To appreciate the humor, or irony, of my second reason one has to understand that in librarianship, and particularly academic librarianship, historically there existed two career tracks--“public services,” in which the librarians are quite visible while providing assistance to the public, and “technical services,” in which the librarians perform behind the scenes functions associated with acquiring and organizing library materials for use. These distinctions have rapidly broken down as libraries continue to transform themselves with technology, but the traditions and folklore linger. Prior to becoming University Librarian at CSUF, all of my professional experience had been in technical services--from apprentice cataloger to administrator. Thus, never having had the experience of directly putting people and information resources together to meet immediate--and sometimes crisis--needs, I was definitely a neophyte at what I had volunteered to do. That I was also somewhat apprehensive about this baptism by fire is an understatement.

So what have I experienced and what have I learned from my brief times at the Reference Desk? The first important lesson I have learned is never being afraid of saying "I don’t know." Despite myth to the contrary, no reference librarian “knows everything.” While I certainly knew a lot less than the Library faculty who spend more time at the desk, I did know the lay of the land, so to speak, and could point many users in a reasonably good direction. For questions in some subject areas, I also quickly learned to call in reinforcements from colleagues better versed in a particular discipline. Sometimes I even shamelessly suggested that if the person had sufficient time, he or she should return to the desk in an hour when someone better equipped to help would be on duty. I decided that this was an OK thing to do since “refer” is the first part of “reference.”

Every reference librarian dreads certain types of questions but, luckily, not all dread the same categories. For me it was “business” questions. With two history degrees, I was dismally ill prepared to help students find their way through the quite extensive print and electronic business resources of our library. However, since students from the College of Business and Economics constitute about 40 percent of the Library’s “business,” I obviously had to do the best I could. In the process I soon realized that I was actually experiencing the Library much as does a student who has never had much instruction or practice in the use of a library. Given declining support in recent decades for high school libraries in California, this is a circumstance in which many CSUF students find themselves. If I experienced difficulty navigating our online catalog or interpreting electronic resources, I realized that I had lots of company.

Viewing the Library through the eyes of a user was instructive to me. While I was usually more knowledgeable than the person I was trying to help, I also found some of the resources or processes with which I was assisting them to be confusing and in need of improvement. Thus, I often leave the Reference Desk with notes about features or issues where I think changes may be in order. Those receiving my subsequent e-mail messages may have mixed feelings about the wisdom of letting the University Librarian near the Desk.

Another lesson I quickly learned was that students will try to get you to do as much of their work for them as they can. Therefore, anyone helping students at a public desk soon learns to make a clear distinction between giving the “answers” and guiding a person in a direction where he or she will not only find the answers, but also in the process learn something about the organization of information and how to retrieve it.

A further lesson learned was that students frequently have not given sufficient thought to what they are seeking. After a few times of leading people in mistaken directions due to taking too literally what they said they wanted, I learned the critical importance of the "reference interview." This is actually a conversation, in the course of which library user and librarian agree on precisely what is being sought. For example, imagine the conversation necessary when asked: "What is the telephone number of Silicon Valley?"

Although many may not think of it as such, the Reference Desk is frequently a very effective learning center, an environment where the librarian and user work one-on-one to explore a reference question. The Library’s extensive classroom-based instruction program--both faculty requested sessions and workshops sponsored directly by the Library--are designed to reach a large number of students in group settings and instruct them in effective ways to find what they need for classroom assignments. Those helping students in these ways hope the students learn information competency skills that serve them well in their lives and careers. I've also contemplated volunteering to help with some of these instruction sessions, but so far I've thought it wise to leave these to our public service librarians with more "flight time."

My experience confirms research that shows many students have difficulty moving from a journal citation to locating the "physical" journal. Thus it is not unusual to have someone approach the desk with an extensive printout of journal citations and have them ask what to do next. This is the point at which the person behind the desk explains that one needs to check in the OPAC to see whether or not the Pollak Library subscribes to the journal. If we do, he or she should copy the call number and locate the print journal in the Periodicals section on the 2nd floor. If not, then the user may request a FAX copy through Interlibrary Loan (if he or she has allowed sufficient lead-time for the research process). Often you can read the facial reaction to this as "why must it be so complicated." Thus, one of the pleasures I get while at the Reference Desk is introducing students to the prospect they can search for pertinent materials in an electronic database and find the full-text of the article at the same time. Furthermore, one can really make eyes light up by explaining that it is also possible to e-mail the article to oneself. If you've never experienced this "new" order of things, call up the Find Articles and More section on the Library's home page and do a sample search in the Expanded Academic ASAP database. Doing so will give you an appreciation of how electronic information is transforming library research methods.

My initial apprehensions have passed and I now actually look forward to the two days a week I spend a brief time at the Reference Desk. While my doing this may have no effect on staff morale, the experience does continue to keep me humble. A seasoned reference librarian is worth his or her weight in gold. While I will probably never attain the "seasoned" level, my respect and admiration for those who have continues to grow as I attempt to walk in their shoes. The experience also is valuable for revealing to me what it is like to experience the Library as a student.

If you are in the Library Tuesday or Thursday mornings between 8:00 and 9:00 stop and say hello. You might even try asking me something--even if it is a business question.

Richard Pollard
University Librarian