Cheryl Oestreicher is the head of Special Collections and Archives and associate professor at Boise State University. She has a PhD in modern history and literature from Drew University and an MLIS from Dominican University. She previously worked at Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History at Emory University, the University of Chicago, Drew University, and Princeton University. Oestreicher has taught introduction to archives, archives management, reference, and research methods at Georgia State University, Clayton State University, and Boise State University. She has been actively involved in SAA by serving on the Publications Board, Manuscripts Section Steering Committee, 2016 Annual Meeting Program as co-chair, and the SAA-ACRL/RBMS Joint Task Force to Revise Statement on Access. She was the 2015 recipient of the Emerging Leaders Award. For the Academy of Certified archivists, she was a member of the Recertification Review Task Force and Nominating Committee, and serves on the Exam Development Committee focusing on Domain 3: Reference Services and Access. She has served as a grant reviewer for the Council on Library and Information Resources, National Historical Publications and Records Commission, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is a former editor of Provenance, the journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists.

From the ongoing flood of misinformation to the swift changes occasioned by the pandemic, a myriad of factors is spurring our profession to rethink reference services. Luckily, this classic text is back in a newly overhauled edition that thoughtfully addresses the evolving reference landscape. Designed to complement every introductory library reference course, Cassell and Hiremath's book also serves as the perfect resource to guide current practitioners in their day-to-day work. It teaches failsafe methods for identifying important materials by matching specific types of questions to the best available sources, regardless of format. Guided by a national advisory board of educators and experts, this thoroughly updated text presents chapters covering fundamental concepts, major reference sources, and special topics while also offering fresh insights on timely issues, including

• a basic template for the skills required and expectations demanded of the reference librarian;
• the pandemic’s effect on reference services and how the ingenuity employed by libraries in providing remote and virtual reference is here to stay;
• a new chapter dedicated to health information, with a special focus on health equity and information sources;
• selecting and evaluating reference materials, with strategies for keeping up to date;
• a heightened emphasis on techniques for evaluating sources for misinformation and ways to give library users the tools to discern facts vs. “fake facts”;
• reference as programming, readers’ advisory services, developmentally appropriate material for children and young adults, and information literacy;
• evidence-based guidance on handling microaggressions in reference interactions, featuring discussions of cultural humility and competence alongside recommended resources on implicit bias;
• managing, assessing, and improving reference services; and
• the future of information and reference services, encapsulating existing models, materials, and services to project possible evolutions in the dynamic world of reference