Referenstaktiker – konsten att guida i det okända

Summary, in English

Reference tactics – the art of

guiding in the unknown

How can academic librarians overcome the

knowledge gap between themselves and library

users? As we see it, the gap is generated

by the user’s deeper knowledge of the subject

topic in comparison to that of the librarian.

This knowledge gives the user possibilities

of handling certain premises attached to the

subject and also of seeing how sub-topics relate

to each other within the main subject topic.

At the same time the user is in need

of assistance to fi nd subject information

and this need needs to be explained to the

librarian as a search expert. The scope of

our study was to fi nd out how the librarian,

tactically, can reach the user’s needdespite lack of subject knowledge.

The main fi ndings of our study were nine

different reference tactics conducted by the

librarians in situations where their subject

knowledge was believed to be insuffi cient.

The tactics were labelled as follows: Interview,

Dialogue, Routine Conduct, Random

Test, Collaboration, Feedback, Forwarding,

Follow up and Pedagogic Strategic Tactic.

• Author: Fredrik Eriksson; Hanna Voog
• Department/s: Lund University
• Publishing year: 2006
• Language: Swedish
• Pages: 82-88
• Publication/Series: InfoTrend
• Volume: 61
• Issue: 3
• Links: http://www.sfis.nu/ojs/index.php/infotrend/article/view/54
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: Svensk förening för informationsspecialister
• Topic: Information Studies
• Keywords: user behaviour; reference librarian; Reference work; communication
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 0040-6872