Thinking about reference service paradigms and metaphors

Abstract

A critical but overlooked aspect of reference service is thinking about paradigms and metaphors. These are subconscious imageries that define how we think about our work-and how our clients think about us. Limitations of the current paradigms affecting reference services are: (1) social-class assumptions about the nature of the library and its clientele; (2) classification systems based on obsolete ideas that subject categories are mutually exclusive; (3) the fortress metaphor implied in physical organization; and (4) failure to capture statistical data that measure contemporary aspects of user service.