參考服務是圖書館重要的讀者服務之一,美國圖書館學會下的參考與讀者服務學會(Reference and User Services Association, RUSA)認為參考業務包含參考諮詢服務(reference transaction)和其他涉及資訊或研究相關資源、工具,及服務之創建、管理,及評鑑的行動,並進一步說明:(一) 參考諮詢服務乃是由館員推薦、解讀、評估,以及使用資訊資源,以協助讀者滿足特定資訊需求的資訊諮詢工作。(二) 所謂資訊資源的創建與管理包含研究館藏、研究指引、書目、資料庫、網站、搜尋引擎的發展與維運,讓使用者得以自主使用滿足其資訊需求;而評鑑則包含參考工具書、資源與服務的衡量與評估(Reference and User Services Association [RUSA], 2008)。
《圖書館與資訊科學專業詞典(ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science)》中定義參考館員(reference librarian)為「任職於參考部門負責提供資訊服務與參考服務的館員」(Levine-Clark, 2013),在此所謂的資訊服務乃由館員提供給使用者的資訊或研究協助,包含了參考諮詢服務和指示型資訊服務(directional transaction)。而早在1930年代,Shores(1937, as cited in Rabner & Lorimer, 2002)便提出參考館員工作的分類,包含 (一) 答覆讀者有關社區相關和事實型的問題;(二) 查找讀者需要的館藏;(三) 協助研究工作,如編製參考書目、學科領域文獻的摘要與總整;(四) 正式或非正式的教學工作;(五) 讀者諮詢服務。
大學圖書館的主要使命為以師生為主要服務對象,運用各類型館藏與專業服務支援學術研究、教學、推廣服務,因此參考服務勢必與校內的學術教學、學習、研究相結合,甚至蛻變為學科服務(subject service),近年來陸續有學科館員(subject specialist or subject librarian)、學科聯繫館員(liaison librarian)、嵌入式館員(embedded librarian)等學科服務相關職稱出現,而參考館員、學科館員、學科聯繫館員、嵌入式館員間的工作又有重疊。
《圖書館與資訊科學專業詞典》中定義學科聯繫館員為「在學術圖書館中與特定系所或學術單位共事,進行館藏發展和圖書館教育的館員」(Levine-Clark, 2013)。
筆者運用SCOPUS資料庫所收錄的文獻探索大學圖書館「學科服務」於2010年-2020年間的研究趨勢,從中解析學科館員、學科聯繫館員、嵌入式館員的異同之處與各自的發展重點。整體歸納如下:
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