Open questions
From SLNSW
Don't guess. Let the patron tell you.
Contents |
Give patrons a chance to tell you what they are after
Open questions are an effective way to give your patrons the freedom to express information needs in their own words, while at the same time guiding them in the direction that will best help you find the material that will fill their information need.
Always give your patrons a chance to tell you what their questions are rather than telling your patrons what you think they ought to be. An open or neutral question is one that can't be answered by yes or no. These are sometimes called probes. You have probably had experiences like the following which are a common result of asking closed questions.
- Do you need this for a school project? No.
- Do you need this for a trip you are going on? No.
Why use open questions
Closed questions often don't get you much closer to the patron's real need. It's much more efficient to simply ask what kind of information on ______________ are you looking for. You help the patron to talk to you about their information need rather than just saying yes or no.
If you offer choices the patron may choose one of them even if that choice isn't what what's needed. They may be trying to be agreeable or may think the choices represent all that that's available. When you offer leading questions you are putting words in your patron's mouth and asking your patron to pick one of your choices. If you have not guessed correctly you may never find out the real question. Using open questions also saves you from having to know about the topic. You have to know something about a subject to begin with to ask a leading question.
With open questions you don't have to know anything about the subject. You just need to ask an open question like "Can you tell me more about that?".
Major point: Open questions are more efficient than closed questions for discovering a patron's information need.
Exercise
Give examples of open questions that you could ask in response to the following queries
- I need information on a Torana?
- Do you have any material on Turkey?
- Where's the small business section?
