Approved-By:  "Kara L. Robinson" <KROBINSO@KENTVM.BITNET>
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.libref-l
Date:         Wed, 16 Dec 1992 14:32:26 EDT
From:         Gretchen McCord <1LIGXM@UTSAVM1.BITNET>
Subject:      introduction to reference services

Christina, I hope late is better than never.  I have read the few
responses your request generated with interest.  I just received my
M.S.I.S. in August  and have been working in general reference since.
Since my experiences on the job are so new, and since my classroom
experiences are still pretty fresh, perhaps I can offer a slightly
different view.  Because I had no real experience (only a 120-hour
practicum) when I began this job, it often strikingly clear to me
what my classes did and did not prepare me for.
First, let me say that I see the purpose of the intro ref class as
giving the Big Picture of reference services.  It should give the
students familiarity with types of tools, major tools and names, and
with CONCEPTS of reference service.  Learning more specific tools and
in more detail should come in advanced reference classes.
Instead of "scanvenger hunts," the majority of work in my intro
ref class was to make up questions to be answered by assigned tools
and then find the answer.  Even if the student did the assignment in the
reverse order, I believe that this encourages more exploration of the
tools than does the scavenger hunt for answers to given questions.  The
final major assignment was then a scavenger hunt.
I would argue with those that say studying specific tools is a waste of time.
Perhaps this is true for those students who will not go into public services,
but it was invaluable to me as a future reference librarian.  The point, rather
than memorizing the particular source, should be to learn how to find the
source, ie, I know I can answer that question with one of those business
directories that ranks companies by sales.  From that point, one can use
whatever means (OPAC, shelf-scanning, etc) to locate the particular tool
needed.  This also encourages understanding the thought processes involved
in reference work.
One of the most important concepts of the intro ref class should be to
give students an idea of what reference work involves--DEALING WITH
"THE PUBLIC" AND DEALING WITH "INDIVIDUALS."  My professor for intro ref
was fantastic at telling stories, some hilarious and some very touching
and even depressing, of her years as a reference librarian (some years
before her teaching career began).  She used this to emphasize important
and sometimes sticky issues to be dealt with (rights to privacy for
minors), to drum into us our responsibilities in dealing with The Public
(strict confidentiality in ALL cases), to prepare us for dealing with
people (how do you help someone who is too embarrassed or ashamed to
tell you what he or she really wants to know, but who obviously needs
something so desparately?), and to reassure us that it takes time to
learn our job and that it's OK for a reference librarian to NOT have
an answer to a question.  I think that these types of issues are just
as important in practicing any kind of public service as is knowing tools,
and it is probably easy to overlook this more subjective aspect of
reference service when teaching classes.
Finally, one component which I sorely missed in my graduate classes was,
as someone on the list mentioned, practice with BI!  However, I thinik
that this probably needs to be its own course, as a general/intro
ref class is attempting to cover so much territory in a short period
of time already.
I know this is long, but I hope it will be useful.  Good luck, and
have fun!

Gretchen McCord
Reference Librarian, UT-San Antonio
1LIGXM@UTSAVM1
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