Ohio Reference
Excellence

Module
Introduction
Reference service
Community needs
First Contact
Misconceptions
Real needs
Reference process
Steps of process
Role of staff
Review 1
Quiz 1
Answer 1

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First Contact

How do you discover the needs of the patrons in your community?

Meeting the Patron

     Everyone who lives or works in your community needs information. Discovering the needs of each individual who comes into the library calls for skills with library resources, but also requires that you employ your best people skills, starting from your first contact with the patron.

The First Question

     The first question a patron asks is often simply a conversation opener -- a way to say "hello." Sometimes patrons are really just trying to find out if you are an approachable, friendly person. The patron is actually saying, "Hello, I'm here. Please pay attention to me." Sometimes these opening statements are recognizable right away. The patron may ask, "Do you work here?" or "Can you answer a question?"

     Sometimes, however, the first statement sounds like an actual, specific question, when actually the patron is still just feeling you out. You may get questions like, "Where is the section on dogs?" or "Do you have a history of Italy?" There is almost always a more specific need behind those questions.

     Discovering that need will help you do a much more efficient and successful job of helping the patron. In the above cases, the patron may be looking for the address of a Cocker Spaniel Club, the local leash law, a map of Italy, the history of Rome, or an evaluation of tour companies that go to Sicily.

First Contact on the Web

     Users' first contact with library reference services may be on the library Web site or through other types of virtual or remote reference. ALA Guidelines suggest that the library "should provide prominent, jargon-free links to all forms of reference services from the home page of the library's Web site, and throughout the site wherever research assistance may be sought out. The Web should be used to make reference services easy to find and convenient."

[Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers, 3.10]

Major Point: A patron's first question may be a way to find out if you are approachable and not an expression of the information need.

     Answer the following questions about your library. If you don't know the answers, ask your supervisor or reference staff.

1. Is it possible to allow some privacy for working with a patron with a very personal question?
2. What do you do, or see others doing, to make patrons feel comfortable when working to find answers to information needs?

Answer Key

     Library misconceptions.

Roving reference

Guide to Roving: An Essential Service for Library 2.0 Webinar to learn how you can reach out to "hidden customers" who don’t approach the reference desk.

There is usually a more specific need behind a patron's initial question.

Sometimes a patron just wants to know if you are approachable and friendly! [Evonne Franklin and Adrian Andree at Public Library of Cincinnati & Hamilton County.]

Many years ago, I was working near the circulation desk when I heard a patron ask the clerk if the library had any copies of Bob Vila's books on the shelves. The clerk checked the computer, went to the shelf, etc. and was gone for several minutes. The clerk came back, asked the patron for her library card, typed a few minutes, and then informed the patron that there were no books on the shelf, that she had reserved several of the titles for her, and that she could inter-library loan another title if the patron so wished. The clerk then left the desk to seek Interlibrary Loan forms.

I had by this time finished my transaction and looked up at the patron. "I overheard the conversation. Was there any particular information you were looking for that we might be able to find in another book?" The patron smiled, and said " I was hoping to find his address." I turned, reached for a current copy of Who's Who... and gave her the address of Bob Vila. The individual working the circulation desk was alert, interested, skilled, helpful -- and pursuing the wrong information from the patron's first question.
[Betty Clarkson, Gallia County District Library]

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