The 21st Century Reference Department

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Reference service in academic libraries has evolved over the years from what was the “reference interview” to the kind of service transaction which takes many forms and involves numerous information resources and the highest librarian expertise in some situations. Reference is more versatile now than ever, and this may be attributed to the abundance of resources and the multitude of ways librarians can acquire access to needed information. Coordination of efforts, expertise, and resources can make a great reference department function efficiently and effectively. College and university libraries with huge reference departments may need reference managers or heads of reference to manage them, but there are smaller libraries with small reference departments which employ less than five reference librarians. Managing these small libraries with an even smaller pool of reference librarians may not seem as complicated as managing large ones. The head of reference position is an important one in the library, both for the staff and for the users served. This article will try to present views on the qualities, qualifications, and requirements which the head of reference should possess in the 21st century.