Reference Question Field Descriptions - Staff Website

Patron Type

General Guidelines

Fill out the Patron Type field if you are able to reasonably infer the patron’s status and affiliation with the University of Illinois (faculty, undergrad, etc.). Knowing a patron’s status is helpful in guiding a reference interview and should be used with other questions to determine the patron’s level of knowledge about their subject and research process, the requirements of the assignment or research project, and the resources available to them. If the patron’s type is not evident during the reference interview, you can say to the patron: “We’re trying to get a better sense of who’s asking questions at the library. Would you mind telling me if you’re a student, faculty member, staff member, or not affiliated with the university?”

Patron Types

  • Undergraduate Student: Patrons enrolled in an in-person undergraduate program at the university. Undergraduates often ask questions about the basics of scholarly practice, such as the meaning of secondary versus primary sources or how to find articles on a particular topic.
  • Graduate Student: Patrons enrolled in an in-person graduate program at the university. Individuals who are taking a graduate class but are not formally enrolled in a program fall under this type. Graduate students typically ask more sophisticated questions than undergrads and may already have some understanding of research techniques and academic databases.
  • Faculty/Staff: Patrons employed by the university who is not a graduate student, such as a professor emeritus, adjunct professor, guest lecturer, security guard, or maintenance worker. Questions about library policies are common from this type, and professors sometimes have copyright questions. Most professors will already be familiar with the research resources in their field but may need helping accessing databases or acquiring items through Interlibrary Loan.
  • Alumni: Patrons who have graduated from the university. Alumni may have a bachelor’s or a more advanced degree. Alumni may ask questions about alumni access to library resources.
  • Outside UIUC/Non-Affiliate: Patrons who are not employed by, attending, or alumni of the university who also do not live in Champaign County. Also use this category for visiting students who have not yet decided to attend the university and/or their relatives. Many of the reflib email questions come from non-affiliate patrons.
  • Distance Ed Student: Patrons enrolled in online or off-campus courses.
  • Local Community Member: Patrons who live in Champaign County who are unaffiliated with the university.

Mode of Communication

General Guidelines

Use this field to indicate the mode of communication with the patron.

Modes of Communication

  • In Person
  • IM/Chat
  • Phone
  • Email
  • SMS – Text Message
  • Online Consultations
  • Social Media

Time Spent

General Guidelines

Select a duration from the list of time intervals.

Time Intervals

  • <5 Minutes
  • 5-15 Minutes
  • 15-30 Minutes
  • 30 Minutes-1 Hour
  • 1-3 Hours
  • More Than 3 Hours

Question Type

General Guidelines

The Question Type field refers to the nature of the interaction rather than the subject. For interactions that fall under multiple categories, choose the category upon which the most time was spent. In ambiguous circumstances, use your best judgment. Talking to a colleague may help you figure out which category comes closest to capturing the essence of the interaction. For bizarre or unclassifiable interactions, utilize the Other category. Do not leave the field empty if at all possible.

Question Types

  • Data Assistance: Interactions related to datasets, including dataset manipulation, management, access, training, and acquisition. These are typically complex questions that require some back and forth communication with the patron. DO NOT use this type for questions that only involve statistical facts or statistical tables that will not be manipulated; see Research Assistance. When you complete the Description field for this type, please include the following:
    • Data status: [existing/new/in progress]
    • Type of project assistance: [instructional/pre-award grant/post-award grant]
  • E-Resource Access Problems: Interactions when a patron should be able to access a database or a service within a database such as a full-text pdf download but cannot due to issues internal to either the database itself or the library’s linking system. These questions almost always involve reporting an access problem to ER Tech. For our purposes, Statista and similar services that the library subscribes to are considered databases.
  • Directional/Hours: Interactions concerning directional questions or inquiries about library hours.
  • Finding Specific Library Materials: Interactions that involve locating one or more items which the university may or may not have access to, including looking for the full text of journal articles. These are generally “known item” questions wherein you do not have to suggest a resource or material for the patron since they know what they want. Rather, they may not know all the details of the item, whether or not we have it, or how to retrieve it if we do have it.
  • Library Policies and Services: Interactions concerning the library’s policy on something or a service offered by the library. This category should be used both for questions about the nature of a policy and how to use it, such as those on loanable technology or course reserves. These questions will typically be answerable by a library website, the Internal Staff FAQ, or a policy that has been articulated by library staff.
  • Ready Reference: Interactions involving questions that can be answered in one or two factual sentences and/or with the use of a typical reference source such as a dictionary, encyclopedia, or directory.
  • Reproduction Request: Interactions concerning the reproduction of library materials, i.e. scans, photos, photocopies, etc.
  • Research Assistance: Interactions in which the patron needs assistance choosing a research strategy and/or research resources. These will generally involve very broad questions where the patron does not have a single desired item in mind but rather a range of works. Answers which involve the use of multiple databases or which take a long time usually fall under this type even if the question is recreational in nature and not related to a research project. Interactions related to a final research product such as writing style, citation format, or research proposal format also fall under this category.
  • Technical Issues (Printers, Scanners, Software): Interactions concerning a piece of technology that is not working as it should or when a patron is unfamiliar with a piece of tech and needs a large degree of assistance to operate it. DO NOT use for problems internal to a website, database, or other electronic resource; see E-Resource Access Problems. DO NOT use for a patron’s minor difficulties which can be answered by showing them a single line in a manual or “how to” guide; see Ready Reference.
  • Other: Interactions that cannot adequately be classified as any of the above categories. This category is a catchall for odd and difficult-to-define interactions. If an interaction falls under three or more categories and there is not one clearly dominant category, use Other. DO NOT use this type for odd or difficult questions that are still classifiable under another category, i.e. a strange Ready Reference question or Research Assistance with an especially obscure topic.

READ Scale

General Guidelines

Refer to the READ scale documentation for guidelines on this field. It consists of numbers from 1-6 indicating degree of difficulty and effort based on a very specific assessment tool. Any questions which have a Question Type of Ready Reference, Finding Specific Materials, or Research Assistance must be assigned a READ Scale number.

Subject (Main Heading)

General Guidelines

Use this field for questions that have the Question Type of Ready Reference or Research Assistance. Choose the subject that best fits the question. For more complicated or interdisciplinary questions, use the Description field to provide more details and additional subjects.

Referred to Specialist

General Guidelines

Use this field when a referral is made. A referral occurs when the person delivering reference services decides to direct the patron elsewhere for help which is either more in-depth or subject-specific. For more information, see the library guidelines on how to make reference referrals. An interaction involves a referral when:

  • You forward a non-trivial email inquiry to another librarian
  • You forward a phone call involving a complex or subject-specific question to another librarian
  • You direct the patron to another librarian’s office or call a librarian so that they can come guide the patron
  • You forward a chat in IM Collaborator to another librarian with subject knowledge

Description

General Guidelines

For all reference interactions greater than five minutes in duration, enter a brief description of one or two sentences in the description text box. Descriptions need not reiterate details captured elsewhere in the form such as patron type or mode of communication. Informative aspects which might be included are what library resources were involved, what library policies were mentioned, how much instruction was involved, how the patron responded to assistance, and a general assessment of the success of the reference service. Don’t be ashamed to admit that a question went unanswered. Such information could prove very useful to assessment practices. As a precaution, identifying information should never be entered in the Description field. This applies both to the person providing reference service as well as the patron receiving assistance. Identifying information includes names as well as the specific features of someone’s appearance.