e-Reference

New databases and updates and enhancements to existing databases.

Der Hirt auf dem Felsen

Interesting question: recorded and printed music for this Schubert song. Found former, not latter.

Close encounters

Two interesting incidents, while working in Reference:

* a man walks down the steps talking loudly, his cellphone ringing loudly; I notice he is wearing a white labcoat. He comes over to the Reference Desk, begins to ask a question, and his cellphone rings again. I ask him to turn it down, he turns it off. He asked for material on the history of anatomy, but went on so long and loud that I lost track of everything he said. It was not for him, he assured me, insisting he was a surgeon, but for his son. He had consulted Wikipedia, and had found the article well written, but his son could not use Wiki as a source for his assignment. I showed him electronic databases, using Galenet, but he had trouble using the mouse (I can perform reconstructive surgery, but can't use a computer, he declared). I turned to books, and found several reference sources that were useful: Dictionary of Scientific Biography, The drawings of Leonardo da Vinci in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle, Milestones in health and medicine, Companion encyclopedia of the history of medicine, and Milestones in Health and Medicine. He did his work at a table, and left, all the materials, including pieces of scratch paper I had given him, left at the table.

Among the names he mentioned, aside from Leonardo, were Vesalius, and Galen.

* a bi later a woman approached the Reference Desk and asked for help, saying she was working at a PC and was having "printer issues". Turned out she was printing coupons from J.C. Penney, and they were coming out very small. I showed her how to use the printer properties to change the size of the printouts.

Transgender

First reference question I've ever had about transgender. Sitting at the Reference Desk in late afternoon, I was asked for books on transgender. The patron spoke softly. For a moment I was unsure I'd heard her question, or perhaps was nonplussed, but, momentarily, my librarian self engaged.

I searched for the term transgender itself, but the only result was an art book:
Mirror images : women, surrealism, and self-representation [Q 704.042 M]. It includes this entry: Whitney Chadwick -- "Vous pour moi?" : Marcel Duchamp and transgender coupling, but that was not what she was looking for; rather, she wanted biographical works. I found two that worked:

Colapinto, John. (2000). As nature made him : the boy who was raised as a girl. New York: HarperCollins.

Scholinski, Daphne. (1997). The last time I wore a dress. New York: Riverhead Books.

A reference question

Finally, a question with substance, not for the location of the bathroom or for a paper clip or a telephone number.

A student needing to write a comparison between CS Lewis's The lion, the witch and the wardrobe and L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz. I directed him to the volumes Twentieth Century Literary Criticism and of Contemporary Literary Criticism. I also showed him how to search for the topics in the OPAC:
Baum, L. Frank (Lyman Frank), 1856-1919 -- Criticism and interpretation. : Moore, Raylyn.
Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963 -- Criticism and interpretation. (4 entries; 1 by Harold Bloom, whom I praised and recommended.)
The land of Narnia : Brian Sibley explores the world of C.S. Lewis A children's book, a type that can often be helpful even for adults.

Nosology

A patron came over to the Reference Desk this morning looking for a reference book.

ICD-9-CM professional for physicians. Volumes 1 and 2.
Salt Lake City, UT ; Reston, VA : Ingenix, 2002-

Call Number: R 616.0012 I 2009 v.1 and 2

Subject Nosology -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
Diseases -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.

Nosology? the branch of medical science dealing with the classification of disease.

March reference questions

1 March: Among the many book requests in the past (quite busy) hour and a quarter, and aside from the man who suggested Borges's Tower of Babel, there have been a few requests for newspapers, movies (Death of a Salesman, by a young lady who might be a high school senior; Titanic by the little Asian kid who often comes in looking for animated films, and today asked for Fred Clause, which is out). And the senior lady who always comes over and asks the same two questions: how'd you get so handsome (the answer she expects is "good parents"); and do you have a lucky lady in your life (if the answer is yes, her followup is how many.

4 March: A mother looking for "Observations and experiments on the gastric juice and the physiology of digestion" by William Beaumont. Her 8th grade son is doing a report. Undetermined is whether he needs the book, and when he needs what he specifically needs. I did find biographies of Dr. Beaumont in the Biography Resource Center (Galenet). Two Nassau libraries own Medical marvels: the 100 greatest advances in medicine, which contains a section or a chapter entitled "Observations and experiments on the gastric juice and the physiology of digestion" by William Beaumont. Plainview Library owns a reference copy, and Hicksville owns a circulating copy. But, again, what is the time frame? I then Googled "Observations and experiments on the gastric juice and the physiology of digestion" by William Beaumont and the fourth link is a Google books link. Clicking on that shows the title page of the book. Clicking on Find this book in a library showed that several libraries own it, including the Queens College library. Her 19-year-old son goes to Queens, so she will ask him to get the book. I searched the QC OPAC and found the location of the book. She was very appreciative for my help, and I was pleased to have helped.

A find

Eye disease gave great painters a different vision of their work, Stanford researcher says.

In searching for a poem about Monet having refused an operation on his eyes, I found this item. The poem is Monet Refuses the Operation, by Lisel Mueller.

A library reference question: Berio

On Monday a mother called, seeking information on Luciano Berio. Specifically, she was seeking the 2nd and 3rd movement of Berio's Sinfonia. HWPL owns two works by Berio, but not the Sinfonia. I suggested called NYPL's Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.

On Tuesday a father called, seeking information on Luciano Berio. Specifically, he was seeking the 2nd and 3rd movement of Berio's Sinfonia. I told him HWPL does not own that music, and remarked that someone had called the prior day about the same piece. Probably my wife, he remarked. He added that their daughter is going into opera and had been assigned this particular piece. He also asked if we had books about Berio.

In fact, we do. I told him about Two interviews - Luciano Berio, and said I would put it aside for them. After we got off the phone, I did more research, and found additional information. I found another book, Remaking the song : operatic visions and revisions from Handel to Berio.

I found and printed Berio's entry in The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians, as well as Berio's entry in Baker's biographical dictionary of musicians.

So I learned something about music, and something about reference. Millie Vollono had given me the Grove to look at as we researched a question I had been asked the prior day.