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Welcoming Google as a third participant in the reference interview not only helps librarians engage patrons and satisfy their information needs, it also has several important corollary benefits. First, because patrons are more easily engaged, they are more likely to communicate directly with Google. This increases patrons‘ independence, which frees librarians from ferrying information. Second, when patrons are engaged, they are better able to absorb instruction, so librarians are better able to teach best searching practices. Of course, best practices on Google apply to other reference resources as well. Third, when patrons have positive experiences with the first tool used in the reference interview, they are more amenable to trying other tools. In other words, even when Google fails to find the answer, Google serves patrons by easing them into the use of reference resources. And finally, Google reduces reliance on the scope of librarians‘ knowledge.1 As will be discussed later, patrons often ask questions that need to be completed or corrected before they can be answered. Because of Google, making these completions and corrections no longer depends on librarians‘ expertise. |
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