Reflections on Portable MLIS Chapter 14

Mary Chelton's chapter (14) is about Readers Advisory Services, a topic I was previously unacquainted with. The overview of RA was valuable only inasmuch as it taught me that these services are a part of librarianship. The good stuff in this article, as far as I am concerned, lies in the discussion of displays and 'merchandising.' The author has the prescient comment:

"Libraries are ideal browsing sites for many readers... Unfortunately, many libraries are still organized as if everyone knew exactly what they wanted as soon as they came in the door... This is an uninformed view of our users' actual behavior because it does not take into account that being in the library itself might change someone's idea of what they wanted when they came in."

I find this to be my own experience in public libraries and hadn't articulated this minor frustration even to myself.

I was disappointed in the brief treatment given by Chelton to the use of technology in RA. Either she is not very interested in it herself, or there are shockingly few Web 2.0 RA-like opportunities. It seems like a natural fit, and I will probably have to do my own simple research to see whether there's more out there, or if the author's short shrift is actually representational.


Chelton, Mary K., (2008). Chapter 14, Reader Advisory Services: How to Help Users Find a "Good Book." In Ken Haycock & Brooke E. Sheldon (Eds.), The Portable MLIS: Insights From the Experts (159-67). West Port Connecticut: Libraries Unlimited.