Table of Contents
Module 1 Answers and review - Reference Excellence
Module 1 answers
Suggested answers for Module 1 exercises - Discuss the questions and your answers with your supervisor, trainer or colleagues.
Reference services
1. Does your library have a strategic plan, mission statement, general policy, or reference policy that describes reference service polices, procedures, goals, or mission?
2. List the documents you have located relevant to your organisation.
3. How do these documents outline or discuss the value of reference service to your community? If not, ask staff members what they think is the value of reference service in your community.
Keep the relevant documents handy for exercises in all modules.
Write down your ideas and any information from your workplace documents about how information and reference services are described.
Community needs
1. How does the collection development policy or other relevant documents you have located describe the information needs of your particular community, i.e. what kinds of information the users of your library want or expect to find at the library (topics or subjects) and in what formats (books, videos, software, etc.)?
2. How do the library's policy documents describe serving the community with remote/online services?
* The language used in the documents may be generalised and may also be located in your Council documents. Look widely for the relevant resources, and discuss with your colleagues or supervisor.
First contact
1. View this recorded session by Dr Marie Radford for more helpful information on this topic.
2. List four key messages you learned from this video.
Misconceptions
1. If you were looking for information about a health issue how many different places in your library could you find that information? Places can include special collections, fiction, non-fiction, audiovisual material and online resources.
2.Thinking like a patron, have a look at your library. How easy is it to find the different health resources in your library?
3. Thinking like a patron, have a look at your library website. How easy is it to find the different health resources here?
4. Describe something new that you think your library could introduce to improve the use of library information resources.
5. Describe something that you personally could do to make patrons aware of the extent of the library reference services.
Each library has different resources, but many of the following would be available:
- Materials listed in the catalogue in the reference, adult, or children's collections
- Online resources and databases available, especially local web sites
- Fiction and non-fiction, print and ebooks
- DVD and audio collections
- Genealogy collections
- Maps and atlases
- Local magazines and the local newspaper
- Community information database
- Staff members who are knowledgeable about the community.
Information needs
Answer the following questions about your library. If you don't know the answers, talk with your colleagues.
1. How is it possible to ensure privacy when assisting a patron?
2. How can you make patrons feel comfortable when working to find answers to information needs?
You can find answers to these questions by talking to colleagues who provide reference service, and by observing colleagues work with patrons.
Steps of the reference process
Refer to the scenario earlier in Module 1 with a patron coming to the library asking for tomato sauce recipes.
List the places you could source information for the patron.
Where would you find information?
There are many resources you can use. Select an information source that suits your patron's needs. For example: -
- Your own library catalogue
- An internet search
- An e-book
- A magazine
- An association website
- State Library online resources
- TROVE
- A specialist in the field
Staff role
1. Who is involved in reference service in your library? A whole department? A reference librarian? Anybody who's available? Just you?
2. What is your role in the provision of reference and information services? Whether large or small, the reference service provided by the library is critical.
3.Identify everyone at the library who provides reference services.
There are no “right” answers for many of these questions. Discuss the questions with your supervisor or colleagues to learn how things work in your library.
Module 1 review
What have you learned?
Reference and information services are a way for libraries to meet the needs of their communities.
There are four steps in the reference process - outreach, determining needs - the reference interview, filling needs and follow-up.
What is reference and why is it important?
Major point: Libraries meet the information needs of the communities they serve.
What information is needed in your community for products, health, government, how-to, personal enrichment, work and school?
Major point: The library is the one place in the community that can provide everyone with access to various types of information.
Information needs of individuals in your community are not usually stated in patrons' first questions. The first question may just be a way to find out if you're friendly and approachable.
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.
Misconceptions about libraries prevent patrons from stating real information needs, even if they've determined that you're an approachable person.
Major point: Patrons don't realise how libraries are organised and shouldn't have to when asking questions.
An ongoing reference process is needed to assist patrons in filling information needs i.e. satisfying a gap in knowledge and solving problems.
Major point: Finding the underlying gap in knowledge or problem to be solved behind the patron's opening question is an ongoing process.
Steps of the reference process
The reference process involves many steps encouraging patrons, finding need, clarifying and verifying the details, finding information and follow-up to be sure needs have been met.
Major point: Reference work is a process that includes mediation and follow-up.
Filling information needs by following the reference process is a staff role.
Major point: Library staff performance is critical in meeting a community's information needs.
Evaluation
What to do when you finish the module…
When you have completed the exercises for this module, you may want to talk to your supervisor, trainer or colleagues about them.
Please fill out and submit the evaluation form
Other modules for Reference Excellence
Reference Excellence - self paced reference and information services training
Module 1 Overview of the reference process
Module 2 Reference interview skills and question types
Module 3 People skills, reference behaviours
Module 6 Ethics and legislation