Fundamentals of Reference

83

fifteen

reference service in

special subjects

Medical, legal and business questions constitute one

of the most specialized, sensitive, and expensive areas

of reference. The eternal realities of birth, death, and

taxes that color all human existence feed inexorably

into an urgent and steady stream of questions in

health, legalities, personal finance, and business.

—Kay Ann Cassell and Uma Hiremath,

Reference and Information Services in the 21st Century

a

Fter reviewing some types of reference service (in-person, telephone,
online) and considering some categories of patrons (children and young
adults), it’s time to explore some of the issues associated with providing refer-
ence service in some special subjects, namely, medicine, law, and business.
As a reference generalist, I take pride in my ability to answer questions on
just about anything from aviation to zydeco, but queries in these subject areas
often give me pause.
As Cassell and Hiremath observed, these kinds of questions are not only
specialized in their subject content but urgent in their emotional context.
Health problems, legal difficulties, and business challenges often cause people
to seek out a trusted source for advice and assistance. All too often such help is
expensive or difficult to obtain, so many people try to work it out themselves,
and go to the library for information. Where the difficulty arises is when that
request for information becomes a request for advice. Cassell and Hiremath
refer to this as a “handle with care” area of reference work: