Comments on: Reference Question of the Week – 12/10

By: Flowers

Flowers — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:47:08 +0000

Love and peace, man! Hippie flowers. I dig.

By: pyrethrum

pyrethrum — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 05:55:57 +0000

Hi,very colorful article in this nice website. I will come here usaually to support you.So beautiful photoes of these lovely flowers. So is this article here,and. I will often come. Pls keep it.

By: herzogbr

herzogbr — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 03:09:16 +0000

Thanks – I’m glad you’re enjoying them. And what I’m finding at the desk is that any resource that helps is a good one. I like Google and Wikipedia because they’re quick – which is essential when an impatient patron with three kids is standing at the desk expecting an answer. Plus, as Kate pointed out, they’re a great place to start – often what I find on Wikipedia helps me narrow down the places where I’ll find more information, or give me keywords to use. So yes, I think they do play a role in public libraries.

By: Jodi

Jodi — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 19:25:24 +0000

Your “reference question of the week” is great… I’m not the only one who gets asked crazy questions at the reference desk and of course is not ashamed or embarrased anymore to utlize the wonders of Google and Wikipedia for quick and dirty info (despite what those slis profs. told me)

By: Kate

Kate — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 13:31:06 +0000

I like (and use) Wikipedia a lot. It’s great for all that new techie stuff that I don’t understand. The regular encyclopedias just don’t cover that well. So despite the occasional malicious content and all the random errors, I think it really can be quite useful. It also make a good jumping off point for research – a good place to get a very basic idea and then go from there.

By: herzogbr

herzogbr — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 23:00:57 +0000

You know, it's funny you would say that. Last year at the reference desk, I figured out that it was much easier to use Google for locating IRS tax forms than the IRS website directly. Even for something as common as the 1040 form, the IRS method requires at least four clicks (plus digging through long scrolling menus), whereas "form 1040 site:irs.gov" puts the pdf version of the form as the first result (and their "I'm Feeling Lucky" button launches it). Froody.

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 22:19:48 +0000

Wikipedia rocks. Although I find their search algorithm to being pretty substandard… So thank Bob for Google. Google for “site:en.wikipedia.org alpine flower” (no quotes.) That alps entry is the first one. Word up.