Reflecting on Lesson 5: The Reference Interview

The title of lesson five threw me for a bit of a loop.  Before beginning the Riedling chapter I had no idea what the reference interview was.  However, Riedling immediately explained that it is a conversation between a TL and student with the purpose of identifying a student’s needs or assisting them with an enquiry (Riedling, 99).  With this explanation I felt much more comfortable with what this chapter was referring to.

However, I feel that referring to assisting students as an “interview” is too formal.  In my limited library experience, students do not want formality when they are in need of an answer to a question.  They simply want the answer to their question.  If TL’s approach their job too formally students can be put off as they feel distant from the TL.  Rather than make the process formal like an interview, I think the TL needs to assist students in a comfortable and friendly fashion.  By developing a comfortable rapport with students, the reference process can be conducted in an efficient fashion.

Despite the formality of the name, I do believe the roles and expectations of the TL in the research process is described accurately by Riedling.  The TL should be accessible to students.  He or she should also have a positive attitude and want to help students.  The TL should approach every “interview” keeping in mind that the student’s needs are the most important.  Finally, the TL should be able and willing to model different aspects of research/referencing methods to ensure that a student’s needs are met.  While I believe that Riedling’s expectations of a TL are fair, I can not speak to this from personal TL experiences.  However, as a classroom teacher I know that I have to demonstrate all of these skills and fill all of these roles when working with students on a daily basis.

I think the most important thing I took out of this lesson was the importance of realizing that students come first.  Whether a teacher or a TL, we need to ensure that when students have questions we do all that we can to answer their questions efficiently and effectively (and in the process hopefully modeling good research skills/methods!).