by-the-book reference interviewing

[Rich Gazan]

Apologies to Jahoda, but the effective reference interview is not
something you can learn how to do from a book.  Interacting with patrons
is an art, not a science.  Any system that attempts to treat all
information seekers identically can't do a very good job of accounting
for individual needs--and isn't that the business we're in here?

I would argue that the worst kind of customer service is that which
comes from a script.  When I need help, I want the reference librarian
to be involved with me, not with some mental checklist or flow chart.

Demanding?  No doubt.  But mass opinion of librarians is built from
these everyday interactions...