Improving the MEDLARS search interview: a checklist approach

An analogy is drawn between searching a computer data base and conducting laboratory research: the crucial process in both is phrasing the question to the system to obtain meaningful and useful results. The searcher must act as an intermediary for the library user in questioning the data base; for this reason every effort must be made to maximize the efficiency with which a query is transferred from requester to searcher. Studies reported in the literature tend to distribute themselves into one of two categories: flowchart analyses or nonverbal communication approaches. Because message transfer in an interview is an entirely human process, the flowchart approach, while perhaps providing a correct analysis, is rejected as a means of improvement. Similarly, emphasis on nonverbal cues and communication inhibitors is assessed as misplaced. Rather, the method recommended is guided practice, using a checklist of areas to be covered in an interview for a MEDLARS search. Topic appropriateness, form design, and postsearch follow-through are included in the discussion.