As noted previously, I have been conducting observations of an experienced academic reference librarian. Another lesson I have learned is the value of the reference interview. Of particular note, however, was how this reference librarian with decades of service conducted the interview. In general, the librarian would start with the initial request of the user, whatever it might be. “Okay, you need an article about the information-seeking behavior of doctors.” Immediately, the librarian would go to the catalog and start to explain how to select a database, develop a search strategy, develop key words, find additional key words, determine which articles were full-text, which journals were available in the library database or print collection, and how to determine which articles were of interest.

Notice the teaching involved in this interaction. What was more outstanding, however, was while conducting the search and teaching how to maneuver through the databases, the librarian was also asking a few “innocent” questions. “Is this for a class?” “Have you looked at this database?” “Do you need books or just articles?” “Did you have a problem when you tried this before?”

The interview was not an instant “grilling” of the student. Rather, it was conducted in the normal course of conversation. I was impressed by the fact that the librarian started right away with the question as it was stated. In the literature, this is not always the idea of conducting reference. In fact, in certain types of training, the idea of starting right away on the stated question is considered wrong. But I now find myself reconsidering the idea of starting the interview right after the initial question is asked.

When I was a psychological counselor for college students, I modeled what this librarian is doing: I started with the stated question and let the details unfold. I’m wondering why I am not teaching this approach. Think of the benefits: the student feels you are taking immediate action; that action validates what he/she asked; and you are paying attention. But what I most liked happened next. The librarian never stopped paying attention and explained, as the student answered the various questions, how that changed the search strategy. Even better, at the end of the interaction, the librarian made a point of providing the student with a summary review of the entire search strategy.

I’m glad I will never stop learning what it is to be a teacher-librarian.

Comments

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GraceAnne DeCandido - part-time lecturer, children' IP:68.198.30.221 | 2007-12-09 11:44:41 That's an excellent and wise essay, Lydia. Thank you for sharing it.

Renee Dutta (MLIS student) - Interesting... IP:72.68.56.95 | 2007-12-13 23:40:28 This was an interesting read. I think this would be a great topic to discuss in Human Information Behavior classes (which is when the majority of MLIS students at Rutgers first come across the idea of the "reference interview"). Thanks for blogging!

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