Reference Skills and Strategies in the Legal Environment Gloria booth-morrison

Focus Not on: - technical, knowledge based skills (training based) On: - non-technical, personal and social, “soft skills” (work place based)

“Soft skills connected with communication and interpersonal skills are essential if librarians are to be approachable, to listen to customers and to show interest in their information needs” -Matteson et al., 2016

Plan Divergent Thinking Skills (Creativity) Empathy Listening Skills Brainwriting Exercise Empathy Practice situation Listening Skills Bad listening habits Listening exercises Negotiation/Mediation/Guidance

Divergent Thinking Skills Ability to come up with multiple solutions to the same problem Lose divergent thinking skills as we age: 98% of 3-5 year olds demonstrate high levels od divergent thinking, only 2% do as adults Important to be creative in thinking, as law students and/or professionals may have already sought out more obvious or straight forward answers Brainwriting exercise

Empathy Key aspects: “unconditional positive regard”, non-judgement, “entering the perceptual world of another” Understanding clients and their needs as well as their points of view Display sensitivity in order to minimize anxiety and frustration with research needs or question “First Impressions”

Practice Situation A student comes to you requesting ILL material for an assignment due the next day. 1) What judgements are you making? 2) What thoughts are you having? 3) What would be an empathic approach? To also think about: how is your work space set up? What is your body language?

Listening Skills Listening: the process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken and/or nonverbal messages. – International Listening Association. Not only listen to what is being said but what is not being said or what is only partially being said Put the speaker at ease Defer judgement

Active Listening Techniques Repeating, Paraphrasing, Reflecting Pose open-ended questions Probe for missing information Seek clarification

Two activities 1) A will speak to B about something and B will do his/her utmost to not listen effectively. How did it feel? 2) B will speak to A about a location they wish to go to in very vague terms, A must determine what that location is through questions

Mediation/Negotiation/Guidance As an increasing amount of information is available online, becomes increasingly important to guide students and clients through information seeking process and act as a mediator or guide to the information. Interesting to move away from dictating information use to assisting with critical evaluation and assessment , especially when dealing with primarily adult students with significant prior education or working professionals Recognize the expertise of the other individual

“Obviously, technical competence is important and should be refreshed regularly, but an array of people-based, emotionally aware, perceptive and interactive skills is equally important.” -Matteson et al., 2016