Chapter 5: Roving Librarian at a Mid-sized, UK-Based University

Abstract

Chapter 5 of Library Technology Reports (vol. 48, no. 8) “Rethinking Reference and Instruction with Tablets” details the “Roving Librarian” project carried out at a mid-sized UK university. All subject librarians have been equipped with iPads or Android tablets and sent out to rove. Regular times and places across the university have been arranged, primarily in social areas and working spaces where students congregate; a librarian takes a tablet computer and offers personalized assistance to students in these varied places. Alongside this, ad hoc support is offered to staff and students in meetings and casual encounters, facilitated by the constant access to the mobile devices. This chapter covers the benefits we have seen with the project and gives the results of a questionnaire carried out to determine whether a student would be likely to use the library more after their encounter with the Roving Librarian.