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Module Module 2
Interview
Introduction 2
Interview defined
Paraphrase
Open questions
Clarify
Verify
6 pieces of evidence
Remote
Follow-up, Ending
Review 2
Quiz 2
Answer 2
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The 6 Pieces of Evidence

What information should you get from the reference interview?

The Result of a Good Interview

    At the conclusion of a good reference interview, you should have the six pieces of evidence. You can use open questions (sometimes called probes), paraphrasing, clarifying, and verifying to prompt patrons to volunteer this information efficiently and easily. You might need to ask for some information directly (e.g., deadline), but most of this information will come out naturally during a good reference interview.

  1. Purpose
  2. Deadline
  3. Type and Amount
  4. Who
  5. Where
  6. The Basic Question

Purpose

     Why is the information needed? What does the patron plan to do with it? Material needed for a term paper on Cuba will be very different from material needed for travel to Cuba.

Deadline

     Is there a date after which the information no longer will be useful to the patron? Ask, "What is the last day we could provide this information to you and still meet your needs?" If they say, "As soon as possible," tell them the library always gets information for people as soon as possible and then repeat your original question. A specific date is helpful for you and for a back-up reference service.

Type and Amount

     How much information is needed? In what form will it be most useful? Some material may be best understood as a picture or chart, or even in a different language.

Who

     How knowledgeable is the patron on this subject? Is the person an expert or a beginner? What information does the patron already have? A person asking for information about a disease might be a doctor, nurse, student, or patient. Each of these people will have different information needs.

Where

     Where did the patron hear about this? What is the source? What prompted the question? If all else fails, you usually can contact the original source to find more information on a specific topic. This is especially true for new book requests and for requests generated by television or radio shows.

Remote Reference

     "Use reference interviews or Web forms to gather as much information as possible without compromising user privacy."

[Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers, Section 1.8]

Major Point: What does the patron really want to know? If you don't understand, ask! Use your reference interviewing skills to get to the basic question.

 

Exercise

     Examine the following example of a reference worksheet or use your library's reference worksheet.

  1. Describe how the worksheet below can help you gather the 6 pieces of evidence.
  2. What would you personally add to the worksheet to help you remember to get all the information?

Answer Key

 

Next!
Remote, virtual services

  

 

The point of the interview is to gather six pieces of evidence: purpose, deadline, type and amount, who, where, and the basic question - what does the patron really want to know?

Ohio Libraries

Getting to the basic question. London Public Library staff.

Clarifying the deadline:  "When will you need this information?" [Gary Branson and Jeannie and Bill Kelleher]

Web Links

Virtual reference in Ohio:

KnowItNow
HomeworkNow.

See a Wireless Libraries bibliography available from Wireless Libraries Blog.

The Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County has digital services:
-Know It Now!
-Homework Now!
-Read This Now!
-Dearreader.com
-Digital Shoebox Collection
-eBooks

  Guidelines for Information Services state:

1.1 The goal of information services is to provide the information sought by the user. Information service should anticipate as well as meet user needs. It should encourage user awareness of the potential of information resources to fulfill individual information needs.
Reference Question Worksheet                                                         DATE: __________
LIBRARY: Don't forget to let the reference center know who to send the response back to.
LIBRARIAN: __________
PATRON NAME:  __________                                                          ADDRESS: __________
PHONE DAY: ___________                                                               NIGHT: __________

DEADLINE: Date after which no longer needed. If there is a deadline, give reason. Be specific. ALL our questions are answered "as soon as possible," so any question with that as the deadline may be treated as if no deadline were given.

BASIC QUESTION: Use as much room as needed. Use back and extra pages if needed. Please be wordy. You can't imagine how hard it is to answer a "one line" question. It is generally NOT a good idea to have the patron fill in the form. Remember that you should have learned the answers to these questions by using good reference interview techniques, such as open questioning.

REASON: Purpose to which information will be put helps us determine type of material to send.

PATRON LEVEL: Who is the patron; e.g., adult, professional? Level of material which can be used. Please don't just underline "adult." Tell a little about the person and their level of expertise IN THIS SUBJECT.

PATRON SOURCE: Where did the patron hear of this? Please be as specific as possible. What prompted the question?

SOURCES CHECKED: What have the librarian and patron already looked at? Includes books and indexes checked with dates and subject headings. If you've checked 50 books on a subject, you don't have to list them all. But have a general idea and note the major ones, so the staff who work on your question do not waste time repeating work you've already done. If you don't list Readers' Guide, for example, the staff may have to go through it again.

DATE REFERRED: __________                                                   COMPLETED DATE:__________
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