Slide 1: Tips on Answering Reference Questions, or How to Wing It
Version 2.0 Beth Brown 6/29/07
Slide 2: What to Do
Reference Interview: Communication Showing library (Internet) materials: Instruction Connecting them with appropriate person: Referral
Slide 3: Reference Interview
Greet person Ask them what they need help with Person cannot always express what they want / need Asking for details:
What is the information for – a course, subject, or project? How soon do they need it? What else have they tried? Are they affiliated with BU?
Slide 4: How to get information
Answer the original question(s), then sense if person needs more help Repeat question back to patron
Slide 5: Reference Question Types
Directional Database Access Reference
Information – Research Technical Problems
Instructional Ready Reference Research
IT Electronic Access Printing Photocopying
Slide 6: Directional
Campus Local Community People Services
Most of these questions can be answered by the campus directory or phone book Referral: BU Campus Information 7-2000
Slide 7: Database Access
Use when locating a library database or using web navigation to answer a reference question
metaLINK – BU Only databases Library Subject Web pages
Web Search Engines page
Slide 8: Reference - Instruction
Use when
Demonstrating a database Completing a form
Slide 9: Reference – Ready Reference
Factual Questions Almanacs – online and print Web Search Engines – Google, Yahoo, Exalead, Clusty, Ask BU main Web Page – search box BU Main Web Page – Information, About Menus
Slide 10: Reference - Research
Use when
Locating articles, books, etc. on a research topic Need specialized information Frequently use BUonly materials
metaLINK Subject Web Pages
Slide 11: Database Access
Identify topic with a subject:
Biology – BIOSIS Chemistry – Beilstein Crossfire, Scifinder Scholar (Chemical Abstracts) Geology, Maps – GeoRefS Engineering – Compendix, INSPEC Environmental Studies – Onefile, Proquest Mathematics – MathSciNet Medicine – Medline, PubMed Nursing - CINAHL Physics – INSPEC Psychology – PsychInfo
Slide 12: Database Access
Humanities Social Sciences
Slide 13: Database Access – Search Tips
Start with a keyword search:
Use 1,2, 3 words or phrases to describe topic Think of alternate words to express topic Eliminate terms if too many hits are retrieved Combine terms using AND operator – Narrows search Combine terms with OR operator – Expands Search
Slide 14: Technical Problems
IT (Information Technology)
Software applications (MS Office, etc.) Email (sending, attachments) Laptops (printing, connecting to wireless) Other issues – Library Guest Accounts Can’t access database, online journal, website Contact Technical Staff
Electronic Access
Kay – ejournals and access to serials Dave – library databases Tom – aleph records
Slide 15: Technical Problems (2)
Printing
Quota printing – IC printers Paid patron printing / BUC$ printing Color printing Copier Assistance Out of paper, jammed, etc.
Photocopying
Slide 16: Technical Problems (3)
Computers: File types Word Excel Access Powerpoint Adobe Acrobat Web file .doc .xls .mdb .ppt .pdf .htm, .html
Slide 17: Technical Problems (5)
Logging into computers
PODs username and password Accessing H drive information
H drive
Slide 18: Style Guides and Citing Sources
Guide to Style Manuals Popular Citation Formats:
MLA – Modern Languages Association Chicago – Chicago Manual of Style 15th ed. (REF Z253 C57) APA – American Psychological Association: The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (REF BF76.7 P83) Turabian – A manual for Writers of term papers, Theses, and Dissertations (REF LB2369 T8)
Slide 19: What if you can’t answer a question?
Pause, think about the search / approach Try the search again with different terms Try a more general search
search the web rather than a database try a general database (Academic Search Premier, LexisNexis) rather than the subject database List of subject librarians
Refer to a subject specialist
