Comfort Levels and Experiences

How can we question patrons? What actual phrasing works under what circumstances and why?

I would say, generally, try to ask patrons questions in a friendly, courteous manner, and to not come across as frustrating, condescending or insulting. If someone asks you something and you aren't sure what they need from it, you could ask them, "Can I ask you some more specific questions about your request to make sure I understand what you need?" Once they answer those you could verify that you understand by saying exactly that: "Let me make sure I understand what you want. You need X? Is that correct?"

What are the legitimate purposes behind our questions?

We, as librarians, need to work smarter, not harder. To most efficiently spend our time, we should make sure we are researching things that most exactly meet our patron's needs. That is most respectful to the patron's and librarian's time, and keeps everyone's frustration levels as low as possible.

How do patrons question us? Can you generate a set of categories for their questions? Would you have different categories for their f2f and chat questions? For example, in which category would you put the following questions:

1. Can you help me find a science fair project?
   
2. Where are the magazines?
3. Do you have a biography of someone from the '60s?
4. Where are the art books?
5. Is this website the one for my bank?
   

In the library where I work, we have to categorize all the questions we answer into the following groups: reference request, non-reference request, title request, referral request. We are at the children's desk, so the "referral requests" are when we refer someone to the reference desk. Reference requests are for children's reference, title requests are for a title, obviously, or an author of a book, and non-reference requests are other general questions and tech questions. I would categorize questions into the same categories, but I'm biased because my brain already thinks this way, and I think it's a good system.

1. Reference request for a younger student, Referral request for an older student.
2. Non-reference request
3. Reference request
4. Non-reference request
5. Non-reference request

When I first started working at the children's desk, I assumed most questions would be reference questions, but we get many more title requests than I expected, which are good because they are almost always both quick and successful. We also get many more non-reference questions, like "Information Booth" type of questions, about where the bathrooms, copy machines, and CDs are, for instance. That was surprising to me as a new employee of the library, but I am used to it now and since these types of questions are also almost always quick and successful, I'm happy to mark them on our record. By far, reference requests are the most difficult, and we also have to make sure they are within our range of training, or we'll have to refer them to the main reference desk.