http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/01/08/reference-question-of-the-week-1211/ or, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Fear and Loathing at a Public Library Reference Desk Tue, 18 Jun 2013 14:15:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/01/08/reference-question-of-the-week-1211/#comment-2004 Brian Herzog Tue, 18 Jan 2011 23:07:52 +0000 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/?p=1247#comment-2004 @Gem & @virago: That is certainly better than the alternative, but still it is always awkward.

]]> http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/01/08/reference-question-of-the-week-1211/#comment-2003 virago Fri, 14 Jan 2011 16:58:25 +0000 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/?p=1247#comment-2003 I was working for a small-town newspaper when we got a tip that an important community figure, “Joan Smith,” had died. Because we hadn’t seen an obituary for Joan, this tip stirred some skepticism in the newsroom. Rightly so, it turned out — when a reporter called Joan’s home, Joan herself picked up, causing the reporter to grope for words until she managed to sputter, “Joan — how ARE you?”

]]> http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/2011/01/08/reference-question-of-the-week-1211/#comment-2002 Gem Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:23:21 +0000 http://www.swissarmylibrarian.net/?p=1247#comment-2002 This happened to me once when I was a new librarian I finally called town hall (it was a very small town within our district) and coincidentally got the woman’s neighbor who was shocked I was asking for the woman’s obituary when she had talked to her that morning.

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