What did I take away from Rethinking Reference Collections, a Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin program at the 2009 American Library Association Conference in Chicago? This question and answer program moderated by Sue Polanka of Wright State University featured Barbara Bibel of Oakland Public Library, Sara Johns of Lake Placid Middle/High School, and Dave Tyckoson of California State University, Fresno. The panel in turn reflected on Polanka’s questions and inquiries from the audience.

I may be putting words in their mouths, but these are the messages that I perceived during the mostly optimistic program.

The printed reference book is not dying; it is simply shape-shifting to digital materials. Scholastic and Grolier are going strictly online with some of their titles. Some investment publications are dropping print. (This latter point needs to be double checked and reported on more fully.)

Reference sources in PDF format are difficult to use. Avoid these if possible.

Print directories are unnecessary, a luxury that few can afford. Even the revered Encyclopedia of Associations just sits now that people can find organizations quickly through the Internet.

Many reference items can move to the circulating collection. They just sit in reference and may gain new life if borrowed. Tyckoson has not physically moved the reference books to circulating but almost anything may be borrowed. When offering reference books, he has even said “How long would you like it?”

There are many reference volumes that cost a fortune to acquire that are mostly useless now. Getting rid of them is a political and environmental problem. Better World Books will take many items, but think of the end users before you send them out-of-date materials.

The need for reference services is as strong as ever, especially with the bewildering maze of information available through the Internet. Library vetted resources can help immensely.

The value of the library can not be measured with the same benchmarks as in the past, as some of its services in the online world are indirect.

Just putting links to databases on library websites is not enough to get clients to use them. There has to be marketing, including the example of the reference librarians. Johns recommended creating widgets that let clients search databases from their own iGoogle webpages.

Polanka recommended Booklist’s new blog Points of Reference which will deal with many of these issues in the coming months.