Being Attentive

The other day, after helping a student with the photocopier, I noticed a student sitting at one of our computers with a lost look on his face. The rest of his body language, slouching, head resting on his fist, the paleness of his expression, led me to believe that he had been working hard for some time. I approached him to ask if he needed some assistance. As it turns out, he had been searching for about an hour for some articles for a paper. He had several hits, but not what he was looking for. I asked him to tell me a little about his project. A brief reference interview told me what I needed to know to help. With a little bit of reference magic, I found all that he needed. I also showed him some of the interesting features of the databases we used, like the citation features.
For one reason or another, patrons do not always feel comfortable asking for help. This may be signals that we inadvertently send out. It could also be their personal hang-ups which have nothing to do with us. As a result, we need to be tuned in to what is happening with the patrons around us. We need to be constantly on the lookout for that person who needs help. It is not enough to wait for patrons to ask help of us: we sometimes need to make the first move.