Using Q methodology, which is designed to make sense of topics on which there are various opinions, this study examines the conflicting conceptualizations of reference and information service (RIS). Thirty-five statements reflecting the various approaches to RIS, were sorted by librarians from different types of libraries in Slovenia, South Africa, and the United States. Using principle components analysis with varimax rotation, a three-factor solution was found for the data: transformation and empathy; communication and information provision; and empowering and learning. These findings provide the practitioner perspective of the conflicting conceptualizations in the literature and suggest orientations to RIS that have implications for theoretical work and professional education for RIS.

本研究使用 Q 方法论，旨在理解存在各种意见的主题，研究参考和信息服务 (RIS) 的相互冲突的概念化。反映 RIS 各种方法的 35 份声明由来自斯洛文尼亚、南非和美国不同类型图书馆的图书馆员分类。使用方差极大旋转的主成分分析，找到了数据的三因素解决方案：转换和移情；通信和信息提供；以及授权和学习。这些发现提供了从业者对文献中相互矛盾的概念的看法，并提出了对 RIS 的理论工作和专业教育有影响的方向。