[Sigia-l] re: the future of search

[karl fast]

> I mean, that would be kind cool, as one of many interfaces... a
> virtual librarian which interviews you with lading questions like
> Karl said (at a recent SF IA gathering) they teach all LIS
> students...

You're talking about the "reference interview." A required course in
library school is reference in which you learnhow to be a reference
librarian.

The reference interview is key. It involves a gentle back-and-forth
between the librarian and the patron to figure out exactly what the
person wants. It's very rare that a person will actually start by
asking for exactly what they want.

Reference questions can be difficult. As part of our reference class
we were given weekly questions that had really been asked at
libraries. We had to find the answer and write a couple pages
describing how we found it.

Some of the questions I had were:

  Why is rat urine so important for archaeologists?

  A famous philosopher compares human nature to two horses, one tame
  and one wild, pulling a wagon. Can you find a source? I think it's
  classical--Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, something like that. 

  What does is mean to "fly mexican?" I overheard some kids use this
  phrase and I'd like to know what it means.


It will be a long time before software can answer questions like
this the way a human can. 

The best example of what I would ultimately like is the virtual
librarian in the novel "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson.


--karl