Kathryn Coldiron

LIS 704
February 3, 2014

I recently had to visit the Newberry Library with a colleague of mine on a work-related
matter. We needed to visit special collections and view a particular rare book that we happened to
be handling ourselves at our auction house. In order to verify that the copy we were handling was
complete with all its color plates and text pages we needed to compare it to the complete and
correct version that is held in the Newberrys collection.
Upon entering the library it is necessary to obtain a visitor pass which requires showing
personal identification and signing a sign-in sheet that records the date and time of arrival. We
were then directed to the appropriate floor by a friendly and very helpful security guard. When
we arrived to the special collection area we were greeted by an attentive and friendly reference
librarian. Immediately she fulfilled the first RUSA guideline suggested for creating a positive
and successful reference interview by being highly visible and approachable.1 We told the
librarian what we were interested in but in order to retrieve the book, first we needed to put our
request in writing for the librarys records. The written request asked us why we were interested
in taking the book out, what we did for a living, our names, and other areas of research interest.
This portion of the search process was easy and interesting to me. We came into the
situation with a specific need and we knew which book we wanted right away. This made the
interview itself and the search process quite quick and easy. Filling out the request form was
1 Maness, Jack M., Sarah Naper, and Jayati Chaudhuri. "The Good, the Bad, but
Mostly the Ugly: Adherence to RUSA Guidelines during Encounters with
Inappropriate , 153.

painless and was a good way for the librarian to follow up with us in the future. There was very
little interaction with us during the search process. After we made our request the librarian went
back to the stacks and found the book without any discussion with us. Though RUSA suggests
that reference librarians should involve the patron with the search process, in this situation this
did not bother either of us at all.2 Once she arrived with the book we needed she made sure to
show us how to properly handle the property and then left us alone so we could do our research.
My only complain about the entire process was that when we had a specific question
about the book we were researching, the librarian did not seem to have any specified knowledge
about it. She was able to suggest further resources for us to look into but neither of us were
present during the process by which she found those sources. Overall the visit to the Newberry
was in my opinion a highly successful reference experience with helpful and interactive
reference librarians. From the security guard at the entrance to the building to the special
collections librarian, there was highly visible staff who displayed not only an interest in your
current research subject but your possible future subjects of research. The service was quick and
efficient, and the librarians displayed a genuine care for the patron and the patrons behavior in
the library. All these aspects seem to me to fulfill the RUSA guidelines for a positive and
successful reference interview.

2 Ibid.