Weird Reference Questions…
Part 1: Actual reference queries reported by American and Canadian library reference desk workers of various levels.
Part 2: Actual Reference Interviews reported by American and Canadian library reference desk workers of various levels.
“Patron: Do you have anything good to read?
Reference person getting her audible and mental answers mixed up: No, ma’am. I’m afraid we have 75,000 books, and they’re all duds. ”
This is an old one, Last updated: June 16, 2000, maybe we can add a few of our own below…
Well, how about this one…
“Do you have a book that will teach me how to read?”
I’ve had that one more than once…
Old research?
this says Gill Michell & Pat Dewdney had a three-year research grant to do some serious work on such things.
Not sure if they finished.
stairs
I had a patron who was obviously overtired and wiped out by her final exams. She came up to me in the university library and asked me “Do those stairs go down?” pointing to the stairs in the center of the library. We were on the first floor and the stairs went to both the lower level and the second floor. I said yes but I was thinking that she needed to see how the exit door worked so she could go home and get some much needed sleep.
lottery
We had a patron ask us to use our phone and call a number that “popped up” on her screen and said she has just won one million dollars. My coworker handed her the phone curious to see what would transpire. Her phone call ended when she was asked what her credit card numbers are.
Weird reference questions revisited
Patron: You’re gonna think I’m crazy, but I need to find out about that really expensive coffee that’s made from monkey poop.
After a quick round of Googling for “monkey feces and coffee”, I discovered that we were actually looking for the Palm Civet, and the coffee is Cafe’/Kaffe/Kopfe Luwak. It’s made from undigested coffee berries sifted out of the Palm Civet’s excrement.
You learn something new every day!!!
So called librarians. Practices regarding IF.
What sources have our cities’ public libraries available about their own respective long range planning activities, for example departmental reports, curatorial reports, consultants’ studies and consultants’ reports?…
Asking so called librarians usually does not get a very good response, does not get a very robust response ironically !