   
Discussion Group on Reference Work ReportArchive - Historical MaterialReport from the start-up meeting held at the 63rd IFLA General Conference31 August 1997Copenhagen, Denmark A start-up meeting in order to explore the establishment of a Discussion Group on Reference Work was held on Sunday 31. This first meeting drew 32 participants from 18 different countries. The meeting was chaired by Annsofie Oscarsson, Sweden, who also took the initiative to the Discussion Group. There are several reasons for creating a Discussion Group on Reference Work and Annsofie Oscarsson started the meeting by pointing out some of them:
The Section of Document Delivery and Interlending (Division V, Collections and services) has agreed to affiliate the Discussion group on Reference Work. 1. Comments on the establishing of the DG on General Reference ServiceThe discussion, in which delegates from many countries took part, showed that the need for an organ to discuss reference work is strongly needed. As one delegate put it: "reference librarians have identiy crisis - everything is moving towards artificial intelligence". Furthermore, an international discussion of the quality on reference work is needed as well as the cross-cultural function of reference services within the library world.The professional reference librarian is important for the availability of the collections and information retrieval. One delegate cited Tove Jansson: "What shall you do with a whole bag of stones if you cannot show them to anybody?". 2. The scope of the DGAfter a discussion it was agreed that the scope of the Discussion Group will includeall aspects of reference work in all types of libraries in all regions. The discussion focused on the importance of the new electronic environment and that a change is taking place in reference work. The future role of reference work is an important issue as well as the quality aspect. It was generally agreed that the most important topics to discuss are:
3. ApprovalThose who wish to approve the establishment of the DG were asked to send their endorsements by e-mail to: Annsofie.Oscarsson@ub.umu.se.4. Name of the DGIt was agreed that the name should be IFLA Discussion Group on Reference Work. Many interesting topics arose during the meeting and it was agreed that the topic of the first year should focus one of the basic issues: Organization of Reference Work.The delegates were divided into four groups depending on the type of library and with one coordinator for each group:
Each coordinator collects reports from the members of each group regarding the organization of reference work and with the following aspects taken into consideration:
The convenor collects the reports from the coordinators and the issues will be put up on the agenda next year. Deadline for the reports is February 28, 1998. 5. Methods of workingMany interesting topics arose during the meeting and it was agreed that the topic of the first year should focus one of the basic issues: Organization of Reference Work.The delegates were divided into four groups depending on the type of library and with one coordinator for each group:
Each coordinator collects reports from the members of each group regarding the organization of reference work and with the following aspects taken into consideration:
The convenor collects the reports from the coordinators and the issues will be put up on the agenda next year. Deadline for the reports is February 28, 1998. 6. ConvenorConvenor of the DG is:
Annsofie Oscarsson S-901 74 Umea, Sweden Tel. +46-90-786 54 91 Fax: +46-90-786 74 74 E-mail: annsofie.oscarsson@ub.umu.se 7. Next meetingThe next planned meeting: Amsterdam 1998.Report submitted by:
Birgitta Fogelvik The Royal Library P.O.Box 5039 S-102 41 Stockholm, Sweden Phone: +46-8-463 41 93 Fax: +46-8-463 40 04 E-mail: Birgitta.Fogelvik@kb.se
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| Latest Revision: September 18, 1998 |
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