Reference Questions

Sometimes knowing what a Reference Department does can help students understand what kind of questions to ask and how to ask them. We can help them realize what the purpose of the department is by saying:

The Reference Department provides research assistance and services to support the academic research of Thammasat University.

It may still not be clear just what librarians and reference staff do. Again, we may be able to explain if the student has any doubts:

We answer general or specific research questions using a range of print and online resources, as well as resources in other formats.

If students ask whether the librarians or research staff can help only person, or also by phone and email, we may remind them of different ways of contacting the TU Libraries:

Our contact information is available on the TU Libraries website.

You can call the Circulation Desk of the Pridi Banomyong Library, Tha Prachan campus, at

662 613-3544.

If the student asks how to phone the circulation desk at Rangsit, we would say:

To reach the Circulation Desk of the Puey Ungphakorn Library, Rangsit Campus, please dial 662 564-4444 extension 1305.

If the library visitor is not a student but needs information from our Corporate Communication Section, then our answer would be:

Please contact our Corporate Communication Section by dialing 662 613-3518.

Sometimes library visitors will ask if the library has a fax number. While fewer people communicate by fax than in previous years, this information may still be useful for a few visitors. So we would say:

The library fax number is 662 623-5171.

More people will want to reach us by email. Here again we may remind the visitors that our email address is listed on our website. To save time, we can remind them:

You are welcome to write to us at the email address tulib@tu.ac.th.

Whether speaking to visitors in person, by phone, or communicating by email, it should be clear what the responsibilities of our librarians and reference staff are:

We provide one-on-one consultations for in-depth questions and projects.

We also lead library instruction sessions for classes and groups, as well as workshops on many different topics.

Chances are that students with an urgent question will not have time to wait for the next scheduled class offering information about different topics involving research. They will need answers to their questions as soon as possible, and so will require information through personal discussions with our staff. Exactly how much help can our librarians and reference staff offer? Most students will realize that we cannot actually do all the work for students. It is up to them to do their assignments and research papers. The point of these academic challenges is for them to test their own skills, so that they can improve their own knowledge. If other people do the work for them, they are never challenged, and they have not learned anything. We can further clarify what our purpose is by explaining:

Our librarians have subject expertise to support the research and teaching mission of Thammasat University.

We provide instruction in research methods and resources, as well as software applications.

We build the strong research collections housed in the TU Libraries.

We work as liaisons with faculties to strengthen and refine our resources and to meet the needs of our users.

We provide reference assistance to students, faculty, staff and visiting readers across diverse media.

Sometimes specific questions can be answered quickly, saving time for everyone concerned. For example, students may explain that they cannot visit campus for some reason, and wonder whether someone in the library can do their research for them. The answer to this question is no, we cannot do the work instead of the students. Instead of just saying no, we can offer a helpful explanation of why this would be impossible:

We have limited staff and do not have the time to do research for individual students.

Also we might add:

The point of any academic assignment is for students to improve their own skills, and if someone else does the assignment, the skills never get better.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)