Author: rdlankes

Lankes will present a day long workshop in Toronto as part of the OCULA Spring Workshop on Reference in Academic Libraries:

http://www.thepartnership.ca/cgi-bin/site/showPage.cgi?page=education/ei05/lankes_elmborg_ocula.html

Abstract:

On day one join David Lankes as he looks at current issues and themes in digital or virtual reference. Libraries are taking reference to the web and this is creating challenges for librarians in terms of new skills, staffing requirements, and budget demands. This workshop will cover the basics of virtual reference, virtual reference tools, current trends and a little crystal ball gazing into the virtual reference future.

Lankes has been invited to give a lecture as part of the Lazerow Lecture series at the Pratt School of Information and Library Science on April 28, 5:30-6:30. The lecture series is supported by ISI Thomson. Here is the title and abstract.

Reference: An Island of Chaos in a Sea of Order

Much of librarianship is about bringing order to the wilds of the information environment. Books, articles, media and documents are wrestled to the ground, branded with a classification and corralled onto a shelf (either virtually or physically). Reference started its existence as a bridge from a patron’s unordered view to a structured collection. However, as the amount of disordered information available to the average user has far outstripped cataloged collection, reference’s unique inductive nature has come to the fore. Reference has become a creative author and tool creator in the library. This lecture will explore the unique nature of reference in libraries, and examine the potential of reference to secure libraries place in the 21st century.