I love reference work - it's what I was born to do. This is no time for me to launch into my usual diatribe about how librarianship is not about reading, is not about shushing, is not about doing anything but inviting people to read . . . this is about what librarianship IS, particularly reference librarianship. I love reference work because it gives me a chance to solve a problem - someone needs information - and it allows me to be a kind of information detective. It's far more exhilarating than people imagine, and before your nerd detector starts beeping let me take a moment to remind you that Casanova was a librarian too, OK? In any case, today's reference flavor was Black Death (caramel sauce on the side!) I had at least four requests for material about infectious diseases that might be related to the plague, and I was never so happy to think about boils and pustules as I was today.
Monday, September 8, 2008
What's plaguing you?
I love reference work - it's what I was born to do. This is no time for me to launch into my usual diatribe about how librarianship is not about reading, is not about shushing, is not about doing anything but inviting people to read . . . this is about what librarianship IS, particularly reference librarianship. I love reference work because it gives me a chance to solve a problem - someone needs information - and it allows me to be a kind of information detective. It's far more exhilarating than people imagine, and before your nerd detector starts beeping let me take a moment to remind you that Casanova was a librarian too, OK? In any case, today's reference flavor was Black Death (caramel sauce on the side!) I had at least four requests for material about infectious diseases that might be related to the plague, and I was never so happy to think about boils and pustules as I was today.
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