1.1 Define the precise nature of the enquiry in conjunction with the client

Table of Contents

1. The Reference Interview
2. Finding out what the client wants to know
3. Spoken and written communication
4. Open and Closed Questions
   1. Open questions
   2. Closed questions
5. Nature of information required
6. Constraints
7. Special needs
8. Further Information

Open questions

Open questions encourage longer answers and their main uses in the reference interview context are to:

• establish rapport with the client
• set the scene for the enquiry
• gain background information which is relevant to the enquiry.

1

Open questions Which of the following are open questions? a) Do you use a left-handed mouse? b) What is the charge for printing a page of A4 text? c) What will your students be using this information for? d) Can you tell me how you went about looking for this information? a) This is a closed question which will be answered by yes or no. a) This is a closed question which will be answered by yes or no. b) This is a closed question which will be answered by a specific sum of money such as 10p.b) This is a closed question which will be answered by a specific sum of money such as 10p.c) This is an open question. A typical reply might be: "These are students undertaking an initial course in professional cookery. They will need the data to understand the calorific content of the foods in the recipe."c) This is an open question.d) This is an open question. A typical reply might be: "I started off looking up autism in the encyclopedias but the information was too general and not up to date enough. That's when I came and asked you."d) This is an open question.

Now move on to Closed questions ...