ABSTRACT
Reference librarians use various methods to deal with the demands of staffing the reference desk. As online catalogs become the norm, the lines between technical services and public services become 208blurred and personnel serve dual roles. Cross-training provides librarians with a better understanding of the entire research process and helps expand reference coverage. Some libraries use support staff as the initial patron contact to relieve reference librarians from answering routine and directional questions. A library must determine if the benefits of reference training for technical service librarians and support staff are worth the time required. With the advent of remote reference service, traditional ideas of reference must be reevaluated as libraries consider whether the conventional reference desk could go the way of the card catalog. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: < getinfo@haworthpressinc.com > Website: < https://www.HaworthPress.com > © 2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.]
