Reference Transaction and End Product as Viewed by the Patron.
Alma Christine Vathis · 1983
This is an analysis of the literature on user studies, inter personal information needs, and communication that seeks to identify parameters of value that the patron associ ates with the transaction and final product of an informa tion search. The author concludes that patrons acquire in formation to make sense of their world, reduce uncertainty, and make value judgements, first on the sub jective, interpersonal level and second, on the objective, intellectual level. The completeness of answer, when judged by the patron, involves positive strokes from the li brarian and progress toward need fulfillment rather than the criteria librarians often use to judge information ser vices.