Affect, emotional intelligence and librarian‐user interaction

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore practical ways in which librarians may better assist, understand and manage a library user's experience. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on earlier work by Mills where 34 academics were interviewed on their information seeking behaviour. The concepts of affect and emotional intelligence have been introduced so information professionals can obtain a more clear understanding of the information environment. Findings In order to connect more closely with their user populations' information professionals could consider the following: embrace the key tenets of emotional intelligence as useful assistance strategies in user‐librarian interaction; understand that personal interaction is important for many users; understand that such interaction can offer valuable insights into user understandings of the role of the library; understand that there is more to a library than resource access; understand that not all users share the same perceptions as librarians of the information values of such tools as catalogues and databases; appreciate that users see many roles for a library and these are individually constructed based upon past experience and current needs; extending the physical boundaries of the library into user communities is important for role development and accept that the key marketing strategy of commercial retailers to get customers to “buy” and return to buy, is relevant in environments such as libraries. Originality/value The paper builds upon research on the information seeking behaviour of academics and explores the idea that users select information sources for more than cognitive reasons, i.e. just to find out. The importance of the emotional aspect of user interaction with sources, including information professionals, in their search for information has been neglected. It is necessary to re‐examine why and for what reasons users discriminate in their choice of information sources.

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