Library Garden

Announcing “A Reference Renaissance: Current and Future Trends” Conference August 4-5, 2008 to be held in Denver CO

March 1, 2008 at 1:24 pm Marie L. Radford 3 comments

Exclusive scoop! Library Garden is pleased to proclaim this exciting news!

The Reference Renaissance conference website just went live and here’s the link to the call for participation with submissions due by April 4, 2008. I am honored to be chairing the conference program, and to be in on the ground swell (dare I say movement?) that is bringing this conference to life.

The Reference Renaissance is sponsored by BCR (Bibliographical Center for Research) and RUSA (Reference and User Services Association, ALA). BCR’s dynamic President and CEO, Brenda Bailey-Hainer is chairing the conference committee. The committee is a group of vibrant library professionals who recognized the vacuum that was created when the Virtual Reference Desk (VRD) series of 7 conferences ended in 2005. The Reference Renaissance conference fully embraces and builds on the legacy of the expanded VRD mission to create a forum of LIS professionals, researchers, and students to explore all the facets of today’s reference service array, including traditional and virtual reference environments.

I believe that reference and information services are far from moribund and are undergoing an incredible, rapid, and revolutionary transformation. Our title “Reference Renaissance” was taken from an editorial by Diane Zabel, in RUSQ, in which she wrote of a “resurgence of interest in reference” and that “reference is experiencing a regeneration, a reference renaissance.”

I am thrilled (alright, downright ecstatic actually) that one of the inspirations for her editorial was the reference retreat I spoke at and helped to organize at the forward looking Penn State University Libraries last summer.

Mark your calendar and please think about attending and/or submitting a proposal for a paper, panel, workshop or demonstration! As noted above, all submissions are due to me by April 4! If you are interested in becoming involved in the conference planning activities, please e-mail me ASAP at mradford@scils.rutgers.edu. We are eager to hear about how you and your library are embracing the Reference Renaissance!

By Monday, all your favorite listservs will be carrying e-mail announcements about the Reference Renaissance conference, but you (well-informed reader of the Library Garden Blog that you are) can say you already know about it 😉 Please help us to spread the word!

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