84 REFERENCE SERVICES
The questions are invariably weighty.
The answers are typically multilevel so that some degree of specialized
knowledge becomes necessary.
A strong code of ethics must govern the answers.
The resources swallow a significant percentage of reference budgets
and require constant updates.
Finally, and most important, reference librarians, who are trained in
the art and science of answering questions, must be constantly
aware that they are nonspecialists and should calibrate their
responses accordingly.^1So in these areas reference librarians not only need to know about cur-
rent resources but also about appropriate ways of responding to questions in
these subjects. ALA’s Reference and User Services Association provides a set of
“Guidelines for Medical, Legal and Business Responses” (see the appendix).
Although this revised and updated version (originally issued in 1992) offers
a “change in focus of the original intention of the guidelines from one of
addressing the needs of non-specialists at general reference desks to one which
addresses the needs of both specialists and non-specialists,” this discussion
will focus on the reference generalist. These revised guidelines also use the
term information services staff instead of reference librarian. The topics covered
in these guidelines are the role of the information services staff, sources,
information service responses for off-site users, and ethics. What follows is
an overview of these areas, and after that, a closer look at medical, legal, and
business reference service (or, if you prefer, information service) issues.role of Information services staff
Here the guidelines recommend that staff members must have the requisite
training and subject knowledge to be able to respond to their patrons’ ques-
tions, stay current in relevant subject areas and, perhaps most important for
the reference generalist, refer any questions that may go beyond their own
level of expertise or are beyond the scope of their institution’s collection or ser-
vices to the appropriate person or institution. As Cassell and Hiremath noted,
these kinds of questions are often fraught with anxiety, fear, and concern. Thehttp://www.ebook3000.com