The Art of the Reference Interview

Gray-hair-generating Reference Interviews...

From the LIBREF-L listserv

When I worked at a North Carolina public library, the local tv station did an April Fool's story on the excellence of the marshmallow harvest, showing happy peasants tenderly picking marshmallows from bushes and placing them in baskets.

For a couple of weeks the ref desk fielded several queries re "Where can I buy a marshmallow bush?" "The garden center says that they don't have marshmallow bushes, but I saw one on tv.!"

[From: Linda Fortney ]

Shortly after the book The One-Minute Manager came out, a patron called and asked for The Sixty-Second Supervisor.

[From: Jane Houston ]

A young woman in her late teens asked for books on 'Attention Deficit Disorder'. When given several books on ADD, she said she needed to take the books to her boyfriend's parole board. She wanted to show them that her boyfriend's problems really were not his fault. 'The real reason why he stole that car and did those other things was to get attention - you see, he has an 'Attention Deficit'.

[From: Jim Norman ]

"Why can't they ask for what they want?"

• They don't know the extent of your information resources.
• They don't know how to ask for what they want.
• They feel the information is too confidential to disclose fully.
• They aren't really sure yet what they want.
• They aren't sure you can find the information.
• They don't think you understand the subject.

How do we get them to tell us what they want?

Tools of the trade

Nonverbal Skills

• Make eye contact
• Have a relaxed, open posture
• Watch your facial expression and tone of voice
• "Be here now"

Verbal Skills

• Project a professional image over the telephone
• Be quiet and let the user talk
• Listen to and remember each item of the request
• Use encouragers
• Ask open-ended questions
• Establish a sense of expertise
• Avoid premature diagnosis
• Get to the heart of the matter
• Paraphrase the request in different words
• Negotiate boundaries
• How to say "no" without saying NO
• Think through your search - any additional questions?

Sample Questions

Ask the user:

• What do you mean by ___________________________?
• What do you already know about _______________________?
• I'm not familiar with ___________________. Can you explain it to me?
• If you were writing an article about this, what would the headline be?
• How will you be using the information?
• If I can't find exactly _________________________, what would be second-best?
• So in other words, what you'd like me to find is ________________________, right?

Ask yourself:

• Where could I find this in addition to the "usual suspects?"
• If the user's request is too broad or too narrow, can I negotiate?
• Have I underpromised or overpromised?
• Am I really, really clear on what the user wants?
• Am I practicing "Be Here Now?" Am I really focusing on the user right now?
• If I'm not sure where to go, have I looked through the Project Tracking database?

"Consistently Outrageous Service"

• Have you thought about whether you're giving the user "consistently outrageous service?"
• A happy user tells 2 people; an unhappy user tells 10 people. Do the math...
• Meet the information need that prompted the question.
• Never say Never.
• Make yourself indispensable to your users.
• Pride in workmanship. Sign your work of art!

Additional Resources

Curran, Charles. "Perpetuating Information Overload" American Libraries v26 n6 (June 1995) p. 514.

Grover, Robert and Carabell, Janet. "Toward Better Information Service: diagnosing information needs: Special Libraries v86 n1 (Winter 1995) p. 1.

Jahoda, Gerald and Braunagel, Judith Schiek. The Librarian and Reference Queries: a systematic approach. New York, NY: Academic Press. 1980.

Jennerich, Elaine Zaremba and Edward J. The Reference Interview as a Creative Art. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited, Inc. 1987.

Larson, Carole A. "Developing Behavioral Reference Desk Performance Standards" RQ v33 n3 (Spring 1994) p. 349.

Mount, Ellis "Communication Barriers and the Reference Question" Special Libraries v57 (October 1966) p. 576.

Mary Ellen Bates is the Principal of Bates Information Services, a consulting firm that helps businesses find, manage, and organize information. She uses online databases to find information for clients who do not have the time or expertise to find the information themselves. In addition, Mary Ellen provides consultation services to libraries and business organizations on how to develop and organize their information resources.

Her information services business includes finding in-depth information on emerging markets, financial information on companies, overviews of industry segments, and background information on business issues.

Her information consulting business includes analysis and evaluation of libraries' use of information resources, staff development and training, design of internal information management tools, and introduction of library automation to specialized libraries.

Mary Ellen managed the corporate library of a Fortune 500 company for seven years and has worked in special libraries and information centers for 15 years.

She is an active member of the Special Libraries Association and was named 1995 Member of the Year of the Telecommunications Division. She was the 1996-1997 President of the Association of Independent Information Professionals.

Mary Ellen received her MS in Library and Information Services from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BA in Philosophy from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has been an online database searcher since 1979.

Mary Ellen writes frequently on issues concerning the information industry. She wrote The Online Deskbook: ONLINE Magazine's Essential Desk Reference For Online and Internet Searchers, published by Pemberton Press. She also has a regular column in DATABASE magazine reviewing new online products, CD-ROM databases, and software. And she was profiled as a "super searcher" in Reva Basch's book Secrets of the Super Net Searchers, published by Pemberton Press.

Reprinted with permission
This material is copyrighted by Mary Ellen Bates

Please respect copyright; if you wish to distribute this material or use it for any purpose, you must request permission by Mary Ellen Bates.