reference

Joseph Janes' new book is a useful and comprehensive guide to the digital elements in the 'new reference librarianship'. Traditional reference librarians seeking a single title on this new librarianship should consider making this their first choice in reading, as it is quite comprehensive in its coverage.

However, the title (which is really Introduction to Reference Work in the Digital Age) is a tad deceiving, in that I expected a bit more discussion of traditional reference services and their integration with digital elements. Even though we are clearly moving more deeply into digital resources in nearly all aspects of reference work, we still are more in a transitional period, and I expect that it will still be some years before we have a truly digital reference librarianship. This is likely to remain the case until e-book resources and technology are able to overcome paper entirely, which I view as still being quite some years off, although we can start to see the outline of that era developing.

That caveat aside, Janes' book is a quick read, doesn't overload with details or technical data, and is thus an excellent overview for reference librarians and library administrators.