conducting a reference interview

7/29/2019 Conducting a Reference Interview

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Student Assistant Training Spring 2012


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As student assistants you may be called upon to staff the reference

desk when a librarian is unavailable.

The goal of this training is to briefly introduce you to the conceptsbehind providing successful reference services including:

Before you Begin

Conducting the Interview

Open-ended questions

Closed-ended questions

Searching

Follow-up


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The reference desk is one of the most valuable tools available for

students using the college library yet it is one of the most under-used.

When asked why they dont utilize reference services studentsusually reply with one of the following:

They dont understand the purpose of the reference desk

They are intimidated by the reference desk and/or staff

The librarian didnt seem interested in their question

The librarian suggested they search for the information online first


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What are reference services? The reference staff provides library

users with the following:

Instruction reference staff help users :

Learn their way around the library

Teach users how to use the library and the librarys online catalog

Answer questions / Assist with research:

Locate information for users within the library and online


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One of the most important keys to providing successful reference

services is to: Think like a user!

What kind of questions would you ask a reference librarian?

What are your expectations and/or goals?

How would you want to be treated by reference staff?

Keeping these questions in mind will help you provide users withservice that effectively meets their information needs and buildspositive partnerships between users and staff.


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Some Reference DOs and DONTs

DO: DONT:

Engage users by welcoming themand making good eye-contact

Create physical and psychologicalbarriers by hiding behind thecomputer screen or avoiding eye-contact

Make sure you give the user theopportunity to ask their question

Cut users off mid-question or referthem somewhere else until you fullyunderstand what they are asking

Ask questions! This helps both youand the user to fully understand their

information need

Suggest that the user do moreresearch before asking for help

Make the user part of the searchprocess and ask follow-up questionsbased on search results

Exclude the user by simplyconducting a search and handingthem the results


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At the college library the reference interview is a conversationbetween the reference desk staff and the user.

Asking good questions is a crucial element of the interview BUTlisteningcarefully to the user is just as important! Dont be afraid to

take notes if you need to.

There are many types of questions librarians use while conducting areference interview which will be covered in the next slides.

Work with users to make sure both you and they understand theirinformation needs.


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Open-ended Questions

Typically asked at the start of the interview

Designed to allow the user to expand upon their original question andprovide more information

Do not always have to take the form of a question

Examples:

Can you please tell me more about your topic?

What is it about your topic that interests you? What do you wantto find out?

Tell me what you have so far.


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Closed-ended Questions

Usually asked towards the end of the interview

Designed to get specific details from the user to help refine your search

Examples:

Are you looking for current or historical information?

What type of materials are you looking for? Books? Journalarticles?


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Searching is part art and part science. Good search skills must be

developed, a process which is outside the scope of this training.

Each of you should have received training in conducting basicsearches. Please refer to those training materials in the StudentAssistant Desk Manual.

Some tips to remember:

Identify all the concepts present in the question

Dont be afraid to go beyond a basic keyword search! Our catalog allowsyou to search by Library of Congress Subject Headings.

Use Boolean operators, proximity operators, and truncation to help yoursearch.


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Following up with a user helps the find the information they needand lets them know that their needs are important to us.

Once you have completed your search make sure the user knowshow to find the materials. Help them if necessary.

Check in on the user and make sure the resources are what theywere looking for. If they are planning on leaving the library directlymake sure they understand that they can come back to the referencedesk if they need further information.

Work with the user to refine the search if they werent able to findwhat they needed the first time.


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Tyckoson, D.A. (2008). Reference service: The personal side of librarianship.In K. Haycock & B.E. Sheldon (Eds.), The portable MLIS: insights from theexperts(pp. 127-146). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

conducting a reference interview

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