Making the Most of Your Library
Part 10 -- The Reference Librarian
This article originally appeared in Science Fiction & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter #133, October 1992
So you've used all the materials that I've discussed in the last eight articles, and you still can't find the information you need. What do you do now?
If you are like most people, you probably just go home feeling frustrated. However if you do that, you have ignored a very important library resource -- the reference librarian. We can help find materials and show you how to search effectively in various indexes and abstracting services. There is a wealth of these tools that most people never know about, and therefore pass up the opportunity to gain access to obscure or hard-to-find information. Also we can help you with on-line searching, which may be able to give you information that more conventional sources would not. Often on-line databases will have information that is more up-to-date than the corresponding print sources.
So when you can't find what you need to know, don't forget the reference librarian. Answering your questions is our business.
However there are also many ways in which you as the user can make our job easier. The first and simplest is to record the sources you try as you use them. That way the librarian won't have to repeat the steps you have already followed and will be able to go directly to the more obscure and specialized sources that you might never think to use. The second is to have a clear idea of exactly what it is that you want to know so that the librarian can get the material that is right for you. And finally, be patient when the librarian is busy.
Last updated November 4, 2010