Hayley Irvine Reference Interview

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School

University of Nebraska, Omaha *

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4710

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English

Date

Oct 30, 2023

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docx

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1 Reference Interview Hayley A. Irvine Department of Teacher Education, University of Nebraska Omaha TED 4710 — Research and Inquiry Dr. Melissa Cast-Brede September 5, 2023

2 Reference Interview My patron, Melissa, wanted to locate the “t-rex book.” I immediately got stuck on the “t-rex” aspect of her question, leading me to ask her if she was looking for a fiction or nonfiction book about dinosaurs. This might have better served both of us had I asked her if she was looking for nonfiction or fiction in general without relating it to dinosaurs. Upon learning that Melissa was looking for a nonfiction book, I then asked her if she was looking for information on dinosaurs in general or specifically for information about t-rexes. I think this was the most helpful question I asked because Melissa revealed to me at this point that she didn’t need any information about dinosaurs—or t-rexes—at all. At this point I asked Melissa if she was looking for the information for a particular project or just for her general interest and learned that she was looking for information for her school paper. Asking Melissa what kind of information she needed for her paper finally led us to the thesaurus she was looking for. Using open- ended questions and maintaining interest in her question worked very well in guiding Melissa and I to what she really needed, key tools of the reference interview (Reference and User Services Association, 2013). This reference interview was done via Zoom, but could very easily happen in person as well. Many new challenges present themselves during an in-person reference interview. For example, if you were conducting this interview in person and the phone rang, or you had to step away from the person for some reason, your interview would be interrupted which could leave the patron feeling less than satisfied. You might also seem unapproachable if you are already working on something when the patron arrives with their information need, but approachability is an important part of the reference interview, so it is important to try and be as approachable as possible (Reference and User Services Association, 2013). It is, however, a little easier to read someone’s body language in person than it is over zoom. Not only is reading body language part of the skills for conducting a reference interview, it is also helpful in reading situations in general (Reference and User Services Association, 2013).

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