Gwen's Part 2 and 3

Practicing reference interviews with my coworker was a fun and enriching experience. She asked all the right questions, and was able to find out exactly what my references needs were, and to find several different sources to provide the information I needed. Learning from her reference interview, I was able to ask the right questions to help answer her reference question.

I chose an email format for asking a reference question. I received an answer that was appropriate to the age group I specified, accompanied by the source of the information, and delivered promptly, in a friendly and professional manner.

All these experiences will undoubtedly be helpful the next time I am asked a reference question.

hmm

The information on the tally sheets- which I find some people taking them very lightly, I do myself- found it very helpful to me in explaining the reasoning behind it all. As I have been here for awhile now, I find myself being able to help more customers without passing them off to someone, and these "tutorials" help me keep in mind the right and wrong questions to ask!

Refer, Refering, Reference

I looked at all of the links and agree that the puppet show was pretty bad. But, if you look on the YouTube site, to the side of the puppet show is a video title "Angry Librarian" This is a wonderful example of what not to do. The librarian in the clip keeps offering services, then retracts them. "Oh, we have a color copier. But, its only for staff. I could print it off your thumb drive on my computer, but you might have a virus on it and corrupt the library network. " Sheesh!

I enjoyed Dr. William C. Robinson’s notes on reference interviewing. Very interesting!

Helpful resources?

I checked out the requisite three "discovery resources" but I'm not sure how helpful they were. The puppets were awesome! Everyone should get job training advice in Seussical rhyme. I'm not too sure about the powerpoint. Was it supposed to have a soundtrack? It seemed a little too simple. It basically repeated everything I learned from the ORE tutorial, but with less explanation. I think the best resource was the OREE website tutorial, but it took me too long to get through (several days).

I think my only concern about reference questions is that I won't have the resource to answer the question correctly. That's (usually) why I pass it on as soon as I get asked the question. I do miss working at the bookstore, though; I was always sharp on my ref skills!

Well, that was an interesting puppet show! I must admit they did get the point across on how not to project ones interpretations onto the customers.



As a tech this Reference Interviewing training is something much needed. Reference questions are not just for Information Specialists. Having a better grasp on what to ask and how to approach sensitive topics not only helps the customer but allows staff to find the info and/or pass on the appropriate information to someone more qualified.

I prefered the Ohio outline for techniques. Outlines work better for me, utube quality was lacking as well as the acting.

Information level

In the theme of being aware of the level of information the customer can handle we should also be aware of the terminology we use. Many customers are not familiar with terms we use every day such as stacks, click on the tab, or even PIN. So much to keep in mind.

What?

The articles are very useful. The Ohio Library article is simple and to the point. Moreover, the powerpoint is good. The two videos are interesting. The first video between the Librarian and the Patron illustrates a nice reference interview. As for the other video, one has to give the students an A for the effort, but they have to be shown the section for how to do a nice video production ( :-) maybe they did that on purpose, for the amateurish effect...yeah...maybe that's it). Having said that, it was a funny, yet very informative video.

Reference Interview Training

I reviewed some of the material and found it very helpful, particularly the "ORE on the Web" Reference Interview material. It was very informative. I look forward to applying some of the techniques in an effort to better serve our library customers.

Articles were a good refresher

It is so easy when asked a simple reference question, to take it at face value as a simple question (and many times the question is what it appears to be). However, there are times when a patron might want something much more specific than they are letting on. Going through the self guided tour by the Ohio Library Council reminded me of the little things that need to go into a good reference interview. A lot of them I think we do naturally as part of providing good customer service, such as listening and making good eye contact. Others, such as paraphrasing and asking open questions, I use occassionally, but not every time. It is important to get to the heart of question, since despite my best efforts I have been led on an hour long information goose chase by a patron. So hopefully by refreshing my memory on proper reference interviewing skills, I won't have that happen again!!!!!

ref training

I agree with Chelly. The Ohio Lib. site was excellent. I kept on going beyond the required section, and like Lola, have bookmarked and taken notes from the site. The you tubes videos were wonderful. It's good to know that we can yell at the customers and call them names.

sw

Knowledge Management Skills

Sonds good doesn't it? I thought it did. I looked at the Discussion Group on Reference Work Report, The Virtual Reference Interview: Equivalencies, A discussion proposal by Ann Viles and two other discovery resources that were not nearly as interesting ( I didn't have time to peruse the youtube ones). Anne quoted Robert Travica, from his speech at the 89th Annual Special Libraries Association Conference, and he says that we need to have knowledge management skills in this age of virtual reference and I think he's right. Good knowledge management skills would help us access things quickly for our customers and be aware of what's available not just within the library but on the web as well. Obviously, we can't know everything but knowing the places to start looking seems like a good first step. In thinking specifically about virtual reference interviewing, I also like what he said about using simpler technology and more interactive technology.

Teaching

Of all the offerings in the initial RIT post, the most interesting concept was in Dr. William C. Robinson's paper. I was intrigued by his idea that we should teach the client as we go through the process of finding the requested information.
"... it is important to teach users how to analyze information wants/needs, identify likely resources, retrieve resources, and evaluate their utility. As more library users prefer to do their own reference work via the WWW from home, teaching is likely to become more important..."

YouTubed

Keeping things simplistic, (and ignoring all freaky puppet warnings) I stuck to the YouTube clips....
They were a fun, albeit slightly disturbing, way to see how reference interviews should (and should not) be handled. It's been a long time since I was on the receiving end of a reference interview so I think seeing it in that manner (Barney style) was beneficial.
Back to the shelves I go!

We do NOT interview...we refer...but...

Hi there. As library clerks, we shelve and always direct any reference question to an information specialist. However, there are times that we are the first point of contact for the patron with a question. If they are just looking for a particular section of the library...no problem. More often than not they need specific help rather than direction. I will admit, being a clerk for awhile now, I can direct them to the specific section that they are looking for, but if they need more specific infromation I seek out the specialist... and FAST! While shelving, I have witnessed and heard many of the interviewing questions. I agree, most of the questions posed by the specialists are common sense driven, however, every now and then there is the more difficult interview. Reviewing the interviewing process really sheds more light on this process for me. I found the exercises very interesting and is a productive tool. While common sense IS used, learning or reviewing the skills to be an excellent reference interviewer IS necessary.

Reference Interview and Beyond

After reviewing the materials, it is apparent that there are many similar themes for the face-to-face reference interview. To me it is mostly common sense. I had been doing these things when I worked at Borders as a bookseller without ever hearing what a "reference interview" was.

Face-to-Face Reference
This is a subject that is well documented as it has been done for many years now. The various articles all seem to say the same things. We need to have open ended questions, don't assume anything, watch your body language, and make sure to finish it up right (follow-up). I think sometimes we forget about the body language (I know that I do). It was nice to see that included as something that we need to watch out for. We could be unintentionally "telling" someone we don't care as much as we do by not actually "showing" it with how we are holding ourselves. For me, that is one of the things I will definitely try to watch out for.

Virtual Reference
It was nice to see that this was included in some of the articles for us to read. This is still something new to us and I know that it is different than what we do on the floor. Personally, I don't have a hard time with the virtual reference as I use IM programs at home. I think it is more of a new thing and somewhat difficult for those who are not using the technology as much. One way that we could improve our own VR skills is perhaps by practicing talking with each other using IM. It is a great way to really practice using IM and to get used to "talking" that way with our clients. I don't really agree with what Ann Viles had to say about VR though. I think what she suggested (smiley faces, etc) is somewhat unprofessional. I'm not saying that we can't be friendly with the customers, but having dancing faces and using "lol" isn't exactly professional and make us look silly. I also think we need to keep the scripts down to a minimum. If we want to keep a "human" approach to IM, it is important to make sure the person on the other end knows they are chatting with a human and not just some automated machine.

One Tech's Perspective

This has been a great training opportunity for me so far. I am afraid I haven't had a lot of time to really study all of the resources, but the one from the Ohio Library Council was fantastic. I appreciate that this training was given to everyone because it will allow me to be a more valuable asset at the check-out desk. Especially when the Information Specialists are already assisting other patrons.

Reference Interviewing

just had a chance to look through some of the information, and am looking forward to revisiting the sites. ORE on the web provides a comprehensive training with many intriguing links. Some of the ideas, such as roving, and walking with a customer rather than pointing, are already in use here at Princess Anne. posted by Gwen 5/14/08

I just had a chance to look through some of the information, and am looking forward to revisiting the sites. ORE on the web provides a comprehensive training with many intriguing links. Some of the ideas, such as roving, and walking with a customer rather than pointing, are already in use here at Princess Anne. posted by Gwen 5/14/08

Virtual Reference

After having the opportunity to look through most of the sources (excluding the videos) I think that one of the areas that seems to be the toughest transition is remote reference over digital means. I imagine that most current reference staff is quite adjusted to doing reference via the phone but are getting into a more alien environment doing IM reference or even email. I don't really field ref questions traditionally as a clerk, but as a member of the current tech inundated generation, I feel like I got a pretty good grasp on what the articles were trying to promote for digital reference questions and some things that might help clarify them.

A lot of the important ideas from face to face interviews remain but need replaced, and I don't think that that is entirely dependent on whoever is administering the website to make up for some missed queues. Adding tacky smiley faces or dancing animations or whimsical designs to a website does not make it user friendly or serve as a substitute for smiling face to face. Websites are perfectly capable of being open and presenting useful information in an approachable manner, but more sophisticated designs can help to accomplish those goals far better than the virtual lip service of a .gif of a dancing smiley face.

Providing user feedback when they submit forms and questions is a good practice, it lets them automatically know what kind of status their question has reached and what they should be expecting in return. As pointed out in a few of the articles, feedback needs to be more consciously provided in an online setting since you cannot rely on the patron being able to simple watch what you are doing and see that you are conducting the search for them. I personally find it useful when discussing topics in this manner to provide updates on what I'm doing at the time for whomever I am working with as well as to provide them access to the resources I'm analyzing as well at the same time. That would mean that suppose I was digging through a database and doing a few cursory scans for information, providing them a link if possible to the same information so they can be taking a more informed look at it with their exact expectations in mind to qualify it's usefulness and provide feedback to me if that i the vein of information they are looking for and I need to drill in tighter on a specific type of source or if I'm off base. In other words, it allows for further clarification in the process.

The most important point seemed to be to simply follow your best practices for a face to face interview and remember that you are still working with another human being and to determine and fill their needs while making minor adjustments to your communication style in order to make the interaction comfortable and inviting over IM or email just like you would use a friendly voice on the phone or smile and employ open body language in person so that you can address a patrons needs as throughly as possible and remove as many barriers as you can that keep them from seeking your help with questions and information.

-Bryan

Reference Interviewing

Like Lisa, I felt all the websites offered great review material. The reminders on how to watch our body language, tone and facial expressions was refreshing. I was surprised the one study said we only got the reference question right about 50 percent of the time. Was it us, them, or combo of miscommunications? The Virtual website had some cool ideas on how to "personalize" the online experience. I actually see that a lot on travel sites with online help, they use a persons face with the icon "talk with someone." One of my pet peeves, whether I am a customer or working here at the library, is ignoring people. I dislike it so much, I always try and acknowledge my customer is there even if I can't help them immediately. Lastly, the puppet show, I got a great chuckle out of. I think all of us have had a customer like that, just all over the place!!

Lisa's First Installment

Because it's so easy to get rusty or to think that I know what the customer needs, I reviewed all of the "discovery activities" except the really long one. I wanted particulary to focus on IM reference skills because I've found that the loss of voice/face to face feedback really throws me off in IM reference. Ten minutes after I've answered a question, I'll get a big DOH and realize that I short-changed the interview process and (thereby) the customer! The exercizes from ORE on the Web really brings it all back into the sharp focus I need to maintain in this area. Reference is reference, but IM is different for me and I need to pay attention to all the pieces of the reference interview in order to provide good service.
BTW, you can view my favorite "puppet in the library" video at the following link. And remember, yelling at the customers rarely makes for good reference service!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJlkplvYdgA