108 REFERENCE SERVICES
we would like to be, it is up to us to seek out some appropriate training or
retraining. We need to know our reference strengths and weaknesses and work
on maintaining the former and improving the latter.
Maintaining a positive attitude and a high (or at least consistent) level of
enthusiasm requires more than release time and a registration fee; they require
some honest self-examination or even some contemplation. By a positive atti-
tude I don’t mean a Pollyannaish outlook, and by enthusiasm I don’t mean
relentless rah-rah’s. Instead I’m referring to some self-awareness as well as a
realistic view of the particular library in which you work. Know your own
abilities and skills as well as the institutional culture at your workplace. Focus
on the patrons you serve and know that you do make a difference in their
lives. Enjoy being part of a profession where every day you have the ability
and opportunity to learn about anything and everything and share it with your
patrons and colleagues. Stay involved and contribute your time and talent to
local and national professional organizations.notes- Jonathan Miller, “Quick and Easy Reference Evaluation: Gathering Users’
and Providers’ Perspectives,” Reference and User Services Quarterly 47, no. 3
(Spring 2008): 218–22. - Ibid., 219.
- Ibid.
- Kay Ann Cassell and Uma Hiremath, Reference and Information Services in
the 21st Century: An Introduction, 2nd rev. ed. (New York: Neal-Schuman,
2011), 344. - Christopher W. Nolan, Managing the Reference Collection (Chicago: American
Library Association, 1999), 153. - Ibid., 153–54.
- Ibid., 154.
- Ibid., 155.
- Mary Biggs, “Discovering How Information Seekers Seek: Methods of
Measuring Reference Collection Use,” Reference Librarian 13, no. 29
(1990): 104. - Cassell and Hiremath, Reference and Information Services in the 21st
Century, 345.
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