Tips for Better Reference Interviews

• Just as every domestic student interview is different, so is every international student interview.
• Decide if you plan to teach students to do their own research or focus on getting them through their course.
• Expect many grammar questions.
• Keep smiling.
• Greet them by giving them your full attention, saying “hi” and asking what you can do for them.
• Try to determine exactly what the student wants. If you cannot understand him, just have the student write down his request.
• RUSA recommends that you restate the question several times, slowly and clearly, using different words, until you are sure you understand.*
• Use simple sentence structure and vocabulary and avoid contractions.
• Omit slang or jargon such as “call number,” “full-text,” etc.
• Some international students don’t realize that their professor expects them to narrow their focus for their papers. You could send them back to the professor for help to narrow their focus. Have them make three choices, then come back to you for help.
• Don’t accept a smile as proof of understanding. To be sure they understand, ask them to summarize what you just said.
• Let them know what you are doing and why. Let them know that you want to help them, but “…the book is only available through interlibrary loan."
• If they don’t understand that they are permitted to go to the stacks themselves, take them there.
• If they don’t understand library jargon or how a certain library service works, offer them a glossary of terms, a brochure or write it down for them.

• Invite them to return.

  

  *“Reference Service to International Students: A Field Stimulation Research Study,” The Journal of Academic Librarianship 31 no. 5 (S 2005): 409-20.