Training Paraprofessionals for Reference Service : A How-to-Do-It Manual for Librarians

Training paraprofessionals is vital to providing good service and minimizing turnover. This manual is designed for librarians creating and implementing a training programme for paraprofessionals who will be working in reference services. The process is covered from goal-setting to evaluation.

...a superbly written, concise, and practical resource that will be invaluable to public libraries in any system using paraprofessionals to provide public service...may become a timeless classic of the field.

...excellent for developing and implementing a comprehensive training program for paraprofessionals.

This quite complete manual contains a range of instructions for training paraprofessionals in reference work. McDaniel and Ohles focus on three important areas: creating a training manual, for which they give guidelines; orientation for paraprofessionals, which they outline; and proper methods of training, which they include. They also offer a well-written section on training for specific subject areas--business, government information, etc. The good advice runs high, even including such rudimentaries as a list of things that should always be on hand at the reference desk. Finally, McDaniel and Ohles discuss performance evaluation and procedures for it as well as revising the program. Patrick Dewey