Information Specialist, Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology, University of Washington
March 2009 – December 2009
Competencies demonstrated:
CSDE is an interdisciplinary academic center at the University of Washington. At CSDE, I provided virtual and in-person reference consultations with affiliated faculty members and doctoral students to inform grant requests, papers, and book chapters. Since affiliates came from a variety of academic fields, I explored many different reference resources, such as general and specialized academic databases, government publications, published monographs, and open Web materials.
I also conducted virtual reference interviews to make sure the information was tailored precisely to the needs of the patron. I clarified initially unclear requests, asked for feedback on the information provided to ensure it was appropriate and complete, and made sure to present the results in an easily understandable way. Finally, I assured the user that s/he could come to me with any further questions. This is a sample reference transaction, redacted to protect the privacy of the patron:
CSDE Reference Transcript
I also drew upon the expertise of my colleagues at the UW libraries. Here is an example of a reference referral which exhibited particularly strong communication between myself, my colleague, and the patron:
CSDE Reference Referral
Competencies demonstrated:
- Identifies the best kind of resource (print, database, Web) to use to offer assistance
- Provides search and retrieval of requested information and presents results that are clear and of appropriate scope
- Continues the reference interview process with users to refine the search or topic as appropriate
CSDE is an interdisciplinary academic center at the University of Washington. At CSDE, I provided virtual and in-person reference consultations with affiliated faculty members and doctoral students to inform grant requests, papers, and book chapters. Since affiliates came from a variety of academic fields, I explored many different reference resources, such as general and specialized academic databases, government publications, published monographs, and open Web materials.
I also conducted virtual reference interviews to make sure the information was tailored precisely to the needs of the patron. I clarified initially unclear requests, asked for feedback on the information provided to ensure it was appropriate and complete, and made sure to present the results in an easily understandable way. Finally, I assured the user that s/he could come to me with any further questions. This is a sample reference transaction, redacted to protect the privacy of the patron:
CSDE Reference Transcript
I also drew upon the expertise of my colleagues at the UW libraries. Here is an example of a reference referral which exhibited particularly strong communication between myself, my colleague, and the patron:
CSDE Reference Referral
