The Truth about Reference LibrariansMost historians agree that full scale library reference services first appeared in the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk at the turn of the third millennium B.C. During a dig at the site of Uruk, archaeologists discovered the Royal Library, home to the first reference desk. Chief archaeologist Helmut Flapmeyer was able to determine the answer to a burning question in librarianship: What was the first reference question ever asked? (The answer: Where's the bathroom?) Super library sleuths Will Manley and Richard Lee once again dig through the remnants of the profession's dusty past to uncover the truth about reference librarians. Where did they come from? Should they really be cataloged under the subject heading Illogical? How do they eradicate such reference pests as Jerkus disgustis, Pervertus horribilis, and perhaps worst of all, Studentus moronis? With an intense and abiding sobriety, Manley answers these and other questions from libraryland. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 4
Page 13
... reference librarian . In fact , after receiv- ing his doctorate in library studies at the University of Vienna Graduate School of Library Science , young Sigmund was retained by the University to work in the reference department where ...
... reference librarian . In fact , after receiv- ing his doctorate in library studies at the University of Vienna Graduate School of Library Science , young Sigmund was retained by the University to work in the reference department where ...
Page 129
... reference department and wanted to know if the library was a government " suppository . " Sometime in the late 40's or early 50's when such matters were artic- ulated more delicately than they are today , a young man of 18 walked up to ...
... reference department and wanted to know if the library was a government " suppository . " Sometime in the late 40's or early 50's when such matters were artic- ulated more delicately than they are today , a young man of 18 walked up to ...
Page 134
... reference department every day , the librarian dove back into his Web- ster's Unabridged . There were no shortage of definitions . Sodomy appeared to be a large umbrella term for a diverse array of interpersonal forms of phys- ical ...
... reference department every day , the librarian dove back into his Web- ster's Unabridged . There were no shortage of definitions . Sodomy appeared to be a large umbrella term for a diverse array of interpersonal forms of phys- ical ...
Contents
Foreword | 1 |
Preface | 3 |
How Did Reference Services Get Started? | 5 |
Copyright | |
12 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
AACR2 absent-minded professor American Libraries American Library Association asked his reference average reference librarian bathroom burnout victims called the reference Chapter clay tablet desk and asked diversity electronic ence librarian eradicate eye contact Farmer's Almanac flasher genealogist give high school student Home Depot human idiotic INFO infomaniac librarian responded library and asked library school library's look Manley Mauritania McFarland Melvil Dewey minutes moron need a book never PASSAGE patron asks patron replied patron says patrons want person pervert pest public library reference reference books reference burnout reference department reference desk reference interview reference librar reference librarianship reference question REFERENCE SERVICES reference staff research paper Robert Redford Rush Limbaugh school librarian sodomy stacks stupid patrons stupid questions suffering from reference Sumeria tell There's third degree burnout tion Tuttle walked want books wanted to know wear woman