ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 1 0 4 4 / C&RL News Western European Specialists Section (WESS) V ic e C h a ir /C h a ir -E le c t: C eres B. Birkhead, C o o rd in a to r L ib ra ry I n s tr u c tio n /C o o r d in a to r H um anities Selectors, University o f Utah, M arriott Library, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-1179; Danielle M ihram , H ead, R eference, University o f Southern California, D oheny M em orial Library, University Park, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0182. S e c r e ta r y : Jam es W. Rom er, H ead, Acquisi­ tions L ibrarian, U niversity o f N o rth C arolina, W alter C linton Jackson Library, 1000 Spring G ar­ den Street, G reensboro, NC 27412-5201; R ebecca A. S tuhr-R om m ereim , D eputy R eader Services/ L ibrarian, H u m an ities B ibliographer, G rinnell College, Burling Library, P.O. Box 805, Grinnell, IA 50112-0811. M e m b e r - a t - L a r g e : C arol D. C ooper, Vice President, In tern atio n al Publishing O perations, K.G. Saur, 245 W. 17th Street, N ew York, NY 10011; Thom as D. Kilton, Assistant M odem L an­ guages and Linguistics Librarian/Associate Profes­ sor o f Library Adm inistration, University o f Illinois L ibrary, 1408 W. G regory D rive, U rbana, IL 61801. Women’s Studies Section (WSS) V ic e C h a ir /C h a ir -E le c t: Virginia L. Daley, W o m en ’s Studies Archivist, D uke University, W il­ liam R. Perkins Library, D urham , NC 27706; Betty J. Glass, Instructional Services Librarian, U niver­ sity o f Nevada-Reno, N oble H. G etchell Library, Reno, NV 89557. S e c r e ta r y : Cynthia S. Faries, Senior Assistant R eference Librarian, Pennsylvania State U niver­ sity, P attee Library, University Park, PA 16802; B ernice K. Lacks, H ead o f R eference, California State U niversity-Fresno, H enry M adden Library, F resno, CA 93740-0034. M e m b e r -a t -L a r g e : A rgent Sue Gibson, Divi­ sion H ead o f Collection M anagem ent and D evel­ o p m en t, Atlanta University C en ter, R obert W. W o o d ru ff Library, 111 Jam es P. Brawley Drive SW, Atlanta, GA 30314; Nancy B. Luikart, In fo r­ m ation Access Librarian for R eference Services, Texas T ech University Libraries, Lubbock, TX 79409-0002. ■ ■ The future o f reference III: An introduction A panel discussion held at the University o f Texas at Austin, Spring 1990. A th ird program on th e future o f reference, “Paradigm Shift for Inform ation Service; Business— But N ot as Usual,” was held at T h versity of Texas at Austin G eneral Libraries during the Spring o f 1990. W here th e previous program (see C &RL News, O ctober 1989, pp. 780-799) examined an expansion o f reference services to include an entirely new paradigm , or m odel of service, the th ird program considered th e structure e o f services and th e changes in organizational expe­ riences in th e electronic environm ent. U niT­ h e program was sponsored by th e G eneral L ib raries’ R eference and Inform ation Services C om m ittee. T he attendees included academ ic li­ brarians and adm inistrators from th e G eneral Li­ braries and the Tarlton Law Library, librarians from th e C entral Texas area, faculty and students o f th e G raduate School o f Library and Inform ation December 199 0 / 1045 Science, paraprofessionals, and general faculty and students. Special invited guests were th e assis- tant/associate directors o f public services and heads o f reference departm ents at the University of Texas System libraries. The keynote address was given by Pat Molholt, associate director o f Institute Libraries, Rensse­ laer Polytechnic Institute. H e r remarks were fol­ lowed by responses from Cynthia Kehoe, librar­ ian, Balcones Library Service C enter, and Dennis Trom batore, librarian, Geology Library, both at the University o f Texas at Austin. T heir presenta­ tions w ere followed by a discussion betw een m em bers o f the audience and the panel. The three addresses and a summary o f audience com m ents by John Tongate, 1989/90 chair o f the Reference and Inform ation Services Com m ittee, are p re ­ sented here. The future o f reference III: A paradigm shift for information services By Pat Molholt Associate Director o f Institute Libraries Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Business—but not as usual This will be a talk about walls, not necessarily walls that divide, b u t ones that provide structure, definition, and containm ent. I will talk about learn­ ing to detect them by means other than bashing into them , and I ’ll talk about relocating, repairing, and removing them . I ’m going to begin by throwing up a new wall th at blocks your usual paths. Tomorrow is a new day I have been authorized to make an announce­ ment: W hen those o f you who are reference librari­ ans on this campus leave this m eeting today, I want you to take a good look around this library because it’s the last tim e you’ll see it as an insider. Starting tom orrow you are being relocated to the G raduate School o f Business building. The term s o f your em ploym ent are changed—you are being given three months of salary and the opportunity to becom e an Inform ation E ntrepreneur. T here will no longer be a reference departm ent inside the li­ brary. F or the next three months you will be al­ lowed into the library free. After that an hourly rate will be charged. T he clock will start w hen you en ter the building and stop w hen you exit. The rate will be $100 p e r hour with rate adjustm ents made every six months. You will be charged for loans at $25 p e r item p er day, photocopies will be $10 p e r page plus royal­ ties, and access to the online catalog will be $100 p e r hour. U ndergraduate students will be given electronic pass cards credited with the equivalent o f one free hour p e r day o f classes (if a sem ester is 120 days long, the student will have 120 hours of free library use). It is likely this will more than m eet their needs, since reserve room activities will be entirely restructured; much o f the material will be scanned into online files, the rem ainder will be relocated o u tsid e th e library. U n d e rg ra d u a te s will be charged for loans and photocopies at the above m entioned rates. G raduate students, faculty, researchers, staff, and administration will have to obtain information services from the Information E ntrepreneurs or pay the same rates as you do. T heir inadequate information-seeking skills will come to the fore immediately, creating a quick business opportunity for the displaced reference staff—the Information E ntrepreneurs. By the way, the libraries will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. How did this happen? I, an alumna of 1970, bought the library. In the budget crunch I p ro ­ posed to take the library off the university’s hands and run it like a business— it seem ed like a b etter deal than donating a million dollars. The university, I must say, jum ped at the chance to get rid of this sink hole o f resources. After all, selling the library really only follows patterns already established— grounds keepers, food services, cleaning services, printing services, media services, repairs, and con­ struction services are no longer part o f the univer­ sity’s overhead on many campuses. T heir fees are