Personal Preferences Analysis

Our personal activity this week involved thinking about discussing affective, cognitive and behavioral issues that someone might have when working with a reference librarian. The prompt will be in italics, and my thoughts will be after it.

Affective issue: The library evinces interest in or respect for the topic on which you are working. Is this perceived as more of an affirmation of professional engagement or an invasion of your privacy? Why? I think that showing interest or respect can demonstrate friendliness and enthusiasm. That said, it is imperative that the interest is genuine. The level of interest should also be appropriate depending on the type of information sought by the patron. The librarian should read the patron's nonverbal cues like body language to get information. If the patron seems annoyed or blank when the librarian shows interest, the librarian should back off.

Cognitive issue: You feel that as an iSchool student you "should" know how to find this on your own but can not do so efficiently. The librarian recognizes your school and lack of domain knowledge from the question. What are the more effective means he could use to help you learn how to use basic databases for our field? Why? The librarian should be careful not to insult the iSchool-attending patron, and walk the student through processes and point out that there should be multiple applications for this- both immediately, and in the future, when the patron will become the librarian him/herself. They should point out that one of the advantages of being a librarian is that one is always learning, and this is just a part of that. Make a connection between the librarian now and the librarian of the future. Use this as an opportunity for scaffolding- build upon what the patron already knows and teach them something new, and go all out, because the patron will definitely use these skills again.

Behavioral issue: You are searching in a database of one of our sister disciplines (e.g., psychology or education) and it's not going well. A librarian with a nametag on who is slowly roving the banks of computers makes eye contact and gives you the social cues needed to establish contact should you so choose. What do you do and why? Could anything else have been done that might be of more use to you? I would raise my hand quietly to get the librarian and ask for help. I am frequently surprised in life by other's reluctance to ask questions, and never mind admitting that I don't know something. As a librarian, I would make sure not to be too attentive to patrons who'd rather work on their own, as to not annoy them. I wonder what would happen with a patron who has trouble reading social cues, though? How do you best handle those situations? I work at the children's desk at the Central branch of the Austin Public Library, which is located in a very high-traffic area, so I often am not sure whether someone is just walking by and happens to make eye contact, or if they have a question and are a little shy to ask, so I always just smile and say "hello," to establish myself as available and friendly, but not directly getting in their face.