Successful Enquiry Answering Every Time PDF
Preview Successful Enquiry Answering Every Time
Successful enquiry answering every time Successful enquiry answering every time The sixth edition of Tim Buckley Owen’s classic Success at the Enquiry Desk Fully revised and updated Tim Buckley Owen © Tim Buckley Owen1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2012 Published by Facet Publishing 7 Ridgmount Street, London WC1E 7AE www.facetpublishing.co.uk Facet Publishing is wholly owned by CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. Tim Buckley Owen has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as author of this work. Except as otherwise permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, with the prior permission of the publisher, or, in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of a licence issued by The Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to Facet Publishing, 7 Ridgmount Street, London WC1E 7AE. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-85604-811-8 First published 2012 Text printed on FSC accredited material. Typeset from author’s files in 11/14 pt Minion and Myriad by Flagholme Publishing Services. Printed and made in Great Britain by MPG Books Group, UK. Dedication To my wife Barbara for her constant support and encouragement now and always. Despite a busy schedule of her own, she read every word of the book in draft and offered her invaluable comments. I frequently resisted her advice, but almost always ended up taking it. Contents Introduction............................................................................................xi Eight ideas for successful enquiry answering.....................................xv 1 What do they really want?................................................................1 How to make sure you really understand the question Avoiding misunderstandings ..............................................................................2 Asking the right questions....................................................................................6 Does all this really work?.....................................................................................10 Agreeing the task ..................................................................................................17 Finding out how long you’ve got....................................................................21 Coming next – when the enquirer’s not there............................................21 2 Flying blind......................................................................................23 Why remote enquiry handling is different Can’t see, can’t hear – the risk of misunderstanding, even ...................24 offence Keeping your remote enquirer on side..........................................................28 Keeping good records..........................................................................................34 Coming next – avoiding panic, thinking on your feet.............................39 3 Getting started................................................................................41 Dealing with panic – thinking clearly Imagining the final answer.................................................................................42 Choosing the best type of source and delivery medium.......................44 Print, electronic documents, online ...............................................................49 Does all this really work?.....................................................................................50 Identifying actual sources...................................................................................53 Coming next – smarter searching...................................................................55 VIII SUCCESSFUL ENQUIRY ANSWERING EVERY TIME 4 Smarter searching...........................................................................57 Tips for efficient search strategies Who needs to be able to search smarter?....................................................58 Working out your search strategy...................................................................59 Searching systematically.....................................................................................61 Making the most of indexes..............................................................................62 Reading strategically ...........................................................................................69 Making sure that what you find is reliable...................................................72 Coming next– even more things that can go wrong .............................75 5 Help! Everything’s going wrong.....................................................77 When you can’t find the answer and you’re running out of time Vital versus urgent tasks......................................................................................78 Your working timetable.......................................................................................81 A compromise solution?.....................................................................................84 Plan B..........................................................................................................................86 Coming next – adding value.............................................................................92 6 Success! Now let’s add some value................................................93 Presenting your answer well is part of the job Quality checking your answer...........................................................................94 Presenting your answer – orally.......................................................................96 Presenting your answer – in writing............................................................100 Copyright, licensing, ethics..............................................................................105 Has the answer arrived – and does the enquirer like it?.......................106 Sign-off: what can we learn from this enquiry?.......................................107 Coming next..........................................................................................................113 7 Setting up – how do you start?....................................................115 Establishing your own enquiry service from scratch Finding out what your users need................................................................116 Identifying the sources that will meet your users’ needs.....................120 Exploiting your sources.....................................................................................124 Promoting your service.....................................................................................127 Getting help and support................................................................................128 Coming last – choosing your toolkit............................................................130 CONTENTS IX 8 Choosing your toolkit...................................................................133 Resources that you’ll need to run your enquiry service Search engines.....................................................................................................133 Enquiry tracking software................................................................................134 Starter Sources.....................................................................................................135 Final word of warning........................................................................................140 Your goal: successful enquiry answering – every time.........................141 Index.....................................................................................................143
The list of books you might like
