Reference Librarians in the Age of Google

From American Libraries Direct

Reference librarians in the age of Google

At a symposium hosted last year by Columbia University’s library system, Steven Bell, a librarian from Temple University, took a controversial stand. Before an audience made up almost entirely of reference librarians, Bell argued for the abolition of the reference desk by the year 2012. The old model of a desk staffed by highly trained reference librarians is well on its way to becoming outdated, perhaps even extinct. In its place, he and others envision a world where librarians are available 24/7 to help patrons search the vast digital stacks of the internet, as well as physical shelves full of old newspapers and incunabula....Duke Magazine 94, no. 5 (Sept./Oct.)