Introduction – tell the 1 minute:

class what you are

going to teach and Today, we’re going to talk about the reference interview. Part
why of working as a reference librarian is helping library users with
their reference needs - and a key part of that is the reference
interview. Why is a reference interview important? Sometimes
a user might ask a simple question just to get enough
information to proceed on their own. The question might not be
what they really want to know. For example, a user could ask
you if you have any books on cooking, when what they really
want to know is how to make a meringue pie. By conducting a
reference interview, you can get to the heart of their question,
instead of sending them off to find information that may or may
not help them.

Body of the lesson – 4 minutes:

the content that will
be covered during To conduct a successful reference interview, librarians must be
the lesson approachable to users. Verbal and nonverbal cues can show
that you’re available and willing to help them. When a user
does come to you with a question, asking open-ended
questions can help you to get to the heart of their question, as
well as listening carefully to their answers. Once you’ve gotten
to the heart of their question, repeat it back to them to make
sure you understand what they’re asking.
While conducting the reference interview and searching for
resources to help the user, make sure to include them. Turn
your computer monitor toward them and explain what you’re
doing. It’s important to continue communicating with the user
throughout the reference interview.
Once you’ve established the question, you can assist the user
with finding the resources they need, and if they’re unfamiliar
with the resources, you can explain them to the user. After the
reference interview, it’s important to follow up and make sure
that the resources you’ve recommended actually answer the
user’s question. When closing out the interview, make sure to
encourage the user to return if they have any other questions.
The most important part of conducting a successful reference
interview truly is communication. It’s important to communicate
verbally and nonverbally that you’re willing to help the user, it’s
important to ask open-ended questions and listen to the user’s
 answers, and it’s important to communicate with them
throughout the interview as you’re attempting to find resources
to help them. You want to make the user feel comfortable -
don’t make them feel that their question is stupid.

Active learning 8 minutes: Turn & Talk/Role-Playing

strategy used to
support the content Now that we’ve discussed how to conduct the reference
you are teaching interview, I would like you to turn to a partner and take turns
conducting a reference interview. One of you will play the
librarian and one will play the library user. The library user will
ask a reference question and the librarian will conduct a
reference interview. After two minutes, we’ll switch positions. I’ll
give you a few seconds to think of a question, and then we’ll
begin.
*Allow a small amount of time, then prompt students to get to
role-play. (1 minute for instructions and time to think.)
*4 minutes for role-playing, with a pause at the two minute
mark to switch roles. Move through the room to listen in on
how pairs are conducting their interviews.
That was great. Now, why is it important to conduct a reference
interview? How did your reference interview help you
understand your partner’s research question?
*The rest of this time will be designated for facilitating a
discussion among students. (Roughly 3 minutes, though time
remains at the end in case this discussion runs over.)

One goal and two- Goal: By the end of this lesson students will understand the
three outcomes importance of, and how to conduct, a reference interview.
Outcome 1: Students will be able to articulate why a
successful reference interview is important to answering a
user’s research questions (through discussion after the active
learning activity).
Outcome 2: Students will be able to demonstrate an
understanding of and put into practice the skills needed to
conduct a successful reference interview (through role
playing).
Active learning For my active learning component I chose to use a
component and how combination of role playing and a turn & talk. Instead of making
it supports your students go into the front of the room to role play, I had them
lesson turn to a partner to practice their reference interview skills. I
then left a few minutes to discuss why the reference interview
and the skills talked about in the body of the lesson are
important/how this knowledge impacted their interviews.
This strategy supports my lesson by giving me an opportunity
to see whether my goals and outcomes for this lesson have
been met. Ideally, from the discussion, I will be able to assess
whether students can articulate why a reference interview is
important to helping a library patron with their research
questions. From the exercise itself, I’ll be able to evaluate if
students demonstrate an understanding of the skills needed to
conduct a successful reference interview and how they put
them into practice.

ACRL Framework The ACRL Framework that my lesson supports is “information

and how your lesson has value”. Information is valuable in multiple ways - as a
is supporting it commodity, in how it’s used to influence, and as a way to
understand the world.
In this case, information is valuable to the librarian in
understanding what the library user needs. The more
information the librarian has, the better they can help the user
and connect them to the information that they need and that is
valuable to them.

Conclusion 2 minutes:
That was a great discussion, thank you so much for your
participation.

As you saw from that activity, reference interviews are an art -

it’s necessary to hone your reference interview skills to help
library users find the information that they want.

If on time: If anyone has any questions or comments, we’ve got

a few minutes left, so please, ask any questions you may have.
And again, thank you for your time and participation in today’s
lesson.

If over time: If anyone has any questions about the ins and
outs of conducting a reference interview or anything relating to
today’s lesson, please don’t hesitate to contact me. And again,
thank you for your time and participation today.

(Any remaining time is allotted for questions if on or under time

allotment.)