An Interview with the Frontline

Encompassing a wide range of responsibilities, Access Services means many different things to many different people, with global variations in what it means to the end user. However, for almost all it means facilitating access to the wealth of information at their library. This particular interview is an attempt to shed light on how the current economic climate is impacting access to information. Instead of interviewing a single individual, the author distributed a short survey to the CIRCPLUS discussion list asking how Access Services has been affected by the economic hardships that have increased over the past year, compounding many existing economic problems. The author received over 100 responses to the survey, which she details in this article, including comments from the individuals surveyed that demonstrate just how they have been affected by economic difficulties. (Contains 2 figures.)