Redesigning Reference Works
Welcome and Introductions
Cliffor Lynch
Redesigning Reference Works
Michael Buckland
Research on library reference services has concentrated more on reference librarians rather than on the reference resources. Reference works themselves (biographical dictionaries, place name gazetteers, dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc.) have transitioned to digital versions of the familiar print on paper volumes. How might we abstract the nature of reference works in order to redesign them for a digital environment? How could the high costs of scholarly reference works be reduced? As scholarly activity becomes more digital could the transfer "from farm to table" be improved?