Muns, Raleigh. "Do Librarians Think You're Stupid?"
The Current (University of Missouri-St. Louis) August 22, 2005 (vol. 38, no. 1157), p. 5
When you
walk into the library you are not expected to immediately know where
everything is located, how everything is arranged, how everything works,
or even what's available. "Ignorance" is a value neutral and
normal state for all of us until we obtain knowledge. The best way to
obtain knowledge is to ask questions. Ninety-nine point nine percent
of questions asked in a library are of this natural "ignorance"
type. In Library Land such questions don’t trigger thoughts in a librarian
about your stupidity. Don't be shy and ask away. 'Nuff said. The old
saw states that "there are no stupid questions." There are
exceptions which prove this rule. A few
questions I've been asked over the years have been legendarily memorable.
For the record, these two examples come from my alma mater, UCLA, and
WERE NOT asked by anybody from the fine student body at UM-St. Louis. "Uh,
I'm looking for a book called Roger the Horse? I'm sure every
library has it." (Librarian
tries to find book in online catalog) "We don't seem to have that
title in our library. Could you tell me what the book is about?" "It's
got words in it." (actual quote) "Ok,
a book with . . . words in it . . . What kind of words?" "Lots
of words. It's got words in it. Come on! What's wrong with you? Everyone
knows this book! Every library has it! I want to look at your copy of
Roger the Horse!" After 20
minutes trying to find this book, after not finding the title by looking
in OCLC's WorldCat database (think of a library catalog on steroids
covering over 50,000 member libraries and holding over 57 million titles),
after cajoling, questioning, thinking, and extensive consultation with
other librarians, we solved the problem and gave the questioning library
patron what they wanted: Roget's Thesaurus Some questions
are memorable just because they’re so groovy. One of my favorites was
from a student who wanted to know "How much prozac does it take
to get high?" I referred him to the PDR:Physicians Desk Reference
which lists information on legal pharmaceuticals. I also told him to
be sure to consult competent medical authority for more information.
(Dude! Don't do it!) For the
record: you can find the PDR at the Reference Desk of the Thomas
Jefferson Library; if you want to use the OCLC WorldCat database,
all you have to do is go to the Library Home Page (www.umsl.edu/library)
where it's under our alphabetical list of databases; you can find out
about the word “groovy” from the Urban Dictionary (www.urbandictionary.com/): groovy A word that
should be used when applying a chainsaw to one of your severed hands,
with an overuse of cheesy shots and metal clashing sounds.......Evil
Dead II - Dead by Dawn Example:
*SCHWINGGG!* *CHANGG* CHHRONGGGGGG!!!*........"groovy ;)"
(Damion, May 28 2004) Next column:
Why Libraries don't own copies of Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Book. |
Email Address: muns@umsl.edu
WWW Home Page URL:http://www.umsl.edu/~muns