End-User Searching and New Roles for Librarians

Since 1988, the rapid proliferation of databases available to end users at the University of Michigan has impacted the role of librarians dramatically. In early 1989, free unlimited searching of PaperChase (known as UM-MEDLINE) was made available to students, faculty, and staff of the University. The availability of UM-MEDLINE best illustrates how the roles of librarians have been changing due to the introduction of electronic information resources. It has had an impact on the importance and level of mediated searching, the type ofreference questions received, the instructional programs offered, the kind of training needed by reference librarians, and the role and responsibilities of the database services coordinator. This paper describes the impact on a reference department of a massive end-user searching program, changes in role resulting from such a program, and the ways in which one library has prepared its staff to deal with them.