An A-Z source guide for the enquiry desk
There is a queue, the phone is ringing, the photocopier has jammed and your enquirer is waiting for a response. You are stressed and you can feel the panic rising. Where do you go to find the information you need to answer the question promptly and accurately?
Answering queries from users is one of the most important services undertaken by library and information staff. Yet it is also one of the most difficult, least understood, and most neglected of subjects. There are still very few materials available to help frontline staff - often non-professional - develop their reader enquiry skills.
This new sourcebook is an essential guide to where to look to find the answers quickly. It is designed as a first point of reference for library and information practitioners, to be depended upon if they are unfamiliar with the subject of an enquiry - or wish to find out more. It is arranged in an easily searchable, fully cross-referenced A-Z list of around 150 of the subject areas most frequently handled at enquiry desks.