Enabling the roving reference librarian: wireless access with tablet PCs

While many academic libraries are reporting fewer reference interactions, gate counts are not dropping at the same rate. To many students, asking questions is taking a risk that they will appear unknowledgeable. Librarians have branched out to find new ways to communicate with these students. This article describes the creation and testing of a roving reference strategy at the Texas A&M University Libraries that sought to re‐establish the face‐to‐face element by going directly to the student. Tablet PC technology was evaluated and utilized as a means to equip the librarians with the necessary electronic access as they roved in student study areas.