Heidi Julien

1
The Reference Interview

• Heidi Julien
• LIS 503
• Fall 2009

2
Dimensions of the interview

• A communication event communication means to
• impart
• participate
• share
• convey
• reveal
• involves verbal non-verbal behavior

3
Dimensions of the interview

• librarian must start with assumption that client
  can make her/his needs clear
• client should start with assumption that
  librarian is competent
• difficulties arise when these basic assumptions
  fail to hold
• leads to impatience frustration in both parties

4
Interview structure

• establish rapport
• get general information, big picture
• get specific information
• intervene
• give info, advice, instructions
• end, including feedback or summary

5
Successful interviews based on

• mutual, demonstrated respect
• clear understanding of request
• check for understanding by paraphrasing,
  restating query (so what youre saying is),
  verifying key words
• active listening skills
• understanding purpose of query, how information
  is to be used
• use neutral, open-ended questioning techniques
• appropriate closure

6
Open questions

• Allow the user to say what is wanted, and what
  aspect of the topic is important to him or her
• An open question is content free it does not
  impose your assumptions on the user
• When you ask closed questions you have to guess
  what the user wants and make assumptions so
  its easy to be wrong
• An open question encourages the user to talk

7
Open questions--examples

• How may I help you?
• What information would you like on that?
• What aspect of X are you interested in?
• What kind of help would you like?
• What have you done about this so far?
• What other help would you like?

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5 easy questions

• Instead of asking
• Do you need any help?
• Have you looked in the catalogue?
• Do you want to know A or B?
• Do you want me to do C?
• Is it this? Is it that?

• Ask
• What can I help you do today?
• What have you done so far?
• What would you like to know about X?
• What kind of help would you like?
• What else can you tell me about X?

9
Neutral questionsdeveloped by Brenda Dervin,
University of Ohio

• To find out how the client sees his/her
  situation
• Can you tell something about the topic/problem
  youre working on?
• Where would you like to begin with this topic?
• Where do you see yourself going with this?

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Neutral questions

• To assess the gaps
• What would you like to know about X?
• What would you like to find out about this topic?
• What are you trying to understand?
• What aspect of this situation/project interests
  you most?

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Neutral questions

• To assess the kind of help wanted
• What sort of information (results, book, article)
  would help you most?
• How would you like the information to help you?
• How do you plan to use this information?
• If you could tell me what you're trying to do,
  perhaps I could help.
• If you could have exactly the information you
  wanted, what would it be?

12
Neutral pre-search interview questions

• Please describe briefly the problem that you are
  working on.
• What have you done so far? What steps have you
  taken to get help with this problem?
• If you have found anything helpful so far, what
  was it? (e.g., journal article, names of experts,
  names of institutes or research centres)
• What would you like to find out about this topic
  as a result of this search?
• If we could find the perfect journal article for
  you, what would it be called?
• How do you plan to use the information that you
  get from this search? What will it help you do?

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Follow up questions

• Does this help you?
• How will this help you ?
• What else do you need to find out?
• What else would you like us to do ?
• Does this completely answer your question?
• If this isn't it, get back to me and we can find
  something else.
• If you don't find what you're looking for, be
  sure to ask me or anyone at the desk.

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Essential information

• what information is needed (specifically)
• how much is needed
• how the information is to be used
• degree of sophistication required
• time frame (to search, for use)
• format required
• willingness to pay for additional services

15
Other essential communication skills

• Approachability appearing willing to provide
  assistance
• appear relaxed
• be sensitive to others needs
• honestly enjoy social interaction
• proactively offer help
• Awareness of nonverbal communication
• maintain eye contact
• minimize gestures, dont mimic client
• keep tone of voice even
• maintain composed face
• look interested
• smile

16
Encouragers

• uh-huh
• go on
• thats interesting
• anything else?

17
Causes of communication accidents

• not acknowledging the client
• not listening
• playing 20 questions
• interrupting at inappropriate time
• making assumptions
• not following up

18
Common misunderstandings

• Client asks for something specific but gets the
  term wrong
• Client asks for a source that is not the best one
• Client asks for a general topic when they want
  something very specific
• Theres a problem of mishearing what was said
  (e.g. Tolkien book / talking book)
• Client has misheard what someone else has said,
  like a teacher (e.g. Go to the library and
  consult Eric as in a person instead of the
  database ERIC)

19
The question as greeting

• Think of the initial question as a greeting
• S/he wants to know first am I in the right
  place? Is this person available and listening?
• S/he wants to establish contact before investing
  in a description of the problem
• The larger the institution, the more important it
  is to establish contact

20
Special situations

• Disabled Clients
• leave the client in control
• dont make assumptions about the clients
  abilities or needs
• treat the client as an individual
• maintain appropriate nonverbal behavior
• dont underestimate the client
• dont assume the client wants special materials
• know the facts about specific disabilities
• know the limitations of your library
• dont pretend the disability doesnt exist
• encourage the clients independence
• use follow-up questions
• encourage feedback

21
Special situations

• Cross-cultural communication
• use body language that suggests approachability,
  respect, willingness to help
• restate or paraphrase to allow client to correct
  you
• do not assume a smile means agreement
• silence or lack of eye contact may mean agreement
  or demonstration of respect
• keep questions simple and wait for an answer
• apologize for misunderstandings

22
Special situations

• Problem patrons
• describe the situation objectively
• explain the consequences of the problem behavior
  for other clients and staff
• specify how you would like the problem behavior
  to change
• specify consequences of appropriate behavior, and
  of continuation of inappropriate behavior