Allen Smith Visiting Scholars Program
The Future of Reference

Date: March 30th, 2012
Time: 2:00pm-8:00pm
Location: Kotzen Room, Simmons College, 300 The Fenway, Boston, MA

Brought to you by the Graduate Schiool of Library & Information Science (GSLIS)

Schedule

2:00-2:30 - Registration

2:30-3:30 - Panel Part 1, moderated by Laura Saunders, Assistant Professor, Simmons College GSLIS

Welcome by Michéle V. Cloonan, Dean, Simmons College GSLIS

Marie L. Radford, Chair, Department of Library and Information Science, School of Communication and Information, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Will reference survive, thrive, or take a dive? Foreseeing opportunities & challenges

Marie L. Radford, Ph.D. will take a look into her crystal ball to make some predictions (or are they educated guesses?) about the future of reference. She will explore the rapidly changing nature of reference service and whet your "'app' itite" by highlighting opportunities that were unimaginable just a few years ago. An ever-increasing array of info technologies are morphing traditional reference modes of service to enable vibrant hybrids, to demand new, collaborative staffing models, and to bring into focus tantalizing possibilities. The unimagined suddenly has become real, as tech and societal developments are enticing us, some might say compelling us, to raise reference services to the next level (or else?). Is reference dead or dying? Dr. Radford will discuss the dynamic landscape ahead, highlighting important issues impacting reference futures. She will also present findings from new longitudinal research on ready reference in live chat and IM that inform speculation about reference horizons. She'll answer the crucial questions - Is outstanding and personalized service possible in the face of evolving demands from our users in today's time of rapid technological upheaval? Will reference ultimately survive, thrive, or take a dive?

Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Senior Research Scientist, OCLC Research

"I have better things to do than go drive all the way to the library when I can just sit at home and type it into my computer" - Making reference services viable in a self-service information environment

Is the current model of reference services viable in today's self-service information environment? The globalization of information has impacted the way we learn, work, communicate, and find information, which ultimately affects institutions of higher education. The Association of College and Research Libraries Top Ten Trends identify these issues and will be discussed in relation to reference services. Integrating reference services into individual workflows and marketing the services are crucial to the sustainability of a service that is greatly needed in an information-intensive society.

3:30-3:45 - Break

3:45-4:45 - Panel Part 2, moderated by Laura Saunders, Assistant Professor, Simmons College GSLIS

Courtney Greene, Head, Digital User Experience Department, Indiana University Bloomington Libraries

What would Bunny Watson do? Technology, mediation & the future of reference

How much of reference is what we do, and how much is how we do it? Emerging technologies have opened doors to exciting opportunities, but as an end in themselves put us at risk of losing sight of the meaning of our work. Without question, reference is more than just the tools we use or the technology we teach, but its future - and its foundation - rely on prioritizing the personal connection.

Jeffrey T. Schnapp, Faculty Co-director, Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and Faculty Director, metaLAB (at) Harvard, Harvard University

Self-reference (reference in the age of partipatory media)

My presentation will be broadly concerned with the topic of re-imagining reference in the age of participatory media. Approached from the standpoint of a cultural historian engaged in experimental work in various domains of knowledge design, I will talk in particular about experimental design work currently being carried out in the Library Test Kitchen at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Particular themes that will be touched upon will include: leveraging the social dimensions of the library as a place of knowledge production and sharing, reimagining the physical space of libraries, and the animation of books and other documents.

4:45-5:00 - Questions & Discussion

5:00-5:30 - Break

5:30-6:30 - Dinner

6:30-7:00 - Keynote speaker, introduced by Candy Schwartz, Professor, Simmons College GSLIS

Joe Janes, Chair, MLIS Program, Information School, University of Washington

Information makes us human

As human society progresses, as we explore the universe around us and the universe within us, in ways trivial and profound, we create things that record what we find out and what we don't, leaving pieces of our thinking and ourselves behind, the trail of our explorations. Some of us have also felt compelled to go alongside, collecting and maintaining parts of that record so it can be saved, not only for its own sake but also so it can be around later to be consulted. In this presentation I want to tell the story of information in its myriad guises and forms and uses, how it affected and is affected by us and by our quest to understand and make meaning of the world around us. Information makes us human because humans make information, and that never-ending cycle defines us and how we live, which means that understanding information is a way to understand ourselves.

7:00-7:30 - Wrap-up and networking

Details

This Allen Smith Visiting Scholars event is offered at no charge, including all refreshments and dinner. Registration is required, and will be processed on a first-come first-served basis. To register, please e-mail gslisfellow@simmons.edu.

Parking will not be provided. Please see http://www.simmons.edu/overview/directions/ for directions to the College and information on parking. The Kotzen Meeting Center is on the ground floor of the Lafavour Building.

Allen Smith

This event is funded by the Allen Smith Visiting Scholars Program, which honors the memory of distinguished teacher and scholar Allen Smith. To learn more about our esteemed colleague and friend Allen Smith, see http://www.simmons.edu/gslis/news/news/2008.php#news873 and the wiki page Allen Smith Quotations.