Referrals: Why, When, Who
"Reference Transactions are information consultations in which library staff recommend, interpret, evaluate, and/or use information resources to help others to meet particular information needs." --Definition from the Reference and User Services Association of ALA.
These are commonly-asked questions. How many can you answer?
1. Where is the nearest bathroom?
2. Where are the copiers?
3. Where is Special Collections?
4. Where is ICC?
5. What floor is E457.45 .G66 2005 on?
6. Where are the Qatar stacks?
7. How can I print?
8. Where is the microfilm?
9. I need to watch a video. Where can I do that?
10. Is the library open on Saturday?
11. I lost my umbrella.
12. How do I connect to the wireless network?
13. The toilet is overflowing on the fourth floor.
14. I think the library should purchase this book.
15. Is Special Collections open on Sunday?
16. Where are the books on Ireland?
17. I’m having trouble connecting to JSTOR from off campus. It asks for a username and password.
18. Does the library have Journal of Democracy?
19. Does the library have Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century African History?
20. Where is Y4.1.89/1:H.Rp809?
21. Where can I find 960.2 C264, B7?
22. Where is Blommer?
23. The library doesn’t have the book I need.
24. Who is the bibliographer responsible for Asian Studies?
25. Can I check out the books on the New Book Shelf?
26. I graduated from Georgetown. Is there any way I can access databases from home?
27. How do I request an appointment?
28. I’m looking for PN 56 .K64 S43 1997. It’s not on the fifth floor.
29. How do I get to an electronic book off campus?
30. I think there is an exhibit here on Georgetown Crew.
31. I’m just starting my paper. Where can I find information on the Peloponnesian War?
32. I’d like to reserve the Dubin classroom.
33. Where is a pencil sharpener?
34. I don’t know how to find this: HG 4530 .L59 2008.
35. Where is SPCOLL BOWEN?
1. I need literary criticism of the works of Chinua Achebe.
2. I need financial information on AIG.
3. I need market share information for the pharmaceutical industry.
4. I have a topic in mind for my thesis (or dissertation) and I want to make certain no one else has written on exactly the same topic. How can I do this?
5. Can I have some statistics on trade between
6. What is the size of the Russian army?
7. I need information on immigrants to the United States 1950-1980 by age, nationality and occupation.
8. What are the divorce rates in the
9. I need to know data on coffee production in
10. I’m looking for books and articles on the influence of American jazz on the music of
11. I can’t find any books on the impact of NAFTA on Mexican agriculture.
12. I need to find journal articles on obesity in children in the
13. I need books and articles about Voodoo, especially Nkisi or Minkisi for a 20-page paper for a religion class.
14. I’m looking for current, specific changes in laws on detention of terrorists in
15. I’m doing a research paper for a military history course on the Civil War,
16. I need to know how women in Congress have affected public policy in the
17. I’m looking for primary sources about the British explorer John Moresby, who explored
18. I want maps of
19. I need to know if a French sculptor named “Camille Demesmay” is a man or a woman.
20. I want articles on brown fat or brown adipose tissue in Neanderthals.
21. I want scholarly articles on the film, “Boyz N the Hood.”
22. I’m a
23. I need to know how to cite a page I found on the National Institute for Literacy website.
Encourage the patron to describe his/her information need. The more the patron can tell you, the easier it is to determine what resources would satisfy the need. Avoid yes/no questions.
Sample Open Questions
--From Conducting the Reference Interview p.89
Sample Sense-Making Questions
From Conducting the Reference Interview p. 98
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