Phrasing Reference Questions

Do you ever wonder how to ask a question or phrase it so that you will be understood?  Growing up it terrified me to talk to people on the phone.  I did not know how to say what I needed to say.  Actually, if I pause a moment, it seems that my terror or "deer in the headlights" experiences were mostly involving talking with an adult or asking an adult for something. 

Moments like these were tough, and my mom came to my rescue, prompting me with just the words I would need to supply while holding that rotary phone to my ear.  (I'm not sure when we switched to a cordless phone, but I look back on the rotary phone with fondness and nostalgia.  My dad still has one out in his shop.)

Anyway, Mary W. George serves or functions as the mom/mentor for college students who need to approach the reference desk.  It can be intimidating to approach strangers behind an imposing desk.  Knowing how to phrase some questions or which words to supply in order to obtain the desired result can be quite useful.  In her book The Elements of Library Research: What Every Student Needs to Know, she dedicates two or three pages to this endeavor.

One column contains the title "What You'd Like to Know (and can't figure out on your own)," and the second column reads "Example of How to Ask a Reference Librarian about It (Be ready to explain what you have already tried.)"  Let me provide just a few questions:

-Background information on your general topic

• Can you recommend a subject encyclopedia that deals with [your topic]?

-Where to identify articles on your topic

• What database would you suggest for popular and scholarly articles about [your topic]?  Does it include newspaper articles, or is there a different database for those?

-What other sources the library may have related to your topic

• I have already explored the online catalog and [name of article databases(s)].  What other approaches would you suggest for sources on [my topic]?  Are there relevant materials in special collections or in nonprint formats that the library owns? (118-20)

ISU Library Reference Desk

Granted, a good reference librarian ought to be able to ask follow-up questions if a patron does not phrase a question just right (in library speak should we say?), but trying out some of the suggestions George offers might really yield some great results. 

Idaho Health Sciences Library: Reference Desk

Statistical Abstract: Great for Students Who Need Statistics

In helping a student at the reference desk a few days ago I could not find some statistical information.  He wanted information on cruises, like how many people go each year and how that has changed in the last four years.  I could not find the information he needed, but when I asked a colleague they were able to pinpoint some information rather quickly.  This government documents librarian googled "economic census" +cruise, which returned some good results. 

The Statistical Abstract of the United States added a table on the cruise industry a few years ago, so it shows data from 2003 to 2007.  Sometimes it's good to be reminded of this great resource.  Other sources that might be useful regarding cruises:

• Data Detectives
• Cruising: It's All About You--Market Research
• Census Bureau: 2002 NAICS Definitions (483 Water Transportation)

Librarians as Bridges between Students and Teachers

Last week I read an article titled "Be the Bridge: Librarians can span the gap between students and their instructors" in the December issue of American Libraries. I recommend that everyone who helps students with assignments at the reference desk take a look at it and especially all those who give instruction. The author, Monty McAdoo, asserts that "Librarians have a professional responsibility to be involved with any assignment involving the library. [...] as bridge builders, the simple reality is that when a library is involved in completing an assignment, librarians do share responsibility for an assignment's administration and its ultimate success or collapse" (40).

His discussions on the repercussions of failed library assignments seem to be particularly relevant, considering some of the library assignments that have taken place in our own Library in recent months/years. I like that he discusses the negative consequences for all the constituents involved, namely students, faculty, and librarians.

Overall, the article is worth reading, especially if you give instruction as a librarian in the classroom or at the reference desk.

Full citation:
McAdoo, Monty L. "Be the Bridge: Librarians can span the gap between students and their instructors." American Libraries (December 2009): 38-40.

How can I Find Book Reviews

While at the reference desk today, someone called and asked for help in finding book reviews. As a librarian I was a bit embarrassed to suggest Amazon.com first. It came to mind first, because I use it frequently in my collection-development duties. There was a book review for the title she needed; however, it was not lengthy enough or fit her criteria.

Next, I thought to search for the New York Times Book Review in our A-Z Journal List, so we searched within EBSCOhost's Academic Search Complete, but not book review could be found for her book.

As a last result, and somewhat reluctantly, I suggested we conduct a Google search. By placing quotation marks around the words in the title, plus the words "book review" we succeeded in finding at least one book review that satisfied this particular student's needs. Interestingly enough, the first result was link to the Amazon entry we had looked at first, but the second looked more legitimate as it had a .edu domain.

Anyway, it should not surprise me that book reviews are freely available on the internet, since book sellers want people to find out about their titles to increase sales.

Out of curiosity, I searched our Library's website to find out if we had a guide for finding book reviews. We do. With the straight-forward title "How to Find Book Reviews," you can find out which resources in the Eli M. Oboler Library system contain book reviews. Print titles are mentioned, such as Book Review Index [Reference Collection: Z1035.A1 B6] and Book Review Digest (which we only have in paper copy [Ref. Coll.: Z1219 .C96], but a lot of the full-text reviews are in materials that we can get to with our A-Z Journal List). A colleague of mine tells me that when she was in MFA school, they were the standard references/indexes for finding quality book reviews and citations, and she still uses them on occasion. Additionally, they also relied on Contemporary Literary Criticism (Ref. Coll.: PN771 .C59).

Still, the internet seems to be the easiest way to find book reviews. Where they come from and how useful they may be is a different question, though.

Bathroom Newsletter

Recently, our Library began a newsletter for our restrooms. In our first issue we invited individuals to propose names for the newsletter and offered a gift certificate to the campus bookstore to the winner. "The Writing on the Stall" won the contest.

Each issue includes a little blurb about one of our databases or resources, a technology tip, a research tip from our student assistant, the Library's contact information, hours of the library, a masthead, and a few dates to celebrate from Chase's Calendar of Events. Initially, we used regular-size paper (8 1/2 by 11), but we decided to go with the legal-size paper, so we could increase the font size and still have room enough to write a few things of interest to students and patrons of our library.

Hopefully, this will make students aware of the services we provide at the Reference Desk, since we often will say they can find more help with a particular resource or with their research at the Reference Desk. Ideally, it will inform students of resources that will help them become more information literate.

Looking for Educational Institutions Around the World???

At the ISU Reference Desk I found an interesting directory called The World of Learning: 2005. This two-volume reference book includes entries of each country in the world with lists of their academic, research, and art institutions. It also contains contact information for each of these institutions as well as for learned societies. Alongside the contact information for the various universities, this book also names the professors who teach and research at the university in question.

Since the publisher relies on each institution to complete a form each time it updates the information, not all of the university entries include a full listing of faculty, but they do name at least the principal leaders, number of students, number of teachers, their librarians, and the names of their journal publications. A brief description of the university explains when it was founded and any name changes it has undergone.

This resource identifies international institutions as well as institutions within the United States. Most entries contain email and internet addresses next to the telephone number and physical address.

I suspect a resource like this would be useful for researchers and students who intend to study abroad. Researchers could contact the pertinent institutions in the country where they will travel and ask if they have any archives or resources that would be useful for their research. Students could learn quite a bit by going to such an institution to see how things differ from their own institution. Graduate students looking for programs could also learn about an institution's programs. It's a good faculty directory.

Partnering with Writing Centers and Teachable Moments

Recently I read two good articles in The Reference Librarian. The first one discussed the issue of teachable moments, looking for times when patrons might be willing to receive more information. Susan Avery notes that these "moments" cannot be planned or "anticipate[d]," are "dependent on the readiness of the recipient," and are "serendipitous." Librarians can give more help than required; we can share our expertise of the many information tools we encounter on a regular basis. Of course, Avery does acknowledge that librarians should be "sensitive to the needs of the patron." Frankly, some individuals could care less about conducting a database search more efficiently as they have other priorities and demands on their time. Therefore, librarians must make their own judgment calls, paying attention to receptivity, attitudes, perceived time constraints, information needs, etc. (117).

Along these lines, Avery suggests ideas that can be found in your standard library-science textbook on reference work:
1. Listen.
2. Be patient and flexible.
3. Look for body language cues.
4. Keep it short and to the point.
5. Let the students do the work.
For understanding the different setting in which a librarian might look for a "teachable moment," see the article.

Works Cited
Avery, Susan. "When Opportunity Knocks: Opening the Door Through Teachable Moments." The Reference Librarian 49.2 (2008): 109-18.

Rachel Cooke and Carol Bledsoe promote the idea of including the Writing Center within the campus library. Doing this would "provide opportunities for partnership" (119). This would be more convenient for the students, particularly those involved in the research and writing process. They discuss how librarians and writing tutors could provide help at each others' desks. Librarians could also train the writing tutors to do some basic research, which would benefit many students simultaneously as many tutors are actually students.

Much of the article revolves around five "challenges" encountered by reference librarians and writing tutors alike:
1. Guiding students through the sequence of the writing process (120).
2. Uncertainty about the assignment (121).
3. "The paper is due in an hour" (121).
4. When students request a librarian or writing tutor to do their research or edit their paper (122).
5. Students who say: "I can find everything on Google. I'll just cut and paste." This touches on the quantity and quality of sources as well as proper citation of these sources.

Let me make just one comment about challenge number one. The authors make a good point that librarians and tutors should not assume that the writing process is the same for everyone. Increasingly, college instructors require their students to write a paper without doing research--at least at the outset. Particularly with lower-division students, instructors find that they let the sources do the talking. Having students write their own thoughts first helps them know what they think; then they can analyze and evaluate what the sources say in comparison with their own ideas.

Therefore, once the students has written their own personal idea paper, then the instructor requires them to research in the area of their topic and write a paper that incorporates their own ideas while also considering the ideas of others. I repeat myself here, because this is something I want to remember. The idea seems to promote real learning and connecting it with real life. What do I know about X? Why do I think this way? What do others say about this topic in question? How do my ideas differ from someone else's? Do their ideas expose any gaps in my own logic? Will I change and adjust my own thinking on this? How?

Somewhat reminiscent of Hegel's model, an instructor who follows this kind of assignment encourages students to form a thesis, consider an antithesis, and then synthesize the two. Adopting this approach could facilitate higher orders of thinking for many students, since too often students revert back to their comfort zones of reporting what they find, rather than thinking about what they find in their research. These "comfort zones" hearken back to show-and-tell activities in the early stages of a child's education.

Cooke, Rachel and Carol Bledsoe. "Writing Centers and Libraries: One-Stop Shopping for Better Term Papers." The Reference Librarian 49.2 (2008): 119-27.

Reference on the Telephone vs Face-to-Face

Today was only my second time at the Reference Desk by myself. I'm glad that I get to start in the summer when fewer students and faculty are around. I get time to study the library's catalog, database access points, university web pages, etc. One patron today asked about using the computers, and I felt good about knowing the answers. She can use certain computers designated for community users after she gets a login code from the Circulation Desk. This same patron came back asking for help in sending off an email, so I walked with her to the computer and found that she had not opened any email application. Initially, this baffled me a bit, but I was able to open another browser tab so she could type in MSN.com and access her hotmail account. I need to remember that everyone comes with varying computer skills and knowledge. It does make me curious. Did she think that she could email a document straight from the desktop? That's what it appeared to me. Perhaps she thought she could not access her email on our computers or something. She had a jump drive, and the document she wanted to send came from there. I did think to ask if she knew how to send an attachment, and she said she did. Later she passed by the desk and I verified that all worked out well for her.

Two individuals called on the phone to ask questions. Both serve as assistant professors on campus. The first asked about citing a journal article using the APA citation style. I looked to verify that we didn't have it in our databases, and we did not. I told her I would consult with my colleague and call her back. My colleague had me look again in the A-Z list. If we could see how the database cited the information then that might give us clues as to how to suggest she cite it. No such luck. We looked in the APA Manual in section 4.11, which said that if no volume exists then they can cite month, season, and something else. The professor's dilemma was that she did not know how to cite an article wherein the cover indicated it to be the Winter 2004-2004 issue. She needed to know the exact year. My colleague and I believe that the citation should appear just as it is printed on the cover. We found an example to support us, but this was after I had called back the professor. Our web site links out to several citation guides elsewhere that provide many examples.

It's challenging to understand and communicate with individuals over the phone; it's hard to really know what they need. When I called the instructor back, she wanted me to tell her what should be done. When I gave her my opinion she said that was not acceptable. This made me a bit defensive, but I remembered what my colleague had said, that she could call the Writing Center who had more experience helping people with citation questions. Now that I think of it, I think I will email the professor and make her aware of the citation examples on the web that we have. Here's a link to that page of citation links: http://www.isu.edu/library/help/citations.htm.

The second phone call came just before I was about to close up for the day. He had received a request from someone for a pdf copy of an article he had published 12 years ago. Our library did not have a digital copy of that journal article, so I suggested he try Inter-Library Loan. Hopefully, this will help him gain access to a pdf version.

What are the best ways to help people on the telephone? I still prefer face-to-face interactions. With the first reference transaction described above I felt like I had helped the person. She needed to print the document out, and I was able to use a guest login so she could do that. Her non-verbal cues/smiles indicated that her needs had been met. Telephone interviews can be more tricky, and I have definite room to grow in order to better serve those who call in for help on the phone.