Report: Report: RSS' Education and Professional Development for Reference's 2015 ALA
Midwinter Discussion Forum: What Should be the Future of Reference Education for Librarians
Despite competition from a number of other compelling programs, more than 35 people
gathered from 3pm-4pm on Saturday, January 31, 2015 in Room 473W of the McCormick
Convention Center in Chicago for the “What Should be the Future of Reference Education for
Librarians” discussion forum sponsored by RUSA/RSS’ Education and Professional
Development for Reference Committee. Mary Pat Fallon, an assistant professor in Dominican
University's MLIS program, set the stage for the discussion by asking the attendees to reflect
back on their experiences in library school and by sharing her thoughts about essential
components of reference education now and in the future. The participants then discussed
several questions related to Mary Pat’s presentation.
Mary Pat began by asking the audience, “How did your school prepare you for reference work?”
Replies included:
● a treasure hunt in which we learned about types of sources
● having me read questions from the Library of Congress that they - librarians at
LC - could not answer
● having us memorize the titles of reference books and then match the title with the
publisher
● having us memorize the contents of reference books so we could describe the
table of contents, how the book was organized, and how the book worked
● participating in an assistantship
● having me read through 30 years of reference correspondence with patrons
Mary Pat’s second question was, “What are the qualities of an ideal reference librarian?”
Replies included:
● curiosity
● being involved in the question yourself
● being engaged with the patron
● being committed to finding answers
● being approachable
● having a knowledge base
● knowing where to go when you finish with Google
● being able to help patrons Google masterfully
● knowing how to conduct a reference interview in order to figure out the patron’s
real question
● being comfortable with the use of technology for communication
● being able to handle multiple patrons at the same time
● being able to teach patrons how to find answers themselves
Mary Pat’s then addressed the topic of how the role of reference has changed and how students
are being taught reference today. She noted that one good way to learn reference is to teach it.
Her prior experience as a reference librarian had taught her guidelines, but she did not truly
understand what reference was until she became a library school professor and started
teaching reference classes. Among the other ideas she shared regarding this topic were:
● Reference used to be based more on tools and how to use tools. For example, one
might learn how to use the Dictionary of Literary Biography and would realize that it
might be necessary to consult multiple volumes to learn about a particular author. Take
Virginia Woolf for instance. Her biography might be in one volume, information about the
Bloomsbury group in another, and criticism of her works in yet another. Mary Pat stated
that we should focus on the content of a source, rather than how to use tools.
● The reference interview is important, but should be called the reference dialog. Library
school students should practice reference dialogs. She explained that she brings
undergraduate students into her classes when she teaches the reference dialog. She
invites them to role play and express a particular emotional stage, e.g., crabby, anxious,
excited.
● Reference education should focus more and more on interpersonal skills. It is vital to
learn how to collaborate and how to read people. One must make eye-contact and must
be aware of patrons.
● Reference education should promote roving librarianship. Mary Pat doesn’t advocate for
acting like an annoying salesperson. Instead she recommends that we look for signs of
frustration.
● It is vital to help future librarians become comfortable with teaching in a one-on-one
setting. She requires her students to be able to look at a resource and then teach it to
another.
● She recommends making evaluations authentic. For example, when evaluating ability to
search a catalog, require students to actually go and retrieve sources.
● Reference educators should stress that librarianship is a service profession. She sends
her students to non-library settings to observe and analyze the service they received.
She also has them go to a library and ask a reference question by playing a role, e.g., “I
need to research Aristotle.” She has her students provide reports of these experiences.
She wants them to gain insight into what constitutes a good reference dialog. Mary Pat
asked the audience for thoughts about how a reference librarian should respond to the
patron who says, “I need to research Aristotle.” Suggestions were:
■ Ask, “what is your assignment?”
■ Ask, “what research have you done already?”
■ Ask, “what do you already know about this?”
■ Paraphrase the question in order to make sure we understand what they
are asking.
■ Assure them that they have come to the right place and that we will be
able to help them.
■ Make sure to remember to invite them to come back afterwards and let us
know how the assignment went.
● When she started teaching reference she would look to see what other library professors
were teaching in their classes. She saw that some were teaching theories and names of
reference scholars. She decided that she prefers to teach how to get things done. She
likes to give assignments that provide skills her students can actually use. For example,
●
early in the course she has the students recommend 10 or so books to add to a library’s
collection. She has them create a pathfinder and properly cite the books. She teaches
them to use American Reference Books Annual to find reference books. She teaches
them Ulrich’s International Periodicals Directory to help them recommend journals.
She suggests that we consider merging four disciplines (collection services, research,
instruction, reference).
Mary Pat concluded by addressing what she would like to change in reference education.
Among her ideas were:
● She would like to see more students embedded in an academic library, actually
practicing reference. She noted that Emporia State University’s School of Library and
Information Management does this.
● She would love to see her fellow professors of reference be at a reference desk for an
hour or two each week.
● She believes we need to place much more emphasis on teaching librarians to teach.
Following Mary Pat’s introduction, attendees participated in a lively discussion centering on two
questions: (1) What reference skills and knowledge, if any, should be taught in library schools
today? How should these be taught? and (2) What changes should library schools make to the
way they prepare future librarians for reference work?
Answers to “What reference skills and knowledge, if any, should be taught in library schools
today?” included:
● How to coach and mentor paraprofessionals
● How to communicate effectively with individuals who do not have strong English skills.
● How to help people who are impaired or experiencing an emotional crisis
● Reflective listening skills
● How to conduct an effective reference interview
● Active listening
● How to provide good customer service
● How to speak effectively in public
● How to deliver an elevator speech
● How to provide reference via chat, e-mail, phone, text, and in-person
Answers to “What changes should library schools make to the way they prepare future librarians
for reference work?” included:
● They should use more mock reference interviews
● They should place less emphasis on teaching specific resources and more emphasis on
listening and communicating
● They should use role playing for reference interviews, but each team should be given a
different topic.
● They should use more practicums.
The topic of practicums led to follow-up questions: “How do students have time to do
practicums? How do librarians feel about their employees performing practicums in the same
library?” Answers to these questions included:
● Students are willing to make the effort
● Libraries prefer that their employees do a practicum at another institution.
● A lot depends on whether a library has unions and on how big the library is.
Notes taken by:
Jason Coleman
Chair, RUSA/RSS’ Education and Professional Development for Reference Committee