Transcript Reference Interview Skills 2004

Reference Interview Skills 2004:
Looking for Questions in all the Right
Places
Sallie Pine
[email protected]
Infopeople Project
Spring, 2004
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What We Will Cover
• Opening the interview
• Navigating the question
– closing the interview
• Follow-up
• Special situations to think about
• Coaching a colleague
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What We Won't Cover
Finding the Answer
 This part of the Reference
Interview process is not within
the scope of this workshop.
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The fact that you know how to find
information means that you're
systematically prevented from
thinking about information the way
your users do.
- Mary Ellen Bates
http://web.utk.edu/~wrobinso/531_lec_interview.html
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Why Patrons Don't "Just Ask"
• Need to size you up
• Not sure of what they need
• Not sure of what library has
• Don’t want to look stupid
• Privacy issues
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Effectiveness of Reference
Service
• Studies show that effectiveness is
low whether measured by:
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accuracy
helpfulness
satisfaction
willingness to return
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Reasons for Low Effectiveness
• Communication failures
• Failed interviewing techniques
• Inadequate search strategies
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Definition of a Reference
Interview
Conversation between a member of
the library reference staff and a
library user for the purpose of
clarifying the user’s needs and
aiding the user in meeting those
needs.
(Bopp & Smith, p. 47)
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Parts of a Reference Interview
1. Welcoming
2. Gathering information with open
questions (expand)
3. Confirming the exact question
(contract)
4. Giving the Answer
5. Following up
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1. Welcoming
Set an approachable tone by:
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smiling
making eye contact
greeting the inquirer
being on the same level
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2. Gathering Information
• Have a relaxed body posture
• Maintain eye contact
• Ask open questions
• Be attentive and encouraging with
comments like “yes,” and “I see”
(active listening)
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3. Confirming the Actual Question
• Paraphrase– use your words so they know
you understand
• Clarify as needed
• End with one of these:
– “Is that what you’d like to know?”
– "Is there anything more you need to know?”
– “Is there anything else you can tell me about your
question?”
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4. Giving the Answer
• Give the answer with the same
attentive behavior
• Summarize:
– the query
– the answer
• Cite the source for the answer
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5. Follow-up
Request feedback and evaluation with
questions such as:
– Does this (completely) answer your
question?
– Is this all the information that you need
today?
– Is this what you need?
– Is this enough material to get you started?
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Open-Ended Questions
• Open-ended questions cannot be
answered by yes or no.
• Open-ended questions begin with
"who," "what," "why," "where," and
"when."
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Closed vs Open Questions
• Closed Questions
• Open Questions
– Do you want paintings
or a biography?
– Can you tell me more about
what you're looking for?
– Are you interested in
travel books or the
history of Alaska?
– What kind of information on
Alaska are you looking for?
– Do you want books or
magazine (journal)
articles?
– Can you describe the kind of
information you would like to
find?
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Neutral Questioning: Getting the
Patron to Open Up
• Neutral Questioning is a type of openended questioning that can be used to
gather more information when the patron
can’t describe what they need.
• It’s used when your usual repertoire of
open questions doesn’t provide enough
direction
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Three Ways to Use Neutral
Questioning
Assumes info need has 3 basic
elements:
1. Situation from which the info need arose
2. Gap in knowledge or what is missing in
their understanding of the situation
3. Uses to which they want to put the info,
or how they expect the info to help them
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1 - Assess the Situation
It would help me with our search if you
could tell me:
– What you are working on
– How this information need arose
– What you are trying to do in this situation
– What happened that got you stopped
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2 - Assess the Gaps
• What would you like to know about X?
• What do you need to know about X?
• What are you trying to understand?
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3 - Assess the Uses
• How are you planning to use this
information?
• If you could have exactly the help you
wanted, what would it be?
• How will this help you? What will it help
you to do?
• I think I can help you faster, and certainly
better, if...
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Don’t Say NO
Never close with "Sorry we don't have…."
instead
Say "What I can do for you is…."
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Referrals
• When you cannot answer the query
from your collection's resources:
– If possible, refer to a source you have
checked first to make sure it can answer
the information need
• headquarters library
• CA second-level reference centers
• other agency or library
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The Reference Setting
• The Reference Desk should be:
– clearly visible from the library entrance
– clearly marked
– informal and unimposing
• Reference staff should not look busy
with desk paper work
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When It Isn’t in Person
Differences when doing telephone,
e-mail and virtual reference:
• Loss of visual (body language) &
aural cues
• Expectation of speed
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The Digital Environment:
Using Electronic Resources
• Assess patron's skills
• Inform about resources
• Teach how to use them
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Assess
• Assess patron's skills
– readiness to use electronic sources
– ability to use catalog
– ability to use a computer
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Inform
• Let patrons know:
– the Internet and the web can't do
everything
– there are good alternatives in print
sources
– need to evaluate web resources
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Teach!
• Integrate instruction with interview:
– choosing and using sources
– Boolean operators
– web interfaces
– printing options
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Peer Coaching
• Definition
• Why do it?
• Practice making it work
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Definition of Peer Coaching
“Peer coaching is a confidential process
through which two or more professional
colleagues work together to reflect on current
practices; expand, refine, and build new skills;
share ideas; teach one another; conduct
classroom research; or solve problems in the
workplace. “—
Slater, C. L. and Simmons, D. L., "The design and implementation
of a Peer Coaching program." American Secondary Education, v.
29, n. 3 [Spring 2001], 67-76
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Peer Coaching: Why Do It?
• Practice makes perfect!
• Transfer classroom skills to the
workplace
• It’s easier to overcome obstacles and
create ways of coping if you have a
partner
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Coaching Tools
• Coaching Checklist
• Model Reference Behaviors Checklist
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Wrap-Up: The Successful
Interview Process
1) Be approachable and use active listening skills
2) Repeat and verify the question to be sure it is properly
understood
3) Ask open-ended questions to get the patron to reveal
the context in which the question is being asked
(which also clarifies the request, and can disclose the
"real" question, which is often quite different from the
original query)
4) Provide the answer in a format which best serves the
patron
5) Ask a follow-up question such as "Does that
completely answer your question?"
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