Portions of this LibGuide were created or provided courtesy of the State Library of Iowa and the University of New Orleans.
As a library staff member or student worker, one primary responsibility is to answer questions that library users may have about locating books, journals, articles, and other sources. Such questions may sound like:
If encountering this situation, begin by asking the patron a series of questions. Those questions are known as the reference interview, (see reference interview tab).
This interaction should last no more than 3 minutes.
If the reference interview is longer than that or if you are unsure about how to answer the question, suggest emailing or meeting with a subject librarian.