LESM Survey-The Reference Interview comments questions by Shannon Brown

2024-08-08 03:33:01 UTC

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2024-08-08 03:57:38 UTC

Most of my (minor) frustrations have come from online sessions, a) coming up against technical difficulties, and b) feeling like I haven't helped someone as well as I could have in an in-person setting, as you can't read body language as well. Tips for more valuable online support?

aliciadaveran — 2024-08-08 04:03:21 UTC

My question is that for some of the more advanced queries that we would generally need an RE librarian to handle, but say they are already helping a student, what do we do in that situation, especially when they start to get impatient that 'we should be able to assist them'. In some instances we have had someone who is available to jump on the online session but in person how do we approach that when the assistance that the need is beyond the level of training we have? You can say we can 'try it together' or refer them to the modules while they wait. What if they're not interested in the options you give them?

leelaoconnor — 2024-08-08 04:08:31 UTC

A challenging situation in a drop-in was a student who was irritated by my suggestion she brainstorm her key concepts in a word document prior to entering them into the database. She expressed that this was a waste of time because she wanted to get started on the actual work. I concisely explained the reason why that's usually our process (for later convenience) but I did not push her to do it this way and told her it was her choice. I understood her impatience came from stress about her assignment. After having to modify her search within the database several times, she later chose herself to create a separate document for her synonyms. Even if she had continued to enter the terms each time, I would have accepted this as her personal judgement about how she needs to complete her assessment task.

leelaoconnor — 2024-08-08 04:16:29 UTC

I have found it challenging as the PE person to do the online session admin (triaging, assigning people to rooms, asking for more staff members) while also assisting a student with their search. Sometimes only a few minutes in you have more students than staff members, and it can be hard to split your attention between trying to make a start with a student but also put out calls out for help on the channel (especially if you don't get any replies for a while). I feel this makes upskilling through practice more difficult, because you can't put your full attention towards it. In the past I have handled this by personally messaging staff members to see if they are free to join - but I'm keen to hear any other suggestions. :)

2024-08-08 07:22:07 UTC

Respond to the request, not the tone - great advice!

2024-08-08 07:27:52 UTC

It is always a challenge when a student requires more advanced help than I can provide when we are short staffed.

In a case like this, I try to assist the student to the best of my ability by advising them that a Research Librarian will be with them shortly. I also ask get them to log into any databases where a search string may be saved, or set up covidence/ endnote, etc. This ensures the student is ready to go when a Research Librarian is free and it takes up time which prevents the student from being impatient.

If the student completes this and there is still a wait, I will ask them 'What they hope to get out of today's session?" and go through their search string- sometimes I can help them in small ways. This provides me with a full understanding of the type of search support they are after which I will then relay to the Research Librarian when they take over.

2024-08-09 02:11:06 UTC

Repeat customers are tricky, especially if these students/HDRs/staff members have already received extensive help from a research librarian. It's very hard to pick up where they left off in that instance, especially if it's an advanced query and I certainly don't want to provide advice that contradicts or complicates what has already been said. If that staff member is not available to assist it can be kinda awkward...any advice?

2024-08-09 02:34:52 UTC

My biggest frustration with Teams is the inability to check if other students have joined the session when we are all already seeing students in rooms.

I once joined the main room with 10 minutes in a session to go and two students were waiting. I admitted them and they explained they had been waiting for a while.

I asked them what type of support they would like to receive and tried to advise them to the best of my ability in the limited time left. I also directed them to relevant online resources and databases for their search.

At the end of the session I collected their details and advised them to join another online session at 10am on the dot. I also advised them that I would pass on their information to the rest of our team (via search support channel) to ensure they would be seen as a priority next time (if they arrived on time).

They appeared satisfied with the outcome.

They were seen as a priority in the next online session and I was informed of this via teams. :)