Peer Research Consultants

Assignment 1

Think about a reference interview you have had with a librarian (public or academic).

• Do you have an example of a time you felt you were not given the help you needed or were not listened to?
• What did they do that was helpful that you'd like to use when working with a student?

Send a Microsoft Teams message to Karlene Clark and Brittany Fischer before beginning the readings below.

We have a choice to "give 'em the fish" or teach them to fish. It's our job to find the line between what they need and what they can do for themselves. Check in with the patron as you go and make sure you are still addressing the question they want answered. Whenever possible, have them do the majority of the work with only guidance from you. This is like showing them how to use our Reserve system - show them once, show them twice if you like, but then encourage them to try searching on their own with the tools you have introduced to them!

Be aware that the question they are asking may not, indeed, be the question they mean.

For example, asking for "something about tree frogs" may mean

1. "I don't know. Frogs are just cool."
2. "I'm actually looking to compare species of tree frogs for my biology class."
3. "I'm looking to find out how many types of poisonous frogs live in the South American jungles."
4. "I really don't care about frogs - I actually need to find out about the ecology of tree dwelling animals in the Australian Outback."

In each example, they are looking for different types of answers and resources! It's up to you to help them get to the heart of their true question!

Assignment 2 - Writing Reflection

After reading each of the following articles and watching the short Youtube video, please write a (minimum) two paragraph reflection on what you read. Please send responses to Karlene Clark and Brittany Fischer.

Address:

1. What you agreed with
2. What you may have disagreed with
3. Something you learned
   1. What are some things to consider when assessing the patron's information needs?
   2. There is often a disconnect between what the student is asking for and what their information need really is. What are some open-ended questions you could use to help learn more about what they are looking for?
4. Was there something you would like to learn more about?
5. Anything you'd like to share or that really stood out for you.

• Brown, Stephanie Willen. The reference interview: theories and practice. Library Philosophy and Practice, Feb, 2008

• Skateboards, Katy Perry and Sola Scriptura. Reference interviews: A series of personal reference stories. The Reference Librarian 55(3): 262-267. July 2014. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276918731_Skateboards_Katy_Perry_and_Sola_Scriptura_Reference_interviews_A_series_of_personal_reference_stories
• The reference interview: Staff from Auckland City Libraries demonstrate a reference interview in a 3 minute & 30 seconds video.

Assignment 3 - Reference Interview #1

We are looking specifically to see

• That you understand the RUSA ethics and how to use them during the interview
• That you use the correct verbiage needed for a successful interview
• That you ask questions, but do not automatically offer them keywords - do you provide wait time for them to respond
• That you don't assume a direction for their topic - are you asking:
  • What class is this for?
  • What kind of resources do you need?

Assignment 4 - Reference Interview #2

After meeting with the team, and reviewing Assignment 3, choose a topic that might come from an upper class student (perhaps Psych 300). Do a more complete interview and fill in the Organizing Your Topic Sheet. Submit that with the interview and search plan.

Assignment 5 - Reference Interview #3, Polished

Now that you've visited with the team about how to properly do ethics, verbiage, and narrowing the topic, give us a final, complete interview that incorporates everything above.

Assignment 6 - Reference Interview Role Play

You're ready to try it! Working with a Lead PRC, go to the One Button Studio and have your Lead ask you a question. Record the interview and then submit to PRC supervision team. This will be the first time an evaluation checklist will be used.

• A Graduate Student comes in on the weekend and asks for help?
  • "PRCs are trained to assist undergraduates, and our librarians are off duty right now. What I can do, though, is get you started with a few subject terms. Here's a few of the best Research Guides to look in. I'd also like to show you our Ask A Librarian chat service. This is 24/7, even when we are closed. Before you go, hand over librarian card I know <Joe> would love to visit with your about your research. Please reach out to him; he'll respond as soon as he's back in the office."
• An Undergraduate is working on a thesis project?
  • During a weekday.
    • "Due to the nature of the research, I'm going to refer you to your subject librarian. Hang on while I call him. make the call While we wait, I can show you a few Research Guides that might help you."
  • Weekend
    • See Graduate Student script above.
• A faculty member or graduate student is being pushy, demanding, or does not want to go on to a subject librarian?
  • Just like our basic customer service training, let the person vent first.
    • Unless they are being abusive. If you at ANY point feel uncomfortable or unsafe
      • If in person, chat your buddy librarian or another librarian, asking them to come join you at the desk. This can be as simple as "Safety. Please come to Ask Us desk." We won't question it.
      • If in libchat, you may state that you are passing it to a librarian (and do so immediately) OR you may end the session. If you end it, let your buddy librarian know what happened.
  • Say "I understand. Here's what I can do for you. I'm trained to assist undergraduates, but I know your subject librarian can assist you better than I could, so I'm going to see if they are available." (and do so).
  • If they are still unhappy
    • Let them know which libguide or database may be a starting point.
    • "I understand. Here's what I can do for you. This X may get you started. I'll also send a message to <subject librarian> to follow up with you. I appreciate your patience."
• They are having trouble accessing our databases.
  • Verify if they are from the medical school or law school (OT, PT, nursing, social work...)
  • Have them log into their home libraries
  • "I'm not associated with X library, but I can help you with some search terms to get you started. Before we do that, I'll also give you the contact information for your subject librarian" (show them how to find it)

One of the tasks you will be asked to assist librarians with is the creation of Research Guides.

Over the last six assignments, you have learned how to use them for searching and research assistance. Now, please see Karlene about having your own account created. She will let you know when it is ready, and either she or Brittany will provide basic training. All training accounts will be labeled as <(your name)’s Sandbox>. This is your personal guide during your time as a PRC and will stay until you leave the program.

You may use it to practice creating and deleting pages, learning how to work with tabs and boxes, and so much more. Maybe you want to have a page within it just for your own notes about what you are learning, as well as tips and tricks you discover!

This will not be a public page for others to see, but when you do have something basic set up, please email the team with the link and for a time to review and ask questions. They may have more tips to help you out before you start creating live guides for UND students!

This is not for you to create professional content. That needs to be on the guide the librarian is asking for it on. They will need to add you as an editor to the specific guide. There is a Best Practices Research Guide Template Guide that you can use.

Now that you are familiar with the RUSA guidelines, watch these videos from the Eng130 lessons about exploring and narrowing a topic to better assist you in the next step of your training which is to begin conducting reference interviews.

Now that you've "got a handle" on how this works, we're going to have you look at a few other areas.

Using what you learned with the Business Question assignment from earlier, along with the reference interview practice you did above, look at the questions under each of the tabs in this area. Some of them have transcripts or suggested answers, but in all cases, you'll go through each question as you have above.

• Only work on one tab at a time.
  • Please include the questions in your write ups, along with the Search Chart as you work through it. It allows us to see your work and recreate it as we review the process
  • You may be asked to focus on these in different orders, based on the availability of each librarian.
  • In each question, ask yourself "What is my follow up question?" to help direct the search path. Put this on your search plan. (Especially if the initial question seems too broad or open ended)
  • Your knowledge base is still growing - remember that Google and Wikipedia are last resorts!
    • We want you showing patrons our libguides, our databases, how to search for books
    • Google Scholar is okay
    • You can ask the patron (or in this case the subject librarian or Karlene), then the subject librarian, and THEN go to Google
  • Make sure to complete the "analysis" at the bottom of the search plan. This is a review of your thought process going through the question and research - what went well, how you chose search terms and revisions, where you got stuck, if you decided to get the subject librarian to explain something, etc.
    • Some questions may be beyond you. Add a note on how long you worked on the research and if you feel there is a point you should refer it to a librarian.
• Contact your supervisor when you complete one. She will schedule a meeting with the team and the subject librarian to review everything when you complete a section.
  • This may take a few days, as the subject librarian will need time to review your work.
• It's important to remember as you meet with each librarian that everyone has their own way of doing these tasks! Keep track of the things you think will work for you. Add those tools to your "Sandbox!"