users and collecting statistical data on usage. These are two of the most practical chapters for applying information to one's own circumstances. The experiences of both systems are extremely useful in developing evaluation methods, policies, and standards for service to users.
“Digital Reference Technology Spotlight” is the final part of the book. The three chapters composing this section present different software programs to expand beyond basic email used in digital reference services. The chapter describing the University of North Texas's service was a hidden treasure, because it had been presented at another conference the reviewer attended. Finding a chapter describing this system based on an attended program, in which only a simplistic handout had been received, was wonderful.
That is the drawback and the gem of this book. Digital Reference Service in the New Millennium is a collection of papers based on a conference held in 1998. Much of the information has been covered in other conference programs and sources in the last two years; it is not new. But what this book does offer is the compilation of this information in one source. The covered material is relevant to all types of libraries and librarians. If readers are not active in multiple organizations, conferences, or workshops or do not receive more than one association's journal for information, the information in this book may be partially or completely new. And rarely will readers have found all of the presentations at one time.
Digital Reference Service in the New Millennium is definitely a book to be shared by all staff in the library and administration. It will provide more knowledge and a good foundation from which to present cases that can expand services to users in the electronic media.
Reference
- LaGuardia C, Mitchell BA. Finding common ground: creating the library of the future without diminishing the library of the past. New York, NY: Neal-Schuman, 1998. [Google Scholar]