An Ideological Analysis of Digital Reference Service Models

USINGTHE n w o R i m OF PIERREBOURDIEUabout occupational fields of struggle and species of capital, this article examines the ideological implications of the digital reference call-center model. This model has the potential to lead to deprofessionalization of reference work because of increased automation and the replication of eniployment conditions prevailing in private sector call-centers. Call-center work typically involves unskilled women earning low wages in jobs that present little opportunity for career building. Iibrary directors who advocate digital reference call centers as models of the future have neglected the negative aspects of call centers in their rush to cut costs and provide efficient services. One answer to the deskilling dilernnia is the simple act of reading: the more a librarian reads, the more he or she becomes an irreplaceable contributor in the reference transaction.