Finally 2 & 3

I find myself being much more aware of how I respond to customers queries. I ask more questions and also find myself asking what do you mean by ... So for me the training was very helpful

I also Instant Messaged another library. The person I chatted with was very helpful, polite and patient. When they sent me a link, they offered to wait so that I could check out the site and get back to them. Told me if I needed more information I could e-mail them at a later date. They also offered the option to have the session either e-mailed to me or open in a print friendly window. Very nice. It is also interesting that some other systems are part of a consortium within their state or county. However, this doesn't seem to work if you need information for a specific city and the person you are talking to is across the state.

It was an interesting exercise. A question that came up, was this a project for a class you are taking? You spent quite a bit of time and energy on setting this up for us and I give you a B+ [I may upgrade you to an A, depending on our notaMP3 gift :)]

Sue's Part 2 & 3

I had a great experience as a customer getting information from my partner. She was very knowledgeable and provided me with just the right information. I wish I could have done the same for her. I realized that I need to work a lot on being able to find the information that people would be looking for. And I also learned from my partner that there are SO many questions that need to be asked of the patron when helping to find information.
Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to contact another library to evaluate the customer service offered elsewhere, but I did discuss the findings of some of my coworkers. I am appalled at the poor service they received. I'm so glad we have such conscientious employees here at PA.

Neva's 2 & 3

It's interesting to use other IM services to compare with our own. I think we have a few advantages - first it is Virginia Beach Public Library employees answering the questions for the customers visiting our site. Not always the case for others using IM - some share responsibilities, so it could be a librarian sitting in a California Library answering a question from the Ohio Library site. Because I often ask questions on IM about items specific to the library I am asking, it often means I don't get the answers I need. (In fact, I have never had someone refer me to the correct location to find the information - very frustrating.)

Another advantage for us is the Meebo account that doesn't require a customer to already have an IM account. It gives those with less techology skills the ability to still ask a question.

Neva's post

I found the power point quite easy to brease through to get some quick reminders of what we should all be doing when we approach a customer with a reference question. These are all great reminders of the steps needed - clarifying the question, rephrasing back to them, making sure the answer is in a format they can use, and following up to make sure you got it right! I thought William Robinson's paper has a great way to phrase the question " just what do you need this for"? His paper says to try "What can you tell me about how you'll be using the information?" That way if a person doesn't want to get into a personal topic they can be vague or they might feel comfortable enough to share that it's for an assignment or a business job, etc.

I didn't get a partner for this exercise, but had the chance to do it when I recently took a Reader's Advisory course. I actually got paired with the teacher in that class because my partner never contacted me to do the assignment. I think we all feel pressure not knowing every subject, but that it's good to start with that sometimes. "I don't know a lot about that subject, so can you tell me a little bit before I clarify your question?"

Parts 2 & 3

In working with a staff member this training reminded me to rephrase the question. Often I want to dash off to see what I can find before making sure I know what I'm looking for. I usually remember to ask if I have completely answered their question. And I always tell them my name and that if they need anything else they can ask me or another staff member.

For the ask an outside source I called the Norfolk Public Library. The gentleman that answered the the phone was very polite and even offered to mail me the information. He did repeat the question back to me. He did ask if he completely answered my question. The only problem I had is that he did not state his name at any time.

Reference Interview: Parts 2 & 3

If I were to judge my experience with our practice reference "interviews", my opinion would be that the difference between them was night and day. An "interview" was actually conducted by my in-person reference and virtually non-existent with the online reference (Ohio Library IM Service). To its credit, online reference gave me some titles that would help me with my research topic. Having said that, I should have been asked more specifically of what and why I need the topic I am looking for. If that was done, then I would not have to get books that I don't need. My in-person reference was great. I was asked the right questions, hence was able to be given the correct information. Overall, I was very satisfied with our reference interview training. The information I learned will help enhance the service I provide to our patrons. From what I gather from people's experiences, the training we just performed is a must for some of the online reference personnel.

Nicole's Pt 2&3

Part2

I don't think I paid attention to the directions very well. I didn't really make my partner dig for information in my question (I think). But in all fairness, I kept changing my question, so I just threw something together at the (very) last second. But she answered well, and gave me a few print and online sources, and relayed her own experiences, which was helpful. I'd like to think I answered hers well, but I forgot to add the "are you satisfied?" question.

Part3

Since I was on the very last second, I stole Runaway Clerk's question, and made it my own. I checked one website, and though I had an extra 15-20 minutes, their online reference was already down. So, I asked the Ohio University. S/He first gave me a URL leading to their Ebsco database. When I couldn't access that link because I wasn't a student, the person looked a little further and found me another page of links.

They didn't do all the reference steps that we do, but I felt satisfied. Of course, that warm feeling could come from merely completing the assignment... However, it wasn't an actual answer.

NRM I & II

For my outside source I chose to e mail Chesapeake & Newport News Libraries. Both sites had places to fill in information so as to try to fine tune reference questions in addition to the actual request for specific information. Both sites left something to be desired. One I believe copied and pasted catalog items which were a bit confusing and the other was short and not very informative. In all fairness to my e mail requests they did provide me with a book or 2 and one suggested (with a hyperlink) I look on their catalog. Because of the lack of one on one I didn't feel my needs were met as well as they could have been if I had actually spoken to a person. Given that, there is no substitution for good old fashioned human contact, which also leads to immediate gratification, (i.e. getting the information right away or the knowledge as where to find it) My partner and I had a nice exchange of information with a personal touch and being asked additional questions helped to hone in on my exact needs. Learning from someone with good referencing skills helped to better my ability to think about what types of questions to ask and to use layman terminology..

Help sometimes (reference interviews parts II & III)

One of the first things I've learned in this training is that some reference librarians are more helpful than others. And some, like me, need more experience. I was a nervous interviewer and didn't ask all of the questions I needed to. I almost included enough information. But not quite. I will get better the more I diligently practice.
My partner, on the other hand, was exceedingly helpful. She found not only the couple of sources our library has, but found some new information and new places for me to search for info on the web. My questioning side of the experience left me quite excited!
Something I did notice, tho, was that both my partner and I mangaged to get distracted from the main question. It's easier to follow lines where there's info to be easily found than to continue digging deeper for info on a question with few sources of answers. Neither my partner nor I used a regular "reference interview question sheet." We assumed that we could be informal because it was just between us. I feel certain that had we used the reference form we would have stayed better on the question.

The other reference interviews I participated in were via email. I asked Chesapeake Library the same question I'd asked my partner. There was no acknowledging response. Four days later I got a brief reply from that library citing the first source my interview partner had found me. And nothing more. I also emailed a library in Rhode Island. Again I got no acknowledgement of my question. In fact I've gotten no response what so ever to the emailed question I asked a couple of weeks ago.
To be fair, I have to mention a similar reference experience I had earlier this year. While doing genealogical research I emailed the library in the town where my great grandfather grew up. They did not respond to my letter. Not for a very long time. And then, maybe a month after my original query, right out of the blue was an email from this library and about 20 pages of obituaries and news articles about my great grandfather's family. A bonanza!

So I have two suggestions. One for me - to use the reference interview form. One for any and all public libraries - all reference emails should be acknowledged, even if they're not going to be promptly answered.

Part II & III

How did you feel as a customer seeking reference assistance?

I felt a little rushed as a customer with the Ohio Libraries IM. I think the person wanted to answer the question, but only wanted to answer to the minimum. I felt comfortable with the person who was helping me and with the technology. The answer that I received was only somewhat satisfactory. They only provided articles and only general articles. They did not try to help me narrow the search further. Nor did they bother to look to see if they had any books on the subject.

As customer with a PA staff member, I felt like my question was important. I definitely felt comfortable with the person helping me (to be fair, I already knew they were a nice friendly person). I was very comfortable with the technology used during the transaction. I got a very satisfactory answer. The PA staff member made sure that I had found all the information that I needed.

What was your experience like as an interviewer?

I am used to being the interviewer. I did feel comfortable asking the customer for more information. Of course it helps that I knew the person. Most of the time, I don’t have problems with asking strangers for more information (unless the subject matter is very personal). I did feel like I was able to help the customer find what they were looking for.

How did this experience help you to better understand the process of reference interviewing?

It is always good to be reminded of what it is like to be a customer. It is easy to forget how different the customer’s experience can be from the reference librarian’s. Using the Ohio Library IM, reminded me of how important it is to greet people and to ask follow up questions at the end to ensure that the patron has found everything that they needed.

Susana's - Part 2 and 3

My partner asked the right questions and made some suggestions. We were both comfortable using the technology available to us to find the answers.

I had a phone reference service from Chesapeake Public Library. The question I had was a little bit more complicated. I did have to lead her to the answer to end the interview. She didn't offer more information other than the direct answer.

Bryan - Parts 2 and 3

Part 2

Part two was the more useful of the two parts from my experiences. I was able to practice both aspects of a reference interview in a friendly safe environment (though the devil's advocate nature of the exercise lead to some awkwardness on both parts.) I feel like I got a lot out of being able to practice the actual process of the interview as well as some out of being difficult for my partner.

Part 3

I was not really comfortable with part 3, I used the same question that I had posed to my partner to the IM Reference desk at SJPL and though only drilling down to specific information preference was asking whether I'd prefer a print or online source, and when I specified online I was more or less pointed at Google with a fairly basic search string garnered from my original post. I think that it was a case of the librarian assuming that I was seeking general knowledge and not taking the time to drill down deeper.

Reading through other peoples responses to this part it seems like most of the people choose to contact the college academic libraries and were displeased with curt responses. I'm curious to what degree the general expectations differ between reference information provided by staff between public libraries like ours (which I would presume follow similar guild lines to our own) and an academic library in which staff is more likely to be confronted with more specialized information requests on a regular basis and can also assume a greater degree of competency with their patrons gathering information with limited direction. My own experiences with a few different academic libraries has shown general studies campuses having massive collections as well as access to numerous different specialized databases and the standard Internet research tools that are ubiquitously available. I would almost expect to see a different set of standards applied to academic libraries where librarians knowledge of subject matter is generally going to be eclipsed by all but newer students and make it so it's difficult for the librarians to have the capability to filter content as effectively as students studying particular topics.

Example: a third year student of business accounting can likely more accurate assess the quality and pertinence of specific resources more readily than a librarian could due to the students specialized knowledge and training regarding the specifics of that branch of information and simply directing them to specific databases or areas of the collection, or even helping them work on phrasing for search strings to be more applicable.

Whereas it is not unreasonable to expect that a reference librarian at a public library may well be Fielding a more generalized question from someone not familiar with the field at all or the tools to find that information. In the scenario for a public librarian it is not unreasonable to assume that the staff should not only be able to offer up a degree of expertise using the tools available to find information, they should also be able to provide some basic filtering abilities to screen for accurate and customer appropriate sources (ie. the first thing you would hand to an 8 year old may not be a collection of tax codes when they have questions about businesses, or conversely handing Business Tax For Dummies to someone looking for a more specific book on qualifying deductibles for their business in fiscal 2008.) In an academic library it is more likely that you would be dealing with two/three basic degrees of source detail ranging from first year students in introductory classes (which would likely be similar repeating questions on a semester basis that can be refined over time), general interest information, and more advanced research. In all cases it is reasonable to assume a high level of competence as the general patronage would be comprised primarily of college students to whom a level of expertise could be in assumed in good faith.

Chelly's Part II & III

Part II
I have to admit that I really dislike doing these fake reference interviews. I don't feel as apprehensive when I'm doing them in real life. That said, I think my partner and I did a good job together. I know there are things I could have done better, but I have learned from this experience. My partner did a great job even though nervous about the experience. For some reason I just do better when doing the interview for real instead of just sitting with someone I know.

Part III
I chose to do the IM reference for this part of the training. I wanted to see how other places respond to the whole IM experience. I chose to IM the Ohio University Library. I have to say that I was not too impressed. Like others, I found the customer service to be poor at best. I was sort of surprised by the brunt questions, no real greeting, and really no help. I was basically told to go to the catalog and search myself. When I said I needed articles and web resoruces, I was told the name of a database and that was it. There was no real ending. While waiting for these pearls of wisdom, I was left sitting here wondering if they were looking or if I was just waiting for nothing. I have to say that I was not impressed. I was going to try our IM service with the same question, but alas, no one was online although someone was scheduled to be. I think if we want to make this work we really need to make an effort. Perhaps if we had more people who were excited about it and really want to do it (as opposed to those who have to) it would work a bit better.

The Reference Interview (Part 1)

I like the "discovery resources" listed for our reading and viewing. Some to seriously consider and some to take with a little bit of humor. I particularly like Dr. William C. Robinson's refreshing view of the basic aspects of the reference interview.

Reference Interviewing blogging

My partner was great! Her interviewing skills really showed in the questions she asked. Right from the start she wanted to know the age of the person needing the information so she was able to select age appropriate material. Great follow up information, telling me her name and to come back to her if I did not find the information I needed. It is a little more difficult to judge my self on being the reference librarian. Yes, I got the answer and can only hope it was "professional and speedy."

Well, I emailed Newport News library a week ago and got no response, I am now waiting for Chesapeake Public. I will let you know if I here something back. I guess I did learn the fastest way to get the information is to go to the library or call them directly.!

Lisa D's Part II & III

In the partners reference interview, it was interesting being on the customer side of things for a change! It's a lot easier to see someone else's "mistakes" (wrong turns, bad assumptions, or whatever) than it is my own. Of course I thought I provided *Perfect* reference service... only to find after the review that I'd gotten off course a bit. It was a question with many opportunities to go off on a tangent, but I was able to provide some good information by the end.

I think (hope!) that if I had approached it like I would've a customer out on the floor, that is, to have filled out the info request form as we talked, then I would've been less likely to get sidetracked by the interesting but not actually pertinent information I was finding.

I choose to try IM reference for the second half because that is something I really need some practice on, and I wanted to experience how other systems handle it. Not a good choice...despite multiple tries during the stated hours, UCal was not online. And I have to confess here that I was sneaky and tried VBPL through a public station. Also not online during posted hours! Bad librarians, bad.

I also tried email reference through CPL and also through VWC and have yet to get any answer; it's been more than a week for VWC!

Ahh, maybe I'm not the only one who needs to really brush up on my e-reference skills :)

RunawayClerk's Part 2&3

Part 2:
The mini reference interview was, I think, very successful. Playing customer was a lot of fun and my partner was really great at figuring out what I really wanted. (We went from wanting chili to really wanting to know good places to eat in Chile.)
Likewise, attempting to be the interviewer was an eye opening experience. Since I try to steer clear of reference interviewing I was actually really nervous about acting it out. I admit, I didn't do too well, however it was a neat experience! I really enjoyed interacting with the "customer" more than I usually do.

Part 3:
In contrast, I used Ohio University Libraries (http://www.library.ohiou.edu/ask/im.html) IM for my "secret shop" (after being ignored by the University of Calgary) and was severely disappointed. I felt like a nuisance to the librarian on the other end and was told to search my question from their home page. I did NOT find the answer to my question.

Bu-bye now!

PageTurner's Part 2 &3

My experience as a customer seeking reference assistance was a pleasant one. It was encouraging to receive a quick and thorough response to my request which made me feel that my question was important. Using the Newport News “Ask A Librarian Service” function via e-mail on the Library’s website was very easy and straight forward. Also, role playing as an interviewer was good practice in preparing me to better assist our customers.

Amanda's Part 2 & 3 Adventure

Being on the seeker end of a reference interview is certainly a unique experience after so many years in the "driver's seat." My experience with my staff partner was completely different from my interview with the IM reference service. As discussed by many of us in the first posting, there is no substitute for providing and receiving reference help in person. I asked the same question of both persons and tried to phrase it in the same manner. The IM service for Ohio University libraries was very cut and dry; there was no greeting, just a succession of questions about what format of material I wanted. There was no paraphrasing to ensure the topic was accurate, or questions to clarify my needs. I was quickly recommended a title and told to look at the catalog to find out more of what that book contained. Not what I would consider a success. I felt like the IM reference person was in a hurry so I did not feel comfortable continuing the interview after the first book was recommended.
My staff member interview, on the other hand, was quite thorough. (He knew he was under the microscope. ha ha) He asked all the right kinds of questions. He asked how soon the material was needed, if I could wait for a reserve or prefered a 24-hour hold, "introduced" me to ebooks on NetLibrary, and asked if I needed anything else. He asked so nicely, I offered to let him write the five-page reseach paper for which I was seeking the information. That got me a laugh. :) Of course I felt more comfortable with this interview because I knew the person.
In return, my experience as the interviewer has become second nature. The questions come more naturally and on this occasion were successful in finding the desired material .
Overall this experience has reinforced by belief in asking and listening attentatively which is a skill I have yet to see achieved by IM.

Lee's Part 2 and 3

This training was an easy way to help me with my Reference Interview skills. My partner was marvelous! She asked me plenty of questions in order to find the exact type of quilting book I was searching for. She explained the library layout, catalog and hold process. Very Professional!

On the other hand, I went to Chesapeake Central Library to the Reference Desk. I asked the exact same lead question and got the following: “OK”. She wrote down 746.46 on a sheet of paper and pointed me in the direction of the non-fiction section. SHE DIDN’T ASK ME A SINGLE QUESTION!

_________'s Part 2 & 3

Part 2 - the team-up: That was fun, I really enjoyed getting to sit and talk with a fellow co-worker that I don't get to see very often. The reference interview was enlightening it was hard for me to take it seriously. So, I don't feel I did as good a job as I should have. I don't find it difficult to conduct reference interviews; however, what I do notice is that I tend to get ahead of the customer. This part of the training has helped remind me to let the customer lead.

Part 3 - I IM'd the Ohio University Libraries one morning and didn't find their response very helpful. They didn't provide me with any helpful information during our IM session but did give me two email address for other reference librarian's I could contact. The person "helping" me said they were looking at Ebsco but were having server issues at that time. Beyond that they didn't recommend any books or Internet searches for me to try just the two email addresses and that was all. They asked me one question to get more information! I feel confident that the "librarian" behind the chat was probably a work-study student at the University. All in all not very helpful.