2015/03/01 by Robert S. Taylor · 4 citations
Social Sciences · #Library Science and Administration #Library Science and Information Literacy
paper · pdf · doi:10.5860/crl.76.3.251
crossref issued 2015/03/01 · crossref published 2015/03/01 · crossref published-online 2015/03/01 · openalex publication_date 2015/03/01 · crossref created 2015/03/13 · crossref deposited 2017/06/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/07/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Seekers of information in libraries either go through a librarian intermediary or they help themselves. When they go through librarians they must develop their questions through four levels of need, referred to here as the visceral, conscious, formalized, and compromised needs. In his pre-search interview with an information-seeker the reference librarian attempts to help him arrive at an understanding of his “compromised” need by determining: (1) the subject of his interest; (2) his motivation; (3) his personal characteristics; (4) the relationship of the inquiry to file organization; and (5) anticipated answers. The author contends that research is needed into the techniques of conducting this negotiation between the user and the reference librarian.