Getting Rid of the Reference Desk

Wow, scoring 12 runs in one inning without recording an out. Sorry I missed that.
Anyway, I went to an interesting program entitled Getting Rid of the Reference Desk which was interesting and not as radical as it may sound by the title. There were no suggestions about getting rid of reference librarians (thank goodness) or even reducing reference service. Rather it's a way to enhance reference service, by pretty much establishing one stop shopping and going to where the patrons are.
(I just saw our Ingram rep., Cathy, walking down the hall. I always enjoy talking with her. )
The first two speakers were from an academic libary, Northwest Missouri State University, and they noticed that lot of their patrons were not using reference in the traditional ways. While the foot traffic decreased, the web traffic increased. After conducting several surveys and focus groups with the students, the reference department decided to completely revamp how they do reference service. The library now, has, a one stop desk. A patron goes up to the desk and states their need, and if it requires another librarian, the appropriate person is summoned on a walkie talkie. (Librarians are on call and carry the walkie talkies, rather than being on desk. Students staff the desk). The walkie talkies work very well and are also good when a librarian is working somewhere that may not be near a phone. This also works well because the librarian on call is never seen doing work at the desk so the patron (or student in this case) does not feel as if he or she is interupting. The library also employs something called an open door system. There are buzzers by each of the office doors. If the door is open, that means the librarian is available for work with the public. If the librarian needs to have a meeting or take a conference call, he or she simply closes the door. There are forms at the desk so that students can request time with individual librarians or if they have specific needs. Students can also talk with librarians virtually and request one on one appointments with a librarian. The library does not use Instant Messaging, mainly because the hours that it would be used are in the middle of the night, not the most convenient times for librarians!
The Darien Library in Connecticut also uses a roaming reference approach. They used a renovation to try a new form of reference. Instead of a large desk, they only use a very small table, and the librarians use wireless phones and small laptops to do work. They do use Instant Messaging (more diverse clientale than an undergraduate student body), and they also organized the Non-Fiction collection so that it more resembles a bookstore. (Books are put into a Self Help section, for example).
The libraries have the following blogs and websites:
www.nwmissouri.edu/library
owenslib.blogspot.com
darienlibrary.org