In library near me, the Director did most of the reference work. When she announced her retirement, the staff was worried about having to do reference themselves, until a replacement was found.
She emailed me saying she had just read The Checklist Manifesto, by Atul Gawande, and asked for my help in creating a “reference checklist” for her staff - hopefully, it would help them cover all the bases when helping patrons at the Reference Desk.
I haven’t actually read the book (although did read lots of reviews when it was published), but I think the general idea is summarized in this quote from the New York Times review:
In medicine, he writes, the problem is “making sure we apply the knowledge we have consistently and correctly.” Failure, he argues, results not so much from ignorance (not knowing enough about what works) as from ineptitude (not properly applying what we know works).
This is also true of reference work. Some sort of checklist or decision tree is probably covered in most library school reference text books, but I thought I’d take a crack at it. Of course, any checklist like this could vary widely by library, depending on available resources, but the following few questions might help make sure all bases are covered consistently:
Are you sure you understand the question?
Don’t be afraid to ask follow-up questions and to restate the question in your own words to make sure you and the patron are on the same page
Is the patron looking for a specific item?
It’s okay to use Amazon to verify the spelling of an author’s name or title, and Novelist or other websites to check titles in a series. Once you know what you’re looking for, be sure to check the local catalog, other libraries in the network, and also the state-wide catalog (if you have one) to interlibrary loan the item if necessary. If it’s nowhere to be found, should this item be purchased? (refer to your Collection Development policy)
Use the catalog to find the right Dewey range so the patron can browse the shelf, and see where other libraries have cataloged their books on this subject
Remember to also check
other collections (Reference, Young Adult, Childrens, Oversized, Vertical File, Special Collections, etc)
research databases (especially for homework research or very current information)
the library’s website (for subject guides, readers advisory, web links, etc)
general internet searching to find public websites
remember also to search government websites - add site:.gov to Google searches to limit to government websites
if you’re in the right Dewey section but there are no books on the specific topic, look for a general book on the subject and check the book’s index for your specific topic
Is the question about something local?
Check the local newspaper, local websites (especially newspaper and municipal websites, as well as meetup.com and yelp.com for socializing and events), printed brochures and fliers available in the library, event calendars, etc. Remember also to ask coworkers, as they may have heard of something or be involved with it
Is your answer still “no” or “I don’t know” - what else can you do?
Is the problem that you’re in the right place and the information is just not there, or that you can’t think of where to look? Keep the patron informed, but don’t waste their time - there is nothing wrong with referring them to a larger or specialized library, another Town office, or organization that is more likely to have the resources to answer their question. Be sure to give them contact phone numbers/email address/web address/driving directions/operating hours
Ask a coworker or supervisor for help
Take the patron’s name and number and offer to contact them when you find something
A strategy I use to try to make reference interactions go more smoothly is this:
Sometimes it’s hard to find the answer with the patron hovering above you watching and waiting. If possible, get the patron started on looking in one area, and then go back to the catalog/database on your own for more thorough research
And to make future reference questions better, here’s a checklist about patron interactions in general:
Have there been a lot of questions on the same topic? If so, is there a way to make this information more readily available for future patrons?
Pay attention to what kind of questions make you uncomfortable, and then ask for training or explore those areas further
Remember to show patrons how to do something, instead of just giving them answers. It’s also okay to think out loud when working on a question - explaining why you’re consulting the resources you are, or why books are in a certain spot in the library, will help the patron and possibly make you think of something you may have otherwise forgotten.
Look around the Reference Desk - things within reach are probably there for a reason, but can also be the hardest to find if you don’t know where they are
Remember to review applicable common tasks and policies, such as booking museum passes, helping with printing, turning everything on/off
This could definitely be distilled more. At the same time, no checklist will cover every patron interaction, but should at least get people started down the right road. And I’m sure I missed things - what are more tips to give staff new to the Reference Desk?
In this funny video, replace “dad” with “library patron” and it’s a reference question many librarians know all too well. At least, for the first third of the video - after that, it gets kind of weird and definitely violates the appropriate library behavior policy.
First thing one morning, a very pleasant older couple approach me at the desk. The husband asks me (in a Irish accent, which I tremendously enjoyed and won’t even try to reproduce in type):
Do you have a book that tells me all the bridge heights between here and Florida?
I felt there was more to this story. After a bit more questioning, I learned that he and his wife bought a new RV, and were leaving next week for Florida. Since buying it, though, he’d started to notice signs everywhere he drives indicating the clearance under bridges. To prepare for their road trip, he wanted a book that will help him plan a route that won’t take him under any bridge that is too low for their RV.
We did not have any book that gave this information. One possibility, I thought, was to check our various road atlases to see if they might indicate this. None of them did.
This made the patron happy, as his RV is 13 feet high. I still felt I needed to give him more, so I asked if they minded waiting while I called AAA. I often call outside resources who are likely to give an expert answer on something, and luckily in this case I am an AAA member.
I looked up the local AAA office in the phone book, and the first person I spoke to said enthusiastically that yes, AAA’s TripTik department does have this information, and he transferred me to them. But surprisingly, when I explained what I was looking for to the TripTik operator, she said they did not have this information.
She did have some advice, though - avoid Parkways. These roads, such as the Merritt Parkway (CT) and the Garden State Parkway (NJ), are designed for smaller, non-commercial-sized vehicles, and often have lower under-structure clearances - especially toll booths. Huh.
I think this bit of information jogged her memory, because she then said that yes, AAA does publish a book with this information. It’s called the AAA Truck & RV Road Atlas (Amazon is the only listing I could find), and is available at any AAA office.
I relayed this information to the patron, and he was delighted. He was a brand new AAA member, and was happy to have a reason to go use his membership. The AAA woman said the book retails at about $22.95, but is discounted for AAA members at the local offices. My library does not have one, so I might have to add it to the collection.
Not every reference question I am asked is one that I can answer. This is one of those.
Perhaps the very nature of a small public library prevents librarians like me from being experts in any given field - since we have to respond to questions on any possible topic, it helps to know a little about a lot of areas rather than a lot about a single area. Specialists work in academic and large public libraries, and generalists end up in smaller libraries.
But that’s not to say that a librarian won’t know quite a bit about an area they are interested in. Coworkers of mine could easily specialize in linguistics, pop culture, cooking and modern fiction. Hiking, conspiracy theories, knitting and dystopian novels are some of the particular holes I’ve dug for myself.
At least, those are all the excuses I can think of for my behavior with this reference question.
A patron sends the following email to our reference desk:
To: Chelmsford Library Reference
Subject: Corporate Tax Rate
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am living in Kuwait and for study purpose I have a 2 US Corporate tax related questions.
A US-Based Company (Domestic Company) have its operations in Foreign Country what tax is levied on this company?
If this domestic company is acquired by a foreign company (and domestic company is still operating in another foreign country)….what will be tax rate implied for that foreign country?
Hope You answer my question
Here’s why I answered this question the way I did:
Although we help anyone who comes in, calls, or emails us, we do give priority to local patrons. He didn’t say he was a local resident who just happened to be abroad, and I didn’t see his name in our catalog. I honestly have no idea how he found our email address from Kuwait, and that makes me suspicious and reluctant to spend a lot of time on this
He did mention that he is there for study, and I’m always hesitant with students: the line between helping them do their work and doing their work for them is often blurry. I try to err on the side of less help to start with, but keep checking in to see if they are on the right track
This is a tax question (and a very specific one), and we have a policy against giving tax advice. Especially with such a specific question, unless you get an answer from a specialist, it’s hard to know how much to trust the answer
So, with all that in mind, my reply back to him is below. I knew I wasn’t giving him an answer, but I wanted to at least direct him to some resources that might lead him to an answer:
To: [patron]
Subject: Re: Corporate Tax Rate
I’m sorry, but specific tax questions are beyond our expertise here, and also violates our policy against giving tax advice. I did try looking into your request, and found the Internal Revenue Service’s International Business page (http://www.irs.gov/businesses/international/), which may lead to the answers you seek.
In addition, the IRS has technical support for its website, which should aide you in locating the information on their website that will answer your questions: http://www.irs.gov/help/article/0,,id=97185,00.html
Another potential resource for you to contact is the United States Embassy in Kuwait (http://kuwait.usembassy.gov/), which may have an office to help with your questions, or be able to direct you to the government agency that can answer them.
I’m sorry we are not able to answer your questions directly, but I hope some of the above information might help you. If there is anything else we can do, please let us know. Thank you, and take care.
Brian Herzog
Head of Reference
Chelmsford Public Library
This feels like such a cop out, and I feel bad I couldn’t come up with a real answer, but this seems like the kind of question someone could spend days researching and still find nothing. The patron did reply with a very polite and gracious thank-you message, but I haven’t heard back if he found what he was looking for.
If anyone knows of resource that can answer this, I would appreciate hearing about it.
I keep hearing on the news about other states’ primaries and caucuses. I know it’s for the President, but what’s the big deal? We don’t vote until November, right? What’s the difference between a caucus and a primary? What happens if you don’t win them? Does Massachusetts have one? And I keep hearing good and bad things about all the candidates - who is winning?
I love easy questions like this.
I knew the Massachusetts primary is coming up, so the first thing I wanted to do is search the state’s website for information on that. While doing that, I tried to give a brief description of the whole primary/caucus system: candidates win delegates in each state, who then cast votes in the party conventions to decide who actually runs for President…
By this time I had found a few Massachusetts resources:
MA Elections Division, which listed the primary’s date (Feb. 5th), as well as lots of information on both state- and national-level elections
The Voting Process website, which explained how to register, how to apply for an absentee ballot, what do to and where to go on election day, and more
At this point, the patron confessed that she was far more interested in who was winning than in how the process itself worked. A website I found a few weeks ago is perfect to answer this: CNN Election Center 2008.
I like this website for the same reason I don’t like USAToday - it breaks everything down into easy to understand chunks, and does so with lots of colors and graphs. It lists who has won each primary/caucus so far, and how many delegates each candidate has earned.
It also explains the major issues and where each candidate stands, has an easy-to-use calendar for upcoming primaries and caucuses, shows which candidates have dropped out, how much money each candidate has raised and spent, and more.
All in all, it seems like a fairly complete election coverage source. And it satisfied the patron (actually, it outright delighted her to see Ron Paul has won more delegates than Rudy Giuliani even though Giuliani has spent $30.6 million to Paul’s $2.8 million). She wrote down the url and promised to read more about the issues before Feb. 5th.
I was curious, though - even though I think CNN is a reliable source, I also wanted to see what other election coverage and resources were available. I spent some time searching, and here’s what I came up with, broken down by type:
I didn’t bother linking directly to each candidates’ website, because many of the sites above do that. In fact, since they’re all reporting on the same thing, most of the information on these sites is duplicated. I guess the point is to pick at least one resource you trust and stay informed.
In library near me, the Director did most of the reference work. When she announced her retirement, the staff was worried about having to do reference themselves, until a replacement was found. 
