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During a program titled "Libraries and Museums in an Era of Participatory Culture," co-sponsored by the Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), one of the discussion groups developed recommendations for skills needed by librarians and museum professionals in today's connected and participatory world. The group focused on the concepts, knowledge, and processes that both librarians and museum professionals need to understand and know, realizing that participatory culture has ramifications both for traditional functions and emerging skills. The initial framework was an overview. This paper expands on the work started in Salzburg and calls for further discussion. By opening the conversation to the library and museum worlds, it is proposed that the two systems of education and continuing education will experience positive and possibly unexpected synergistic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information concerning the use of virtual reference services (VRS) for libraries, as well as the introduction of a series of assertions and questions acknowledging that the foundation of reference is a conversation for learning, in the U.S. The author infers that over several years an intensive effort has been underway to better understand reinvent reference in a digital age. Even in the settings of a virtual reference cooperative that used referral systems, the fundamental content-loaded process was seen as one librarian and one patron.

This article discusses the fallacy that real-time and asynchronous digital reference software are fundamentally different. Instead the author argues that the only real difference is lag time, and that this difference does not support the separation of digital reference functions. An attempt is made to create a unified model for digital reference and digital reference functions. Lastly, the author presents some practical considerations for libraries seeking to purchase digital reference software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the emerging education information infrastructure. It uses a five-part framework (aggregating, organizing, using, tool building, and policy making) to describe this infrastructure, then uses the same framework to argue for a tightly coupled education information infrastructure specifically for allied health. This tightly coupled education resource would allow educators, allied health professionals, and the general public to gain improved access to education resources on the Internet through metadata and digital reference services. Specific benefits of the building effort are discussed.