Essential Reference Services for Today's School Media Specialists

Newly updated, this book offers a concise overview of the state of reference services and their role in school libraries.

Essential Reference Services for Today's School Media Specialists: Second Edition is an overview of today's reference environment covering the essentials of reference services, from selecting resources to weeding the collection, from the advantages of chat reference to the types of library instruction. This book is the place to start for information on reference services. It begins with a discussion of information and information literacy and also covers using and evaluating print and electronic reference sources, providing and evaluating reference services, creating web resources, teaching the core curriculum, and more.

In this second edition, the authors focus on updating all of these areas. Core reference skills are updated with information on virtual reference services and library instruction. The resource section reflects new editions and changes in electronic resources and Web 2.0 tools, and the leadership section is expanded as well.

Grades K-12

• Offers a database search worksheet to use with students

• Includes a list of print reference sources available for further reading