Reference at Its Core: The Reference Interview

The 2002 Annual Conference of the American Library Association was remarkable in that it included two major programs about reference services: The RUSA-sponsored program "The Future of Reference" and the RUSA President's Program "The Reference Interview: Connecting In-Person and In Cyberspace." The two programs clearly struck a chord in the profession, with literally hundreds of reference librarians turning out to hear selected experts talk about their futures. As the only speaker invited to participate in both programs, I gained a unique perspective on these issues. The "Future of Reference" was designed as an experiment. Five librarians were invited to write white papers in advance of the conference. These papers were posted to the RUSA Web site (see "Professional Tools," "Future of Reference Services") and have also been published in slightly modified form in Reference Services Review. (1) While the five papers had some commonality, our views of the future of reference ranged from more of the same (my view) to warnings about not having a future at all (Anne Lipow's view). Reference librarians had the opportunity to respond to the papers in advance of the program, although relatively few actually did so. During the program, each speaker discussed the main points of his or her paper and why they felt that reference has the future that they suggested. The lively part of the program was the question and answer session, which could have lasted the rest of the day if time had permitted. Based on the interest, enthusiasm, and the interaction of this program, it could only be labeled a success, with one major exception--all of the experts were wrong. Well, we were not actually wrong, but we were not really talking about reference service. Our papers discussed the history of reference, the factors influencing what we do (especially technology), and how those influences will change how we provide service in the future. Unfortunately, we did not talk about the core function of reference service--the process of helping people. This became clear to me twenty-four hours later, as I sat and listened to the speakers during the "Reference Interview" program. Catherine Ross talked about the value of the reference interview and how it affects the reference process when it does not take place. Her research findings, which take place over several years, including before and after the widespread use of the internet, demonstrate that the reference interview is the essential component of reference success. Librarians who make the effort to conduct a thorough reference interview are more likely to succeed in finding what their patrons want than those who do not take the time for the reference interview. These findings mirror those of Joan Durrance, whose studies reported in the article "Willingness to Return" indicates that patrons remember the librarian much longer than they remember the answer or even the question that they asked. (2) To the patron, the interaction with the librarian is the essential part of the process, not the answer to the specific question. Many patrons will come back to a librarian even when they know they have received a wrong answer in the past, as long as that librarian conducted a thorough reference interview and tried to find the answer. Patrons clearly value the human contact with the librarian, even if the results of their specific query are not successful. Catherine Ross states this point succinctly when she says "the librarian is the key to the information seeking process." The current big thing in reference service is online chat reference service. Through any of a number of software packages, librarians are able to interact electronically in real time with patrons, with a computer and internet access, located anywhere in the world. Jana Ronan talked about how the reference interview works in such an environment. In the traditional in-person form of reference, the librarian receives many cues about the patron's needs. …