Hi Dave. I am fortunate in that the Comm Arts instructors at my school allowed me to integrate a workshop into their curriculum. In my workshop I cover Google for research (as opposed to picking the top hit), introduction to ProQuest, and Citations & Plagiarism. I am actually proud of this workshop because it mirrors the one offered at UW-Madison that I assistant taught during my internship.

That internship is where I learned the most about BI, and when I think about it, BI was not covered in my reference course.

What I try to do every time I help a student with a reference question is provide them with a little insight on how I found their resources. In pragmatic terms, I think this is the best way to provide BI while helping the student. Off the top of my head, a few things I try to do are:

1. Let the student see the screen while you are conducting your search. I would say about half of the students ask me about the site(s) I am accessing.

2. Ask the students what sources they have tried. If they provide you with some answers, go to some of those sites and point out why it might or might not be a good resource for their project.

3. If there is a lengthy request, and if the student is open to the idea, I set them up on one of the Library computers and let them drive. Normally I direct them to the database where I think they will have the most success, briefly explain some of the finer points of the db, and then let them try a portion of the search on their own. I always stay nearby when they are doing this and I always follow-up with them before they leave to ensure that they are happy with their search results.

4. Have handouts available for students to take with them. Hopefully your school already has something available, and if they are not at your reference desk, consider keeping some there. I have learned that giving a student a handout seems to increase the chances of its getting used over, say, directing them to an online resource guide.

Of course these tips work only if you have the time, but happily I have found I usually do.

Barry -

The handout idea is simple but great – do you a variety of them for a variety of situations? Since I would do very little database instruction in my day-to-day life, mine would be more like, “How to use a finding aid,” or, “How to find a book in our collection.” Which are pretty basic processes, but still might benefit from a little half-page handout. I did such a thing with a class in the winter on finding a book using the advanced search to limit dates, languages, and collections.

Do you have your BI workshop scripted? It might be useful for all of us to see it, if you do. I’m going to start working on scripts soon, whenever I can find the time!

I do not do a lot of reference work because at the branch where I would have the opportunity I am, first of all, only there half time and, consequently, third in line for referrals behind the two full time librarians. I tend to consider reference work one of my weaker capabilities and after working for about a year I am still apprehensive about my reference abilities. That said, I always bear in mind one of the mantras of the almighty reference class: keep the reference interview as open-ended as possible. By practicing this technique I find that I am always able to find a teachable moment, which gets a positive response from patrons. Typically I begin by explaining the advanced search feature of a given database, which then leads into an explanation of something like NAICS codes and how to achieve greater precision in searching/finding information. So as a librarian who does not do reference work for the primary part of my job, I live by the teachable moment.

As for the etymologyical aspect of your post, Dave, I have heard the phrase “teachable moment” before. I think I was introduced to the phrase at SLIS, maybe in my practicum group where many of my peers were discussing their experiences in general public library assignments.

Dave – I really like Steve’s practice of explaining the advanced search features, which I try to do as well even if I am just walking them through Google or Yahoo. I have noticed that when a frustrated student comes to me with a reference need, they have gone to places like Google or, more and more, ProQuest, but they never go beyond the basic search screen.

The have a handout for Google, ProQuest, and then one for how to cite your sources and where to go on the web for good examples. I have also found several citation generators, but since many of the students I work with are new to this practice, if not concept, I feel like sending them to a generator is defeating the purpose.

Finally I have a sheet that covers MedLine Plus from the NIH and NLM. There are so many free medical websites out there that I try my best to send them to this government sponsored site. Yes, I know the government has its own biases, but at least it is an official source.