Abstract:

Base on literature review, the article organizes and generalizes the historical materials .The history of reference service is divided into three parts: preparation period, rising period and war period, and main achievements and stage characteristics are highlighted. Three important research topics are pointed out: microscopic investigation on the changing from Chinese ancient book collections to modern library career; historical reasons of library service in special periods; the establishment of theoretical structure of reference service.

Key words: Reference service, History of Chinese library, History of Chinese library science