Digital Versus Non-Digital Reference

de Jessamyn C. West

Digital versus Non-Digital Reference: Ask A Librarian Online and Offline chronicles the experiences and interactions of librarians with digital reference, including case studies, how-to guides, and philosophical essays. The book’s contributors discuss their concerns about using the Internet as not only a reference tool but as a reference medium that most libraries find inevitable to some degree. Topics include the political ramifications of offsite or outsourced reference, the truth behind the assertion that “it’s all available online,” cultural and/or language barriers to text-based reference services, and patrons’ experiences with reference tools, from a librarian’s perspective.