seawarrior's review
challenging
informative
3.0
Reinventing Reference is a highly academic book of essays that did not feel altogether useful in this day and age. Many of the worries or presumptions featured in the book that paper materials and reference interactions that can be answered through Google were going extinct have all but been proven false. I think this book, in trying to be thorough, tackled too many subjects and is not fully useful for public-facing workers in any area of the profession. I would be interested in reading an updated edition that offers perspectives on more current issues. Navigating political and health misinformation, employment resources, and web resources that are increasing built with artificial intelligence does not work as intended, are issues that I am asked about the most as a public library worker. I would not recommend this book for modern readers.
rlaferney's review
3.0
This, like all professional anthologies, was an uneven read. I skipped a few chapters that didn't directly pertain to my current job (public library reference librarian) and I agree with other reviewers: that if you have your MLS already then you're probably well-grounded in reference theory, trends, and techniques. With that being said, this book gives a great overview of a contemporary reference philosophy and is a rehash of a basic reference class, from the history of reference work to an examination of current trends. But, I'm not sure how revelatory this book is to professionals entrenched in the field.
writetorun's review
3.0
You know when you read a book and it just inspires you to go out and change everything you do? This is not one of those books. It's a good, solid look at the way reference is evolving in K-12, Academic, public and special libraries. But it did not make me think of new ways to handle my reference activities. In the age of Google, finding meaning as a reference librarian is a new challenge. But those of us in the job know our value and know our function. As one of my librarian friends once said, "Our Google is better than their Google." This book not a bad read by any means, but it's yet another case of preaching to the choir, in my experience.
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