Can I just take this?

I had a patron call about a needlepoint book she had out.  She wanted to know if she could just remove the patterns in the back of the book since the book was due back in a couple of days.

I had to politely tell her that no, she couldn't, but she could make copies of the pattern at the library.

She reworded the question, but it was the same thing: could she take the patterns from the book since she needed them?

I had to reaffirm what I said: no, she couldn't, but we did have copy machines here for her to make copies of the patterns.

Lightning Resistant

The question I got today was "is there some kind of lightning resistant coating that mountain climbers can use on their equipment?"

From my research, I found that no, there isn't one type of lightning resistant coating.  But there IS a paint that's lightning resistant.

Do you have...

Any resume or cover letter books for felons?  Because it's really hard to get a job, as I'm sure you know.

Well, I didn't find any specifically for felons, but I did tell him that several of the books we have to have sections on that.

Tracking down a year

So I got a call from a state librarian.  She had a pamphlet from our city about a Lumberman Days event that had been held.  It had the dates (October 17-20), but not the year.  She had a guess as to what decades, but she really wanted a concrete decade, if not year.

Using our past year indexes (which are indexed by subject, and since this was held by a historical society, there was a subject for that), we were able to track down one of the years the event had been held (1976).  From there, using the dates the event said, we knew that it wasn't the right year for this event.

So, using a perpetual calendar, we were able to find out what days those dates were.  So Thurs-Sunday, and from there, we were able to pinpoint a year.

Once we had a year from the perpetual calendar (1974), we were able to go back to our indexes for 1974, go to the historical society subject and find the articles that pertained to the Lumberman Days.  When we found the articles, we were able to confirm the dates, and therefore the year.

All in all, it took just over an hour, between helping other patrons, tracking down the info and using the indexes, which are paper.  Our digital indexes don't start until 1994, although I'd really like to index the indexes.

So you get to read newspapers all day? I wish I could do that!

*sigh*  Actually, I'm indexing newspapers from '95, so while I do get to read the newspapers, they're 18 years old.  Although the news is interesting (reading about the OJ trial has been fun!), it's still not a walk in the park.

Indexing it means that I get to read the whole newspaper (save the classifieds and comics) and add the articles that relate to My City to the database with subjects, keywords etc.  I do find it really interesting.

I admit, I am getting tired of hearing the comments (at least one a week, usually more) "so you get to read all day?  Lucky!"

Tracking down obscure (but in-library) titles

I had a student from one of the local colleges come in today.  She was doing a paper on the history of the local lumber industry, and one of the founding members in particular.

Last year, as part of my growth and development, I put together a bibliography of all books about My County that aren't in the section that most are in (977.447).  This includes biographies, some sports books, family histories and all together, a full six pages of titles, call numbers and authors.

Using my 'Master Bibliography', I was able to find her three books on the lumber industry and the illusive biography of the founding member in under two minutes.

If I hadn't had the bibliography, it would have taken me a few more minutes if I'd chosen the right keywords, and longer still if I hadn't.

Patience is a Virtue

It's a good thing that most of my patron's are patient, because I get a few requests per week that take over five minutes to track down.

This time, it was about a news program he just saw.  He knew it was on a specific channel.  He knew it was about some kind of gas that voids a vehicle's warranty.  But he wanted to know more.

So I did some sleuthing.  It took me a few minutes, but I found an article that was about just that topic.

Apparently using ethanol in certain vehicles (basically, every type but Ford & GM) can void the warranty if any damage happens due to using ethanol in the vehicle.  According to the article, it accelerates wear and tear on the engine.

It was an interesting article (linked to just above), and the patron thought so too.

As a side note to the use of ethanol: I tried it in my car, but my MPG went down drastically.  I did some sleuthing of my own and found that unless the price of ethanol is at least 25% below the price of regular, it's actually more expensive to use ethanol than it is to use regular.

Tractor repair manual

The one in the system was lost.  But there's still an option.  One of our databases is amazing.

You've heard of the online Chilton manual to help repair cars?  Well, there's one for small engine repair.

Which includes motorcycles, tractors (farm and yard), ATV and a host of other small engines.  If you peruse the manuals, some of them are very in depth.  Some of them aren't, and are basically the 'change your oil' type manual.  If you get the right kind, like the motorcycle ones, they go through wiring, disassembling wiring and more.

What is the speed of sound?

A. 768 mph.

Other than that, I only had a few questions about books in the library.  One, I requested to purchase, and another was right where it was supposed to be.

A specific CD with a specific song.

I had a patron today looking for the song 'Morning' by Edward Grieg, on the CD Solitudes by Dan Gibson.

I searched for a good five minutes before I could track it down.  It wasn't under 'Gibson, Dan' at all, like the other CDs in the Solitudes series.  It was under a completely different name.  Luckily, it had the Grieg song on it, so we were able to positively identify the CD based on the song.

I love making someone's day! (Aka tracking down a birth certificate)

I had a patron call in, needing to know how he could get a copy of his birth certificate from a certain southern state.  He had a thick accent, but once I understood what he wanted (by confirming the state and city he needed it from), I was able to understand him rather easily.

I was able to get onto that state's vital records website, find the application for getting a replacement/certified copy, the mailing address, the fees required and what information he needed to provide.

The elation in his voice when he was thanking me made my day better than anything else could have.

I just made someone's day!

He was looking for the movie "Slaughterhouse-five".  Only one library in the area had it.  Sometimes, libraries in that area don't lend them.  This one did.  He was so excited that I could order it for him!

I love my job!

I'm looking for a movie...

"I returned a cd today.  I meant to write down the title, since it was from a movie so I could watch the movie, but I forgot to.  Can you pull it up on my account?"

Hmmm...  "Let me see...no, it's already been returned so there's no record of it."

*very sad face*  "It looked like a good movie.  It was an older movie, I think with Tom Cruise..."

"Let me see what I can do.  So you don't remember what movie it was?"

*head shake*

"What about any song titles?"

"Hoochie Coochie Man, I think..."

*searches*  "Was it 'Stand Up Men'?"

"Yes!"

*big smile*  "It's a newer movie, just out last year.  I can reserve it for you if you want."

"Please!"

I love it when I can reverse-search something like that!

I don't mean to be offensive or anything...

but can I ask you a question?

That was my most interesting question of the day.

The rest of the question was "Can you get me a list of all of the gay bars in MyCity?"

I couldn't find any, actually.  Not in MyCity, at least.  There's a bunch more in Michigan, but none nearby.

And, no, I wasn't offended.

Different names for companies & Tax Information

Got a question a couple days ago.  A girl needed information on a local company.  She called the company (not the real name) "United Chemical Company".  In the area, it's known as something else.  So we ended up finding it under "North American Chemical Company".  I'll remember that next time!

And no, we don't have all of our tax forms in yet.  That's the most common question within the last month.  For awhile, we had only a couple forms and no instruction booklets, but that's slowly changing.  We still don't have all the forms, but it could be worse.

Ghost Hunters

I've had a patron in a few times now asking about any movies (preferably documentaries) about ghosts and ghost hunting.  I'm into them as well, so aside from the regular ones (like Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures etc) he was asking for, I had a few of my own suggestions.

Using both sets, and an Amazon search, I was able to scour our systems, looking for any and all movies about ghosts and ghost hunting.  Unfortunately, by the third search, we were just getting repeats, which he wasn't interested in.  I told him that I'd keep my eyes and ears open for any new ones we get in, but aside from further developing our Ghost Hunters collection (which always seem to be out), we don't have very many new ones.

Netflix, however, has at least a dozen different ghost shows.  Ghost Lab, Ghost Adventures, Paranormal Files, Fact or Faked, Ghost Hunter International are just a few off the top of my head, but I've seen many, many more come across my suggestions screen.

Optimal Sleep Time: Results?

I had a patron come in asking about material (not just books, but articles too) about 'Optimal Sleep Time'.  You've probably heard of this.  It's been the focus of a few studies where the result is that high schooler's do better in school when the school starts later, and kindergartners do better earlier, when the school starts early.

Unfortunately, a search (not just through several databases, but google and google scholar) of "Optimal Sleep Time" only gave me a couple results, much to my surprise.

After finding the few scant articles that specifically mentioned the words "Optimal Sleep Time" for my patron, I started to brainstorm other ways to search for the information she was looking for.

The one that got the most results?  From google and our databases?  "High school sleep", and a few variations of that.  So, after probably fifteen minutes of searching for what we'd consider the 'proper name', a few keywords pulled up more than anything.

With her second topic, I just basically ignored the 'proper name' and did a keyword search (early intervention at risk kids), and a few variations of that as well.  (Of course, that didn't have a proper name so much as the Optimal Sleep Time did).  I found her enough articles to make her very happy.

So, using the very specific isn't always a good idea, even though, logically, if you're looking for that one thing, it should be.  Go a bit broader.  Do a keyword search.  That's also how I find a lot of the obscure books that patrons ask me about.  If they don't remember much (like just a plot), a keyword search can usually get me a lot further than most anything else.

Murder

So today, I got asked a question about a murder that had taken place in '92.  Going back into our indexes for that year, I found not one or two articles, but over 3 dozen.

I copied what I thought were the most relevent off of the microfilm and called the patron back.  She wanted all of them, so I explained to her what I did and invited her (she is in the area) to come and look up all the articles she wanted.

I wrote down all the dates of the papers that had articles pertaining to the case and mailed them to her, so maybe I'll see her in a few weeks!

Spelling is important & yes, I know how to research.

And knowing how to spell, as a librarian, is very important.

I had a teen come up to me asking if we had any books on fersous?  (That was about how it was pronounced.)

After a few questions on my side, she told me she really needed books on the elements.  Especially zinc and fersous.  When she said elements, I asked her if it was phosphorus.  Her eyes lit up.  Bingo!

Another variation of needing to know how to spell is authors.  Now, I don't know all authors.  That's just impossible and silly.  But knowing how to spell the most popular author names, like Clancy, Steele and Auel comes in handy when we get the questions about a new book they've put out.

The second part to this post is something that sometimes irks me.

When a patron calls up with a specific request.  Something like "I'm looking for an encyclopedia about criminals published in the 30s."

Okay.  So I do my normal searches.  Library catalot.  MeL catalog.  WorldCat.  When those three fail, I go to my backup.  Google, Abebooks and Amazon.

When those three fail, I tell the patron that I'm sorry but I can't find what he's looking for.

He proceedes to tell me "Did you try google?" "Can you search by copyright?" "Did you search in MeL by date?"

Now, like a lot of reference librarians, I went to school (graduate school) for what I'm doing.  I took classes on searching, reference, cataloging and more.  It's a rare thing when I can't find the answer to  a reference question like that - if the answer exists, more often than not, I'm going to find it because I know how to search for books.

When a patron acts like I need to be told every step to take to find a specific book he wants, it's annoying.

Like any good librarian, though, I hide my annoyance.  I tell him that while I didn't find that exact book, I found others that are newer.  They aren't what he wants, though, and he questions my searching skills.

On the other hand, I get patrons who just want me to google something for them.  Which I do happily.  Then, I pick the best two or three links that explain what they want to know.

One Just For Fun

Three minutes before closing, we got a phone call.  Since we were still open, I answered it.

The patron wanted to know if I could tell her what movies were coming out next month.  After telling her that we were closing in just a couple minutes, I quickly tracked down the upcoming dvds in February.

I told her that there were quite a few of them, and reiterated that we were closing in three minutes.  She told me that that was all right and that she was a fast writer.

With an inner sigh, I quickly read through the list.

She replied with "I thought Skyfall was coming out then?"

I went to the next month and there was Skyfall, which I told her.  She then wanted me to read through all of the next two months (February and March.)

Still before closing, I blazed through them.  Then, she wanted April's upcomings, which weren't out yet.  After telling her that, she told me she really wanted to know the upcoming Disney dvds.

After getting to the website, the closing call came across the intercom.  I told her that we were now closed.

"Okay."

"You can call back tomorrow at 10 and someone will be happy to help you," I told her.

"Okay."

At a loss for words, I simply said, "You have a nice night" and hung up on her.