What would it be like if...

...we didn't have an "Information Desk" on the first floor?  We are beginning to explore ways to give it a try.  Reference service (and the big desk) would remain as-is on the second floor.  But how would anyone get help on the first floor, you ask?  Instead of waiting for you to come to us (which often doesn't happen anyway), we would come to you.  This is a not-new, but not universally embraced idea called "roving reference".

 Why would we do such a thing?  At the root, because of studies like this:

• A study by Swope and Katzer in 1972 suggested that the majority of users who have questions in mind do not approach the reference desk for assistance.(1) This problem was compounded by the large-scale move to online public access catalogs (OPACs) and CD-ROM databases in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

So the idea is that if you won't come to us, we'll come out from behind the desk and help you!  The technology for such an endeavor has never been better - small, light, sometimes hyped, tablet-type devices to wirelessly connect to the Internet and cell phones for making calls would replace the desk phone.  That's all the equipment needed, really.  Maybe a pair of these for each of the reference staff.  What do you think?  Are we crazy?  Bear in mind, of course, that we will be experimenting with this concept regardless!