Reference 2.0

Reverence 2.0: Ain't What It Used to Be... And it Never Will Again Keynote Speech
Joe Janes, Associate Dean, iSchool, University of Washington

If you wanted to be terrified, excited and entertained by the future of library reference service, may I suggest a light continental breakfast and a presentation by Joe Janes? Who knew that acknowledging that the future of ready reference was over could be so funny? But seriously, librarians couldn't answer the volume of Google queries if we wanted to. So why don't we explore our areas of strength and the niches where we really can be responsive.

We're already really good at helping people who care about the information they need (or can be made to care), people who just like being helped, and people "deep diving" for lots of trusted information about a topic of great importance to them. As Joe kept saying about reference librarians, "We're made for so much better." Let's play to our strengths and provide patrons with an experience they really can't get anywhere else rather than "chasing users."

He shared some really powerful thoughts on user created content--whether it be blog posts or avatars and entire histories in Second Life: Every act of creation is a way of saying, "I was here; I matter." From cave paintings to Facebook, human beings want a record of their existence. What are we doing to help make these contributions findable?

Libraries have to be "somewhere and everywhere." This means an inviting and responsive physical space, as well as a strong web presence. And here he made a really critical observation. When someone comes into our library to find material or a service, they've made an investment 0f time and energy--putting on pants, finding a parking place, getting to the right desk to ask for help. So the user is willing to put up with a little bit more because he or she has committed resources to coming to us. But online? It's easy to quit if you don't immediately find what you want. Whatever services we offer online have to be even better than what we do in person.

Joe challenged the audience by asking us to assume that eventually all information will be digital. (He repeated it several times, so I know he was serious.) Rather than being frightened by this we should be delighted. The tools keep getting better! What if a patron were desperate to discover which Backstreet Boys song had the immortal lyrics, "I'm a house of cards in a hurricane"? Would you really want to listen to every song they ever released? If the answer is no, you are never allowed to say a bad word about Google again.

There was so much more, and said so much better. Don't believe me? Listen to a podcast with Joe on Infospeak.org!