'Andles for Forks: refreshing the reference interview

'Andles for Forks:Refreshing the Reference Interview

Sandy BuchananFour Candles by Uwe Hermann, 2006

Coming up in today's episode...

• What is a reference interview?

• Why do we need them?

• How do they work?

• With fun & exciting activities!

Andrew

Writer,

2010

Fun Activity No.1

So, do you have any horror stories?

What is the most stupid/ inane/ pointless/ unanswerable/ difficult question You've ever been asked?

And now we've done that, what made those questions so tricky?

What's a reference interview?

Illustration by Sidney Paget, for the Sherlock Holmes story The Boscombe Valley Mystery by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Why does it matter?

A Simple Question

Where are the

journals??

Do they want

recent journals, or

older materials?

Journal Collection

Stack

But wait...aren't there specialist

journal collections?

Law

TESOL

Languages

Although maybe they really wanted newspapers after

all ...

But we've also got

electronic journals...

In fact, we've got FAR

more electronic journals.

So do they mean those?

Any journal article on

the subject, or one

article in particular?

Can we find the article in question on the

discovery tool?

If we can't find it, do

we need to use a

specialist journals

database?

Fire up the subject guides!

If we can find it, does it actually do

what the student

needs it to do?

If we find it, but we don't own it, can we

get it through Document Supply?

Nope. Still can't find it.

Is the reference they have

right?Is the

reference even for a

journal article?

Could it be a book chapter, for example?

Where did the reference come

from?

Oh, so your tutor gave it to you?

Right, let's try and figure out what they really meant....

Sigh heavily, and try to find out if the

assignment has any further

requirements that might help.

"...on a really broad topic ,

wholly unsuited to, and

unrepresentative, of, journal searching."

"My tutor told me to find a

journal article..."

"I want to find a journal article in British

Standards"

"...but has neglected to

tell me what a journal is"

Ah. Do they actually know what a journal

article is?Emergency Information

literacy!

Do they know how to find

journal articles on the discovery

tool?

They don't?

Do they know how to find anything on the discovery tool?

Is the subject one well-supported by the discovery tool?Do they need to use

the journal databases on the subject guides?

"What's a subject guide?"

Which subject guide?

Which database?

Has does this crazy database

even work?

Hmm, this is a big job.

Maybe a one-to-one's in order....

Fun activity no.2

So, you saw how many different directions a simple question like "Where are the journals" can head off in.

So how many different possibilities are there for:

"I can't log in"

Get into teams, grab your post-its and go!

The Customer is always right

But...The Customer doesn't always

know what the hell they're talking about

But will I ever play the violin again?

Danger Signs:Under the Surface

Crocodile near Jaco, C

osta Rica

© Mike B

aird, 2007. Taken from

Flickr

All PossibilitiesM

irror Box, by M

HW

eldon, 2013

Can I help? Can I? Can I? Can I?Labrador R

etriever

© Eduardo M

illo, 2007, from F

lickr

Erm...Sorry to bother you...I've got a silly question...

Shy

© Andreas K

olleger, 2006. Taken from

Flickr

Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus: Beware of the Librarian

Je ne parlez pas le Library

Fun Activity no.3

The in-no-way copyright-infringing

word-guessing game!

Parts of the Reference Interview

• Welcome: – Hello!

Parts of the Reference Interview

• Overview: – So what's up, dude?

?

Parts of the Reference Interview

• Reassurance: – It's okay to ask

Parts of the Reference Interview

• Initial answer: – Your answer is X, but also...

Parts of the Reference Interview

• Confirmation 1: – Before I go any further, I am

about to do the right thing, aren't I?

?

Parts of the Reference Interview

• Intervention: – [Actually sorting out the issue]

!

Parts of the Reference Interview

• Confirmation 2: – Has that solved your issue?

?

Parts of the Reference Interview

• Finish: – So that's what you do next time.

TTFN!

Questioning the Question

What the @*%$ do you really

want to know?!!

Clarify!

Verify!

Disambiguate!

Context is everythingS

ighted on the Beach by A

nthony Albright,

2010

Say When!

Pouring red w

ine into a wine glass

© Dave D

ugdale, 2010

Open Questions: I Need a Bit More to Go on ...D

esert Ripples

© Pedronet, 2011, from

Flickr

'Satiable Curiosity

"I keep six honest serving men

(They taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When

And How and Where and Who."From 'The Elephant's Child', from the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling

Illustration by Joseph Gleeson from

1912 Doubleday edition of Just S

o Stories, courtesy of N

ew Y

ork Public

Library

Closed Questions:Reel 'Em in!

Closed Questions:Multiple Choice

OR

Checking the Question:That's Not My Teddy Bear!

© Horia V

arlan

© Steve de P

olo

© Em

ily Stanchfield

© Andrea B

lack

© Falcon1961

© Tim

Evanson

You are not alone

Lots of Penguins, by B

rian Gratw

icke, 2012

Don't Panic

Any Questions?

Creative Commons and Public Domain images thanks to Flickr and Wikimedia Commons.

And now, in all it's dubiously-copyright-legal glory...