Peer Reference Assistants Training Guide

The Peer Reference Assistant Program was created in response to expressed student desire to have peer assistants available at Penfield Library's Research Help Desk. As a Peer Reference Assistant you will help to facilitate effective use of the library's many resources, both by answering questions and by making referrals to librarians. In addition to providing valuable services to the students, faculty, and staff who use the library every day, you will also gain important skills in research and customer service, as well as exposure to the field of librarianship as a whole.

This guide will help you learn about your role in the library and how you can perform it well. Please read all sections carefully and ask questions.

Welcome to the team!

There's a lot of information in this training guide and we don't expect you to digest it all at once. Over the course of your first couple of months as a Peer Reference Assistant you will read through the different topics here, do a few interactive simulations, and take quizzes to gauge your progress on learning the basics. After that, you'll continue to use this training guide as a reference document when you have questions.

The guide was developed to build upon itself in terms of knowledge acquisition. Please follow the order of the pages as they're listed on the left, starting with 'Customer Service Do's and Don'ts', and take care not to miss any sub-pages.

It will take roughly eight weeks to make your way through all the content, complete the quizzes, and digest all of the information. Remember to ask questions and practice what you learn. Your support team is here to help you succeed!

Deborah Bauder (Deb)

Research, Instruction, & Outreach Librarian

116 Penfield Library

ph.315-312-3010

deborah.bauder@oswego.edu