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
5. Nature of information required
6. Constraints
   1. Deadlines for completion
   2. Deadline problems
   3. Currency of information
   4. Language
7. Special needs
8. Further Information

Deadline problems

Clearly it is important to explain to the client the reasons why the deadline cannot be met. These could range from the enquiry being much more complex than was originally envisaged, through absence of a specialist member of staff who would normally have handled the enquiry to technical problems resulting in Internet access being temporarily unavailable.

More important to the client, however, is the discussion of what action you propose to take to make the best of the situation. It could be that it is possible to complete part of the enquiry within the deadline, in which case you must agree with the client which aspects should be prioritised. Or perhaps you could arrange for the information to be provided by another organisation.

You might be able in the interests of good customer service to offer the client a "sweetener" to compensate for the library's failure to satisfy the initial demand - 10 pages of free photocopying can have a positive impact out of all proportion to the monetary cost.

Now move on to Currency of information ...