a few thoughts on Conducting the Reference Interview: Third Edition by Catherine Sheldrick Ross, Kirsti Nilsen

Conducting the Reference Interview: Third Edition by Catherine Sheldrick Ross
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a pacy and engaging read. It is also a very useful reminder of the value of an effective reference interview. The authors bring together research which highlight the importance of a reference interview to finding out exactly what the person is seeking help to find. There are also sections on online or telephone reference interviews. This is a practical book which could also be used for training.

Some of the research which is described in this books shows how little some staff actually listen to the people seeking help, and this information helps show the value of a well done reference interview.

I really enjoyed reading this book.

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a few thoughts on the book Reference Librarianship & justice: history, practice & praxis

Reference Librarianship & Justice: History, Practice & Praxis by Kate Adler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is yet another impressive Library Juice publication. It explores reference and information services provided by libraries including public libraries using a social justice approach. Different theoretical frameworks are used for each chapter, but they all relate to how social justice is addressed by libraries. There is a focus on information for people who have been silenced, and who are powerless.

In the forward it says 'as described by this book, reference work advances the work of social justice through collecting and making accessible materials pertaining to groups who would normally be erased or dismissed, as well as through the people in doing such work, such as approaching reference work through a lens that seeks to humanize what is sometimes a dehumanizing process, the vulnerability of having a need and asking someone to meet that need.'

This book is important for highlighting that reference and information work can have a social justice role. With the many changes to reference and information services that role is by no means certain, and many of the service changes seem designed to remove that service for the community. This book reminds us of why the ability for someone to come to the library and ask a question, or the library to go out and about to help people with their questions is important, and can be literally life changing.

Reading this books challenges one to look at how reference and information services are provided at your own library, both in and outside the building. Whose enquiries are you privileging?

This book is not always easy reading, but it is well worth reading. I have many ideas I want to follow up on as a result of reading this book.

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A few thoughts on The Feminist Reference Desk: Concepts, Critiques, and Conversations

The Feminist Reference Desk: Concepts, Critiques, and Conversations by Maria T. Accardi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This provides an interesting way of looking at reference and information services. I liked the point about allowing space for silence in a reference interview, even if that is not always practical because of work pressures. It was a useful reminder that for some people asking for assistance is not easy. They will not have formulated what they want to ask, and they will need space and time to be able to answer your questions so that you can help them. Culturally there may need to be a discussion for context, and there needs to be space (and time) to be able to do this. This may need a different approach to some service, but that would enable it to be provided with equity, and and this can be really important for all service provision. It also highlighted that the 'reference interview is a conversation, a dialectical exchange between two people with an exchange of ideas and information with the goal of meeting the information need' p53.

There are many useful references which will lead to further reading. It is another excellent publication by Library Juice.

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delighting clients with story telling

Source: facebook.com via WWF International on Pinterest

I have had this sitting as a draft post for while, thinking about the idea of delighting clients with storytelling.  I think there is the need to think about how we can use storytelling for reference services - I like the idea of mixing this with delighting clients, because that is what we should also be doing in out libraries.

I have been thinking about the idea of delighting library clients with storytelling, but managing to do this through the reference and information services provided in the library.  I am not sure what this would look like.  It may look like content creation, content co-creation, collection and recording community events.  It could be a more radical change in how reference interviews take place, and some of the change would be library staff thinking about how a reference interview is story telling, and the research is a process of story exposure.

It may also look like the new World Wide Fund for Nature app which is really well shown and described by FastCoDesign.  This shows what delighting people with story telling can look like - and it contains a lot of information, packaged in a creative and exciting way.   Explore the app and think about how you can delight your clients with story telling for reference and information services.