Topic: Zen and the art of reference work
What are the reasons we feel rushed when we do reference?
- There are always students who are rushed - not a real world stress (except it feels real to the students). The reference role is to help them understand how they feel is normal. They are not comfortable not knowing. Teaching them the process is helpful.
- People apologize constantly - there is a need to let patrons know that they are not taking up your time.
- A systems librarian also gets that from library members, who also apologize for taking up time. The children also apologize to the children’s librarians for taking up time.
- We’re not used to slow customer service.
- People apologize out of anxiety about not knowing what they think they should know. A public librarian mentioned that the first thing they do is set the tone.
- Having all information available all the time created a culture where people think they should know everything. Asking a question leads to imposter syndrome “this might be a silly question… a dumb question… a stupid question…”
- Social services have all been digitized, so now seniors need to ask for help for things that they used to be able to do themselves.
- Going through a reference interview takes time, and that’s the best way to figure out the actual question that they are asking. Answering a question with a question sometimes makes patrons feel like they are talking to a chatbot rather than a person.
- It helps to teach the patron how to read carefully and take notes, especially when someone is looking for tech support. Writing down the steps helps them retain the knowledge. It’s a good thing—and worth encouraging.
- Know your triggers first so that you don’t get impatient. (Like when patrons ask a new question before you have finished answering the first question.) People sometimes fill awkward silence with words and it can break the focus.
- Sometimes students have problems that start after the IT department has gone for the day.
INSIGHT: It is easier to be patient with strangers at the library than our own relatives. Everyone has a different level of agency
HOT TIP: Marist has double-sided screens which is helpful when the wifi is not working seamlessly. You can use the duplicate monitor feature of Windows to have dual screens.
TECH HELP: Sometimes you end up doing too much tech help and it pulls you away from reference. Also, people want very specific kinds of help and might not respond positively if you help them differently than the last person who helped them.
Patrons are so used to using Google for questions that they get impatient when things stop working the way they did the first time.
People think they know the book that they want, and they are so worried about being wrong that they panic.
Having people type in their own search is helpful when they are searching for something that is difficult to spell. Bonus! Giving them an opportunity to teach the librarian something gives them agency and confidence. Also, sometimes they figure it out while they are telling you about it.
When someone calls on the phone while you are helping someone in person, it’s a hard call to decide how to prioritize.
People love to come right before close, and question closings for holidays or weather events.
It helps to verbalize things in a straightforward manner with some reasoning. “Hey, it’s been great to work with you, but I need to go home now, so we are going to stop.” “You’re always welcome to come back if you need help, but you can do a little more on your own at this time.”
People who are on the phones while you’re talking with them… ignore them until they’re off the phone. (It doesn’t work that well anymore.) The mores have changed - people are more willing to talk on the phone and reveal public information in public.
OK, AI
- Everyone loves it because it’s so fast - when you do iterations of the prompts, you’re taking extra time to do something “fast.” You can get it to do something reasonable and readable quickly, but then you end up recreating a literature review.
- A lot of it is free to build the user base, and that’s why they’re putting it everywhere to train the models.
- ACRL was all how to integrate AI and then the other half was about slow librarianship. (Felt like a reaction to the AI boom.)
- In the public library, there are not as many patrons asking about it, but co-workers are asking about it.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO HOME, BUT YOU CAN'T STAY HERE: Close the library with music and lights!