UNIVERSITY TEKNOLOGI MARA (UiTM)

KEDAH BRANCH
FACULTY OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

IMD 312
REFERENCE AND INFORMATION SERVICES FOR
INFORMATION AGENCIES
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL (INDIVIDUAL)

PREPARED BY
MUHAMMAD FAIZ BIN ABD RAHMAN
(2018416004)

GROUP
KIM1204A

PREPARED FOR
SIR ASMAD RIZAL UMAR
 UNIVERSITY TEKNOLOGI MARA (UiTM)
KEDAH BRANCH
FACULTY OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT
REFLECTIVE JOURNAL

PREPARED BY
MUHAMMAD FAIZ BIN ABD RAHMAN
(2018416004)

GROUP
KIM1204A
 REFLECTIVE JOURNAL

In this individual reflective journal assignment, I will discuss and share my experience
based on Topic 10 in IMD 312, Reference and Information Services for Information Agencies.
Topic 10 is about Reference Process. My opinion is this topic offer a lots of knowledge that
related to our field of study which is Library and Information Science (LIS). This topic is very
crucial for those who work in library especially the reference librarians.

First of all, what is Reference Process? Reference process is an ongoing process and
normally happen inside the library. However, sometimes the reference process can begin
before a library patron even enters the library. In easier words, I can define reference process
as the process of answering questions. This topic has taught me that there are 3 basic factors
are involved in reference process. The first factor is information. It means the types of
information needed by users and they may ask the librarian about this information. The second
factor is users. They are the person who puts the question to the librarian. The last factor is
the reference librarians which are the persons that need to answer the questions.

In this topic, there are a few issues that I need to face and encountered. The first issue
is about understanding the factors that influence reference librarian and library user in
reference process. Reference librarians and library user can be affected by many factors and
these factors are hard to memorize and hard to understand. There are around 12 factors.
There are a few factors that I found very helpful for librarians out from that 12 factors. For
example the communication. Communication can affecting reference librarians and patrons
because it depend on personality, education, social background. Someone who have higher
education will have different method to communicate with people compare to those who have
lower education. The same goes with personality and social background. At the end of the
days, we just need to make sure that we treat everybody fairly as a human being.

In topic 10, there are subtopic named as reference interview. This subtopic is another
reason why I found topic 10 is the most interesting topic to be discuss out of 12 topic overall
in this subject. When our lecturer in this subject Sir Asmad gave us a task to discuss and
explain about any subtopic in topic 10, I also have chosen reference interview as the subtopic
to be discuss. The task given really help me to understand the subtopic better and I even
search for extra information available in the internet. Even though there are some certain part
that I don’t understand, I able to overcome this effectively. What is reference interview
anyway? At first, I thought reference interview as any normal interview that we do such as job
interview and kind of like it. But when I read about it, it was actually a totally different thing.
 Reference interview is a collaborative effort in which the user seeks to understand his
or her information need meanwhile the library staff member, normally reference librarian seeks
to understand the user's question, find the reliable answer then communicate the answer with
that users. In easier words, we can defined reference interview as a “conversation between a
member of the library reference staff and a library user for the purpose of clarifying the user’s
needs and aiding the user in meeting those needs".

Normally there are a few steps in achieving a good reference interview. The first step
is approachability. In order to have a successful reference interview, patrons must be able to
identify that a reference librarian is available to provide assistance and also must feel
comfortable in going to that person for help. In easier words, reference librarians must be easy
to be approach. The second step is interest. A successful librarian must demonstrate a high
degree of interest in each of the reference interview. The third steps is listening. A good listener
must give patrons a chance to tell you what they really want. Try to listen to their voice without
interrupting or jumping into your own conclusions. The next step is searching. Without an
effective search from librarian, library patrons will never be able to get their answer that was
asked for. The last step is follow up. Remember reference interview does not end when the
users leaves the library. The librarians are responsible for determining if the patrons are
satisfied with the results of the search, such as asking for feedbacks.

After I finished reading and understand the whole topic 10, reference process. The
knowledge can be very useful to be practise in the library, especially if you are a reference
librarians. As we know, we have a reference services provided in each library around the
globe. The goal of reference service is to meet people's information needs. Libraries have
many roles to play, but a library's reference service is the most valuable one. Especially to the
community where it serves because of the unique characteristics of library service. The
knowledge I gained from topic 10 is very useful if I become a reference librarians in the future.
For example, the subtopic reference interview enable me to become a good reference
librarians because it will provide me a skills how to communicate well with the patrons, how to
treat them well and not being so strict like a robot, how to influence them in asking questions,
how to respond to their dissatisfaction and many more.

One last thing I want to say is the library must reach out to people who have information
needs, but have not thought of using the library. Only this way will the library fulfil its larger
mission.