Many reference librarians understand that an effective reference interview not only answers a patron’s reference question successfully but is also done in a timely manner at the patron’s point of need. In The Reference Interview Today, Dave Harmeyer, who is the associate dean of university libraries at California’s Azusa Pacific University, provides librarians and information professionals with a practical guide for conducting reference interviews in a variety of formats—face to face, phone, chat, text, and virtual.

Harmeyer presents thirteen scenarios that focus on the basic principles of the reference interview. Each scenario is composed of a general overview of the principle, a script of the reference interview, and thought-provoking questions. Because the scenarios’ composition is consistent, the structure and flow of this book are easy for the reader to follow.