Academic reference librarians : getting by with a little help from our (special, public, school, law and medical librarian) friends

Purpose – The purpose of this viewpoint paper is to consider how academic reference librarians might be guided by non-academic librarians as their roles shift and/or expand in a many different directions. Design/methodology/approach – Connections between the work of academic reference librarians and the work of public, special, school, law and medical librarians are drawn. Areas where expertise can be garnered are identified. Findings – Several relevant areas of expertise from non-academic library fields are identified as being potentially useful to academic reference librarians, depending on the priorities of their individual institutions. As an example, the public library “service response” framework is applied to the academic library setting. Practical implications – As academic reference librarians are being asked to take on a wider range of roles on their campuses, this paper offers a possible framework for professional development. Originality/value – The future of academic reference librarians has not been viewed in the light of adopting expertise from colleagues in other types of libraries on such a broad scale, and with a view to creating a suite of services best suited to individual environments.Accepted versio