A reference interview is a conversation between a librarian and a library user, usually at a reference desk, in which the librarian responds to the user's initial explanation of their information need by first attempting to clarify that need and then by directing the user to appropriate information resources.

Bopp & Smith (1995) define the reference interview as the "conversation between a member of the library reference staff and a library user for the purpose of clarifying the user’s needs and aiding the user in meeting those needs."

According to the Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science, a reference interview is "the interpersonal communication that occurs between a reference librarian and a library user to determine the person's specific information need(s), which may turn out to be different from the reference question as initially posed."

Stephen Abram uses the concept of "the library as conversation," and says that when it comes to reference questions, "[librarians'] core skills are the skills and competencies required to improve the quality of the question."

The reference interview is structured to help a librarian provide answers to a library user. In general, the interview is composed of the following stages:

These stages may occur in loops; for example when a clarification of the question leads to the need to establish more background information on the query topic. These steps are designed to put the user at ease and help ensure that they have correctly explained what they require. When the reference librarian believes that the query is fully understood, they attempt to provide resources to help satisfy it. The important but often overlooked final step is checking that the information or service provided was indeed what the library user required.

The purpose behind the reference interview structure is to ensure that the library user's information need is satisfied. The librarian can use a number of interview techniques to help identify the user's exact need. Poor reference interview skills may lead to misinterpretation of the real question, a lack of real help, and/or an unsatisfied library user.

Librarians use many techniques to help identify a user's information need. With body language, repetition, and paraphrasing of what the user says, the interviewer can encourage the user to give more information about what they need. Asking open questions establishes context and helps to identify exactly what is required. A lack of follow-up, checking that the user found what they required, is one of the common mistakes made in the reference interview.