Week 6: Balancing Time and Teaching

Last week I recognized that I got caught up helping a couple of specific patrons and spent too long with them, so this week I tried to really focus on time management while still helping patrons with their needs.

One patron needed help selling a car online. He wanted to list it on both Craigslist and eBay. I have never personally sold anything on either site, but have observed the process before. Craigslist wasn't very complicated, it was just a matter of helping him find the photos on his USB device. The process on eBay was a lot more complicated because it was a car. I wasn't sure about some of the details, so I helped him find the eBay "Live Help" chat, where he was able to get his questions answered, and I was able to get back to the desk.

Another patron needed help finding and printing divorce forms. Something we talked about in our reference course was to not give legal advice. So I told him I could show him how to find and print his form, as long as he knew what form he needed. He asked for help filling the form out too, but since that would involve his social security information, I told him I could not do that. After consulting with another librarian, I recommended that he ask any questions he had at the clerk's office before he submitted the papers.

Tip of the Week: There is a fine line between seeing a reference interview through to the end and letting one patron monopolize your time. Do what you can for patrons, but be prepared to get them started with the basics of information literacy, and then allowing them to continue on their own.

Article Annotation and Abstract Area

Isaacson, David. "Serve Their Needs, Not Their Wants." Library Journal 131.20 (2006): 82. Academic Search Premier. Web. 16 June 2012.

 

This article suggests that librarians should be helping patrons with what they really need, which is not necessarily always what they want. Specifically Isaacson emphasizes teaching patrons how to find the answers they are looking for and not just giving the quickest answer possible. He calls for more a return to more in-depth discussion of a patron's query in order find the best possible answer.