ABSTRACT

This article presents a survey of digital reference trends in the United States with an emphasis on services for Slavic and East European studies. It is based on the author's experience as a Slavic reference librarian at the University of Illinois (Slavic Reference Service) and the Library of Congress (European Division). Topics include the conflict between print and digital resources, coping with electronic serials, full-text databases and websites, digital communication tools such as e-mail, chat, and web forms, the proliferation of websites from 184Eastern Europe and the NIS, and opportunities for bibliographic instruction via the web. The article concludes with suggestions for keeping current and ideas for possible reference collaboration among Slavic and East European studies librarians.