May 26, 2021 
Dave Lankes & Mike Eisenberg 

In the last episode, Mike ranted about his frustrations and hours spent in trying to reach a human being for assistance with airline reservations, prescriptions, and insurance. In this episode, we dive deeper into the topic of help and information services of all kinds– human, mediated (telephone, digital), online. What’s going on with consumer help and what’s the status of Q&A, Ask a Librarian, and reference services in library land?

In Wazzup, Dave describes the master class in the new librarianship he’s part of with the National Library School of France, and Mike shares concerns stemming from a disturbing text from a friend related to vaccines loaded with mis- and dis-information that raised all kinds of issues about the credibility of information and the undermining of quality of information. Dave’s Awesome Library Thingy spotlights the Toronto Public Library and Pam Ryan, Director, Service Development & Innovation, and their cutting-edge information literacy classes in machine learning, algorithms, public data, AI, and more.

References & Resources 

École Nationale Supérieure des Sciences de l’Information et des Bibliothèques: the national library school of France., https://www.enssib.fr/

Angela Craig interview (May 12, 2021), Libraries Lead in the New Normal, Podcast Episode 7. https://www.acechicagoevents.com/libraries-lead-episode-7 

Ewen, Lara (May 3, 2021). “Healthy Distance, Telemedicine brings house calls to local libraries,” American Libraries. p. 14. online: https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2021/05/03/healthy-distance-libraries-telemedicine/ 

Radford, M., Costello, L., & Montague, K. (2021). Surging virtual reference services: COVID-19 a game-changer. College & Research Libraries News, 82(3), 106. doi: https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.82.3.106   

Toronto Public Library https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/ 

Digital Innovation Series, Toronto Public Library https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/search.jsp?N=37867+4288098632 

Credits
Audio, Production, and Streaming Services:
Yoni Yemini, ACE Chicago Events