Incoherent Scribblings

Solving the Puzzle

What does it mean to be a reference librarian? When someone asks you a question, what do you do?

Do you find information for that patron? Do you suggest a few select books from the catalog or point out articles that seem to be on topic? Even as you perform such a consultation do you act as a readers’ advisory?

Or do you instruct the patron on how to find the information for him or herself? Do you explain the theory behind searching and do example searches? Do you teach the mechanics of manipulating data?

Do you do both? If you do both, why? Why do you simply find information for one patron, but chose to instruct the other one?

The library instruction librarian in me wants to teach everyone that comes into the library how to find information for him or herself. She wants every boy and girl that enters the library to know how to tell a good source from a bad one. She wants them to know how to use the good source when they find it and do so responsibly. She wants them to be independent researchers and find it rewarding.

Many requests are relatively straight-forward and, if properly educated, the patron can easily find the information for him or herself. Therefore, a little instruction can go a long way in answering the question.

But when that gem of a question, that rare nugget of authentic reference work is presented, the rouge reference librarian in me emerges and suppresses that naive instruction librarian. The reference librarian wants the thrill of finding the answer all to herself. She doesn’t care if all the good boys and girls learn how to find the answer or not.

It isn’t about guarding the secrets of the library or being lazy. It isn’t about purposely finding the information so the patron doesn’t have to or influencing the information the patron receives.

It’s all about solving the puzzle.

Only Tuesday

One of my responsibilities as Education Coordination Librarian at West Texas Town University is to organize and schedule our Library Instruction* program.

I am not saying that I haven’t had anything to do in that capacity since I started my position in September, but since the semester was already in full swing when I arrived the actual organizing and scheduling I did for fall was minimal. The majority of the classes had already been scheduled and most had already been taught.

Since the fall semester ended, however, I have been spending a lot of time completing various tasks in preparation to “officially” take control of my program. I have compiled a mountain of statistics. (I am still not sure what I am going to do with them, but at least I have them!) I have read about assessment. I have created forms and documented procedure. I have done at least a dozen other things too, but I will stop there… You get the idea.

Luckily though, just as I was beginning to get rather bored with all the “busy” work, the spring semester arrived. Classes don’t officially start until tomorrow, but I wanted to start the semester off right by getting the word out that there is a new education coordination librarian in town.

I went to the beginning of semester faculty/administrative staff meeting and took a couple of minutes to introduce myself. I schmoozed networked after the meeting over coffee Coke and donuts. I passed out my business card. I sent a follow-up email.

Before I even went to lunch I began getting requests and taking reservations. In fact, the response has been such that when I left my office tonight I still had reservation forms on my desk to double check against my calendar… and it’s only Tuesday!

* Insert the buzzword of choice here: library instruction, bibliographic instruction, user education, or information literacy to name a few.