What Are Information Services?Defining Reference Service

LIB 640 Information Sources and ServicesSummer 2009

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What are information services?

And what do they have to do with schools and libraries?

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Information Services

For the purposes of this class, we can define information services as any service intended to provide information for a client or user, or assist a client or user in finding information

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reference services • All the functions performed by a trained

librarian employed in the reference section of a library to meet the information needs of patrons (in person, by telephone, or electronically), including but not limited to answering substantive questions, instructing users in the selection and use of appropriate tools and techniques for finding information, conducting searches on behalf of the patron, directing users to the location of library resources, assisting in the evaluation of information, referring patrons to resources outside the library when appropriate, keeping reference statistics, and participating in the development of the reference collection.

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What Is Reference?

Why Is It Important? • The goal of reference work is to

meet people’s information needs. • Reference work includes finding

out what information people need and using library resources to provide that information. • http://www.olc.org/Ore/1what.htm

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Important reminder

Reference work is about people • those who need information and

those who provide it. Reference service is providing information to meet the needs of the individual library users in your community.• Module 1 - People

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What is the reference process? The reference process includes the

following:1. Encouraging the patron to contact the library

when there is an information need.

2. Finding out what the real information need is.

3. Finding the information that will meet the need.

4. Making sure the patron’s need really has been met.

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Reference questions

Reference Question:• Any request by a library user for

information or assistance in locating information• Frequently Used Library Terms

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Then, there’s the reference interview

Reference interview?• In the reference process, knowing how

to get the question is a critical step toward finding the right answer. Determining the real question is accomplished through the reference interview. The reference interview is a discussion between you and your patron. It involves asking the right questions and listening carefully to the answers.• Houston Area Library System HALS

Reference123 Module 2..Questions The Reference Interview

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Thought-provoking According to Robert Taylor, the

reference interview is• “one of the most complex acts of

human communication,” for in this act “one person tries to describe for another person not something he knows, but rather something he does not know.”• “Question Negotiation and Information

Seeking in Libraries,” College and Research Libraries 29 (May 1968): 180. Quoted in Tibbo, Helen. “Learning to Love Our Users: A Challenge to the Profession and a Model for Practice.” 2002. Online at http://www.ils.unc.edu/tibbo/MAC Spring 2002.pdf

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Communication with a Purpose

The reference librarian “is involved in diagnostic and prescriptive activity.”• “what people ask for [want] is

often not what they really need. Thus, it is important to have the diagnostic session so that the client will be given the right information and will be successful.”• Robinson, William C. “

The Reference Interview.” Online at http://web.utk.edu/~wrobinso/590ref_interview.html

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“Why can't they ask for what they want?”

Mary Ellen Bates:1. They don't know the extent of

your information resources. 2. They don't know how to ask

for what they want. 3. They feel the information is

too confidential to disclose fully.

• “The Art of the Reference Interview.” Presentation at ONLINE WORLD, Sept. 15, 1997. Online at http://www.librarysupportstaff.com/refintviewbates.html

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“Why can’t they ask for what they want?”

4. They aren’t really sure yet what they want.

5. They aren’t sure you can find the information.

6. They don’t think you understand the subject. • Bates, “The Art of the Reference Interview.”

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Basic Considerations1. The student may not know what to

expect.

2. The “average” student may have no preknowledge of the type of resource(s) that will answer his or her question.

3. The student’s communication skills may not be as refined as yours.

4. The student may not know the terminology (library lingo) used in the reference interview.

• Riedling, Ann Marlow. “Great Ideas for Improving Reference Interviews.” Book Report. 19.3

(Nov/Dec2000): 28-29.

Ann Riedling

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Considerations, cont.5. The student may lack knowledge about

the subject, the assignment, or the usage policies of the SLMC.

6. The student may misinterpret your nonverbal or verbal cues.

7. The student may be fearful of you or frustrated about the question being raised.

8. Communications may become miscommunications when a student is unable to verbalize his or her information need. • Riedling, “Great Ideas.”

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Miscommunication happens! Examples:

• Patron asks for information on “career.”  Turned out he meant “Korea.”

• After showing the patron several book about Buddhism, I realized that was not what he meant when he asked for information on Nirvana.

• the Hawaiian volcano, Killer Whale • Miscommunications in Libraries. Now an

archived site. • See also

Weird library reference questions

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Deep Reference Question • Yes, an actual question:

If I ate only Cheetos, would I turn orange?

• See all the posts labeled “Reference” made by The Liberry aka Amy or Marian The at http://lovetheliberry.blogspot.com/search/label/reference

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Types of problems Reference librarians are used to dealing with

situations like these:• Homophones, a word the librarian interprets

with one meaning while the user means the other: e.g., Wales/Whales; China/china. 

• user misunderstands and, in turn, conveys this misunderstanding to the librarian: i.e., “I need the book Catch Her in the Eye” (Catcher in the Rye) 

• user understands the concept but does not use the correct terms: i.e., I need the book, “Battle of the Planets” - (War of the Worlds) • Gale/ALISE Bibliographic Instruction Support

Program. Instructional Module 2: Importance of the Reference Interview . No longer available online.

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Oranges and Peaches: A Classic Article

Understanding Communication Accidents in the Reference Interview• In the reference transaction, the librarian

must have a clear, complete understanding of the user’s information need before a satisfactory answer can be given. Often the question must be negotiated through a reference interview, where the librarian will attempt to clarify, expand, and perhaps repair the query as it is initially presented by the user.

Information Services

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Structure of the Interview ORE Skills and steps in the reference

interview:• Paraphrasing• Asking open questions• Clarifying• Verifying• Getting all the needed information (the

6 pieces of evidence)• Following up• Ending the interview

• Reference Interview Module 2http://www.olc.org/Ore/2interview.htm

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Questioning Techniques

Types of questions:• Open• Clarifying• Paraphrasing• Verifying• Neutral• “Why”• Closed

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What are neutral questions?

Neutral questions• “Neutral questions are open in form,

avoid premature diagnosis of the problem, and structure the interview along dimensions universally important to users -- their gaps, their situations, the bridges they wish to construct, and the outcomes they wish to achieve.”• Dervin, B., & Dewdney, P. (1986). Neutral

questioning: A new approach to the reference interview. RQ, 25 (4): 506-513. Abstract online at http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/art/artabsdervindewd86nq.html

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Uses of Neutral Questions

Used to discover the user’s motivation and objectives without asking “why” questions

• What would you like to know about X?• How do you plan to use this information?• How would this information help you?

• Freund, L. “Question Negotiation in Online Searching.” Powerpoint presentation. Online at http://choo.fis.utoronto.ca/FIS/Courses/LIS1325/QuestionNego.pdf

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Evidence Needed What do you want to end up with at the

conclusion of the interview? • Purpose• Deadline• Type and Amount• Who• Where• The Basic Question

• 6 Pieces of Evidence. Houston Area Library System Reference Training Module 2. Online at http://www.hals.lib.tx.us/ref123/2evidence.htm

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Ending the Interview

Close• Check if the question has been or

can be answered with the material at hand.

• Check to see if the person is satisfied at the moment.

• Expressly offer additional help as needed.

• Withdraw cordially.• “The Reference Interview: A Common-Sense Review.”

Online at http://www.infopeople.org/training/past/2004/reference/ASCLAALAref_interview.pdf

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Reference in the School Library

Types of interviews• Ready reference interviews

• Include questions that can be answered with short factual information

• Research project interviews• Involve in-depth coverage of a topic,

often requiring the use of multiple sources

• Readers’ advisory interviews• Recommending good leisure reading

• Ann Riedling, Reference Skills for the School Library Media Specialist, 2nd ed.

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Face-to-face Reference

• Part of the joy of the reference interview is its tangible, tactile nature and the slow buildup as you gather enough information to begin the search process. You listen, question, and listen again; you pick up cues from gestures and facial expressions. • Schneider, Karen G. “

Internet Librarian: In Your Dreams: A Y2K Fantasy.” American Libraries December 1999. Online at http://archive.ala.org/alonline/netlib/il1299.html

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Email Reference

Eileen Abels (1996) suggests that • every reference question should take

between three exchanges -- the question by the patron, a summary of the question by the librarian, and a confirmation of the question by the patron -- and five -- the three already listed plus a second round of summarization by the librarian, and a confirmation by the patron. • Staley, Laura: “

E-Mail Reference: Experiences at City University.” PNLA Quarterly, 62.4 (Summer 1998). Online at http://www.pnla.org/quart/su98/staley.htm

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Digital Reference

What is Digital Reference? • Digital reference services, also

called “Ask-An-Expert” (or “AskA”) services, are Internet-based question and answer services that connect users (frequently members of the K-12 education community) with individuals who possess specialized subject or skill expertise. • Guidelines for Information Specialists of K-12 Digital R

eference Services

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What about virtual reference?

What is Virtual Reference?• Virtual reference is the provision of library

reference services through digital or electronic information technology. In the case of Ask A Question (AAQ), it means that individuals are able to ask for and receive reference assistance at any time using any computer with Internet access, whether they are at home, at work, in the library or elsewhere.

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31Digital (or Virtual) Reference in School Libraries?

Virtual Reference @ Your Library • I believe school libraries and the students

they serve have the most to gain from real-time online reference.  The users, in this case students, are generally very comfortable with computers and with chat technology.  In fact, many of them would rather chat online with a teacher or librarian than ask for help in person. • Sarah Houghton, “Virtual Reference @ Your

Library” Knowledge Quest January/February 2005

Examples of digital reference in a school situation?