Reward

A young man I recognized came out of a study room in the Reference area on the lower level, and asked for his library card back. I knew his face; he's probably been coming to the Library for at least a couple of years that I've been here.

He told me that I'd helped him with research for his Science Fair project.

"How'd you do?" I wondered.

"Reached the national semi-finals." He beamed, then thanked me.

That is the reward of being a librarian.

Not Enough Time in the Library

While college students may be computer-literate, they are not, as a rule, research-literate. And there's a huge difference between the two.

Huge? Maybe a ton would have been better?

The fact that some professors do not recognize the distinction means they effectively assume that their students find themselves as much at home in the complex and daunting world of information as when they upload 25 photos from their iPhone to Facebook and text their friends to announce the latest "pics."

Very true.

A reference question

A college-age young man (in my college days he would have been called a hippie) asked for material on the effects of the industrial revolution on workers. A fascinating angle on a familiar topic.

I found this book: The Factory girls: a collection of writings on life and struggles in the New England factories of the 1840's / by the factory girls themselves, and the story, in their own words, of the first trade unions of women workers in the United States ; edited by Philip S. Foner.

A library question, and an answer

A young man came in today asking for material on the Sherman Anti-Trust Act (passed in 1890). He's an 11th grade student at Ramaz. A search on the OPAC returned very little material: the only book was a biography of Benjamin Harrison, during whose presidency the Act passed.

I looked at Economics books; the indexes (actually indices, but why quibble?) revealed little, but it was a start. Following, I went to books written by economists: Galbraith, Friedman, Thurow; not much. But I did get a lead: look at the trusts themselves: Carnegie (steel), Morgan (money), Rockefeller (oil). I suggested to the student that he look at the index of each book, and determine if the pages on the Act were relevant.

A satisfactory start: he left with books and ideas, and a lesson on using the index of a book as a research tool.

A satisfactory end: I did my job well, and provided information and a lesson to a patron. This is a time when being a librarian is satisfying and rewarding.