Digital Reference: Reference desk scratchpad

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Reference desk scratchpad

I thought I'd share a handout I created for the reference desk at my library. For many years, when we were helping someone at the desk and wanted to write down some suggested search words or databases or web sites to try, we reached for a stack of scratch paper. Now, we've got a handy little form created in Microsoft Word that presents our notes to the patrons in a more structured manner. Librarians can fill this out as they see fit.

The form is divided into four sections:

Authors/Producers of Information. Here the librarian can write in a schematic way any specific people, organizations, or scholarly disciplines likely to be producing information relevant to the patron.
Databases. There is space for the librarian to write the name of databases and some notes about what specifically each one can be used for (for PsycINFO, I might write "articles by psychologists").
Keywords. There is a grid of boxes where librarians can cluster like related terms in a cells. This then makes it easy to write below some recommended search statements that include nested searches, as the boxes are meant to convey the idea of parentheses or the multiple boxes offered on advanced search screens.
Other Resources. This is a free area where we find ourselves writing down specific books and call numbers, web site URLs, etc.

The copies we use at our desk are two-sided. To help the handouts stand out from the mass of paper that students collect as they print out articles and web sites, we printed them on colored paper. If you find this handout useful, feel free to use it and adapt it as you see fit (no attribution or thanks is required).

6 Comments:

At 3:06 PM , John Russell said...: Thanks for sharing this - I'm going to propose we try using this where I work.
At 1:39 PM , Meredith said...: Thanks for this Stephen! I just made some modifications to it and am sending it to our Head of Reference to see if she wants to put this into use at the desk. At the very least, I'm going to use it!
At 2:10 PM , Stephen Francoeur said...: I've been meaning to tinker with it myself. Any suggestions?

FYI, we also use this sheet when we have appointments in our offices with students.
At 3:48 PM , Anonymous said...: Hmmm…I am really starting to wonder about this type of reference technique. To me it seems like something that is mired down in a rather out-dated paradigm for reference. A few questions I’d think about:

1. Do our patrons really WANT or realize that they NEED this information? Will they USE it? Is this what they are really ASKING us for?
2. Who is this tool really serving? Is it a way for us to organize our own librarian-based (expert researcher) thinking/approach to answering a question? If so, does it translate well for novice researchers (freshmen/sophomores or students new to a discipline) or simply overwhelm them?
3. Don’t we already do this with our patrons, perhaps in a less formal way? Do we really NEED to write down all of this information if a) students don’t have the advanced search skills we posses and/or b) students get overwhelmed or confused and toss it in the garbage anyway?
4. The paper waste question isn’t unimportant. If a student walks away from our desk and immediately tosses our notes (even if they are excruciatingly and exceptionally helpful) – I’m not sure we’ve reinforced anything except our own personal knowledge that we tried to help. Reinforcing this knowledge to OURSELVES (‘cause frankly, we are ALWAYS trying to help) doesn’t seem worth killing another tree, in my humble opinion.
5. Think about your actual interactions with patrons at the reference desk. Wouldn’t adding a formal worksheet to those interactions seem, well – a little stilted? Aren’t students intimidated enough about approaching us? Even if we start negotiating our way through this check-list of sorts as GENTLY and as SMOOTHLY as possible, I think students may be rather put-off by such a ridged tool.

And just so you don’t think I am only complaining to complain – one of the reference tools that I have found to be more useful has been a very simple and not quite 2.0 technology. Offering to follow-up with students via e-mail or Instant Messaging has worked for me. I am currently working in an environment where students have almost completely STOPPED asking meaningful questions at the reference desk. Unfortunately, the one or two meaningful questions they have asked have tended to be HUGE, so I know these students aren’t any more information literate than the norm. But, like the OCLC perceptions report showed, these students have simply grown up in a society that assumes everything is self-serve, so they figure they can do libraries on their own. They don’t pay attention in class and only come to the desk at their greatest point of need. When students DO ask questions I have tried really hard to get their e-mail addresses. Of course I work together with them in the library for a while, but then I also try really hard to follow-up after our session via e-mail (or in some cases IM) with another source or two, or a different database than the one we tried together.

This simple step has in some cases had remarkable results. It starts an electronic conversation, rather than a paper-based one. Students don’t feel so embarrassed about asking a follow-up electronic question that might seem “stupid” face to face. And, just yesterday I had a student end a face to face conversation by going on and on about how AWESOME it is to have a librarian send information directly to them like this (she stopped by after I had worked with her this way online for a while).

I don’t know. I guess I’ve really been doing a lot of thinking about how patrons see us (based on my re-reading of the OCLC study) and today’s students just don’t seem to be particularly well-served by our old ways of offering reference services. And, I cannot STAND *only* being asked questions about bathroom locations, writing utensil availability, printer/photocopier fixes, and citation styles. We have to find better ways to use our time TEACHING students where they are and when they need us. Face to face or however we decide to do it. Suggesting a paper form at the reference desk, when we are losing touch with our patron base just doesn’t seem particularly innovative and forward thinking to me… sorry.

Just my two cents…
At 10:46 PM , Christy said...: A healthy medium between the compliments and the criticism: it sounds like it could be an incredibly helpful tool *for certain people,* *in certain types of reference interviews.*

I can't imagine using this on every question, but when a patron wants options, an in-depth answer, or has a broad subject, this would be the perfect way to organize our response to them in a way they can easily review and understand.

I work in reference because I like being the middleman between the information and the people, the one that makes it accessible in a friendly way. For this reason, I want to be good at finding resources, and also at interacting with people and judging/measuring/determining the way they want and need their answer presented to them. I would hope that, in our reference interview, I would know who could benefit from this clever form, and who would be intimidated by it.

I do often despair leaving a patron with 5 scraps of paper with my attempt at neat handwriting and sensible order... this will be something to use on occasions when a verbal or quickly written answer is not substantial enough.
At 3:11 AM , Lindsay said...: I picked this up via Librarianinblack. Thanks for the original post and the comments - I'm going to think about using this to help library staff think about the range of options for students - we tend to spoon feed to much by finding the info for them instead of helping them to develop skills. Giving students (& lecturers!) the form may guide them in future to which resources to use beyond good old Google. You can always add the email/im address and encourage further questions in person too. Not for every enquiry obviously!