Reporter Volume 26, No.5 October 6, 1994

By LISA WILEY
News Bureau Staff
While the electronic revolution has meant wonders to reference
librarians, it has been bewildering to many undergraduate students. It
is now more important than ever for librarians to maintain personal
contact with their patrons, says Gemma DeVinney, an academic reference
librarian in Lockwood Library. 
	Bookstores, which truly encourage patrons to browse and
linger, are maintaining the appeal once reserved to the reference
stacks, DeVinney writes in the Journal of Academic Librarianship. "We
should try to maintain that atmosphere as well, and not just focus on
computers," she says. Librarians must provide the same personal
assistance patrons receive from their favorite bookstores.
	DeVinney says that it has never been easier for her, in her 20
years as a librarian, to hone into research on a specific topic, but
students have never been more overwhelmed and confused, with many more
choices for information retrieval available since card catalogue days.
	Libraries are rapidly moving toward the concept of "virtual
libraries," replacing electronic products for human contact. The idea
of substituting machines for librarians alarms her. It "doesn't really
help the average student," DeVinney says. "Computers have their place,
but the human touch is still important."
	She says writer Robert Gerloff's description of reference
librarians in a "blind rush toward a futuristic Emerald City," in a
recent issue of the Utne Reader, struck a chord with her.
	Librarians must recognize that what works for professional
scholars may not be the best for student neophytes. Student anxieties
related to information retrieval stem from their lack of conceptual
grounding in the information infrastructure, DeVinney notes, adding
that most systems require learning different search commands.
	Librarians should be available to approach and work with
students on OPAC and CD ROM terminals, she says.
	And although electronic mail is effective for answering simple
questions, the best method for information dissemination is still
face-to-face contact, where librarians can read "non-verbal clues,"
she adds.
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