The postmodern condition: students, the Web, and academic library services

More than ever before, academic librarians are re‐evaluating reference and bibliographic instruction services. A framework for this re‐evaluation is proposed that focuses attention on two significant variables affecting these services: student attitudes and the World Wide Web. These variables exemplify the postmodern condition, characterized by consumerism, superficiality, and knowledge fragmentation. Within this framework, academic librarians can devote more attention to facilitating student critical thinking than to training students in the use of library resources to find information. They can choose from a suite of recommended strategies in reference and instructional settings in and outside the library, their primary goal being to enhance librarian‐student interaction.