Online Searching in the Reference Room

VISUALIZE A SCENE IN the hallway of a mid-city business building. Standing to the left just outside an office door is a tall, good-looking young executive, his left hand perched on his hip, and his right hand held thoughtfully up to his chin. He is listening attentively to the janitor, an older, shorter man who has taken a few minutes out from his mopping toexpound on a subject of vital interest to both of them. Down the hall behind them the twilight of evening and the lights of the other office buildings shine through a large window and twinkle off the wet floor, outlining the momentarily forgotten attach; case and mop bucket. Below this picture of productive social intercourse, for this is an advertisement in the Wall Street Journal,’ is the message, “At Sperry, listening is not a 9 to 5 job.” The ad continues with a brief statement about the importance of careful listening on the success of any company endeavor. The attitude of the Sperry Corporation, a major manufacturer of computer systems, is significant as well as refreshing, and it relates very closely to the development of online bibliographic searching in library reference departments. Listening is one of the major facets of effective human interaction, which is important for good business and absolutely essential for successful service in the reference room, either at the desk or at the online terminal. Interpersonal relations are a necessary part of the information transfer process, and consideration of them will