A History of Central Reference Services at the University of Illinois Library
Reference services have existed at the University of Illinois Library since the first dedicated Library building opened its doors in the fall of 1897. This tour tracks the growth of these services throughout the Library’s history up to present day, focusing specifically on the services offered by the Main Library. It also discusses the physical spaces where these services were offered, and includes photos of these spaces.
Reference Services at the University of Illinois Library: 1897-1926 (The Library at Altgeld Hall)
In September 1897 the first dedicated library building, now known as Altgeld Hall, opened with the first professionally trained librarian of the university as its head and the first dedicated reference librarian on its staff. There were two reading rooms in the library, with the west room…
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Reference Services at the University of Illinois Library: Sept. 1926-1950 (The Advent of the Information Desk)
The reference department moved into the Reading Room in the new library building (the current Main Library) in September 1926, although the rest of the library remained in Altgeld Hall for the remainder of that semester. In the earliest years of the room's use, reference books occupied the…
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Reference Services at the University of Illinois Library: 1951-1975 (Growth and Improvements of the Reference Department)
Twenty-five years after the construction of the new library building, the use of space in the Reading Room continued to change with the library. A Periodicals Section opened at the south end of the Reading Room on November 22, 1954. This brought together both bound and unbound periodicals that had…
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Reference Services at the University of Illinois Library: 1976-2000 (Adapting to the Internet)
During this period, computers and later the internet had a growing presence in the library and reference services. The first reference areas to be impacted from computer automation were bibliographic searching and the library catalog. In 1976-77, the reference department was one of three locations…
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Reference Services at the University of Illinois Library: 2001-present (Creating Today’s Reference Department)
In the new millennium, electronic reference services continued to grow, with incoming email reference questions nearly doubling to 1,355 questions in 2000-01, and doubling again to 2,650 in 2001-02. February to May of 2001 also saw the testing of real-time chat reference by the Reference Department…
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