April 1, 2011
Zabel (Schreyer Business Lib., Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park; coauthor, The Quality Management Sourcebook) provides a much-needed supplement to the general introductions to reference librarianship that dominate the market with this collection of 25 new pieces by active and well-placed public service professionals, including Elyssa Stern Cahoy on "Who Are Our Users," Jim Hahn on "Reconfiguring Reference Services for Mobile Devices," Susan Sharpless Smith and Lynn Sutton on "The Embedded Academic Librarian," and Barry Trott and Neil Hollands on "Contemporary and Future Roles for Readers' Advisory in Public Libraries." Other topics covered include continuing skill development, succession planning, reference librarians as adjuncts, marketing, virtual services, different service models, and scholarly communication and trends. The material is especially useful to reference librarians needing to brush up on topics becoming more central to their revised 21st-century roles. VERDICT Essential for public service librarians--academic and public, both veterans and new to the profession--and for students or potential students in information science. Highly recommended.--Colleen S. Harris, Univ. of Tennessee at Chattanooga Lib.
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