Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. This Chinese proverb has been used by many a librarian to describe a philosophy of service that emphasizes teaching individuals to find information for themselves over merely providing the answer. Though many librarians have espoused this approach, there have been few attempts to articulate what that philosophy looks like in practice, and what characteristics an instructional transaction should have. In the fledgling stages of online chat reference, the profession has not yet characterized the transition from the traditional interaction to that new environment in respect to this instructional approach. RUSA has already incorporated aspects of chat into the new Guidelines for Behavioral Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers. (1) This column will examine the library literature for expressions of instruction in reference, and how what is known about as a discipline might be applied to the new mode of interaction through online chat transactions. One-on-One Instruction at the Reference Desk Finding literature that explicitly describes instruction at the desk can be challenging. Some of the problems in finding articles regarding teaching at the desk result because there are so many articles that talk about the relationship of instructional services and services. McCutcheon and Lambert examine how to improve communications between those working at the desk; Jensen and Sih explore creating online tutorials to refer patrons to in the online environment. (2) There are many articles that talk about the teaching role of librarians, but most emphasize classroom instruction over one-on-one instruction at the desk. However, the principle of teaching one-on-one at the desk has been around for many years. As far back as 1876, Samuel Green espoused a philosophy of personalized for library users, encouraging librarians to give them as much assistance as they need, but try at the same time to teach them to reply upon themselves and become independent. (3) Bunge describes the relationship between services and library instruction from the nineteenth century to the latter quarter of the twentieth century, and describes the role of librarians as one of learning advisor. (4) Hinchliffe and Woodard posit that librarians approach a question with an instructional philosophy, not only do they provide the information that users need, they also capitalize on the opportunity to utilize the experience as a teaching moment. (5) One-on-One Instruction with Computers As the use of computers in libraries increased, the literature emphasized the importance of teaching users how to use that technology, and stressed the importance of going to the terminal where the student needed assistance. Just as librarians found themselves teaching students how to use the card catalog and particular tools, they found themselves teaching online catalogs, CD-ROM resources, then online databases and tools available via the Internet. Campbell and Fyfe describe what they view as the top ten practices for successful one-on-one instruction for use with in-person situations involving helping students at computers, often referred to as roving reference because it involves moving away from the desk to the point where assistance is needed. (6) These principles were the result of a group brainstorming process of experienced librarians, and include assessing student readiness to learn, assessing what they already know, respecting personal space and preferences, allowing independent discovery, explaining steps as they are encountered, checking for comprehension, reassuring learners that instruction is necessary and that they have the ability to learn, using humor and respecting the learner's stress, and knowing when to let the learner explore on his or her own. …
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