Internet Public Library
Jared Della Rocca
Info 520
Della Rocca
Info 520
Question and Answer Log
Question 1
http://qrc.ipl.org/view/refgen.cat/12030953
Question:
Signing of propomation to free the slave
Response:
Welcome to the IPL!
From your question, it appears that you are interested in information regarding the
Emancipation Proclamation.
First, to answer the specific question, the Emancipation Proclamation was first
announced on September 22, 1862. The announcement stated that the Emancipation
Proclamation would go into effect on January 1st, 1863 in those states that were "in
rebellion."
To locate this information, I utilized the Internet Public Library's directory of
encyclopedias, located here:
http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/ref32.00.00/
I first chose The Columbia Encyclopedia, and searched the Entry Word, "Emancipation
Proclamation", which brought me to the specific article here:
http://www.bartleby.com/65/em/EmancipaP.html
To confirm the information that was provided, I checked the Encyclopedia Smithsonian,
from the Smithsonian Institution. Once I arrived at the Encyclopedia's website, listed
here:
http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/default.htm
I chose Civil War, then Civil War Smithsonian. That redirected me to their website
concerning the Civil War:
http://civilwar.si.edu/
I went straight to their homepage and then checked their timeline on the right. Their
entry for September 22, 1862 states, "President Lincoln issues the Preliminary
Emancipation Proclamation." Their entry for January 1st, 1863 states, "Lincoln issues
the Emancipation Proclamation, which declares that slaves in the seceded states are now
free."
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That confirmed the information provided by The Columbia Encyclopedia.
I believe that answers your question. If you need further assistance, or require more
information on this topic, please write back to us.
Thank you for using the IPL!
Discussion
This question took about a half-hour to locate sources, responses and then provide the
answer. In addition to the sources I used, I initially googled “Emancipation
Proclamation”. This brought me first to the National Archives which contained a copy of
the Emancipation Proclamation. That site listed the date as January 1st, 1863. I then
went to the second entry, Wikipedia, as the abstract in the Google search said something
about two executive orders. I checked the Wikipedia entry and saw that there were two
executive orders, one in September of 1862, and the second in January of 1863. Based
on the fact that this was for a classroom assignment, I decided to go through the IPL’s
encyclopedia entries using the Columbia Encyclopedia and the Civil War Smithsonian.
Overall I was happy with the answer I provided, although looking back I probably
should’ve included the National Archives entry as well, which provided a nice picture of
the actual proclamation itself. In addition, I think this would’ve been a quicker answer in
a face-to-face because I could’ve just brought the student directly to one of the
encyclopedias and given a quick response, as opposed to checking multiple sources to
confirm the dates. I gave two sources, though, to follow with what I thought was IPL
policy.
Question 2
http://qrc.ipl.org/view/refgen.cat/12032143
Question:
What is the call number of the book title Behavior Management?
Response:
Welcome to the IPL!
From your question, it appears that you are seeking the catalog number for the text titled:
Behavior Management.
There are a number of texts that begin with the phrase, "Behavior Management", thus
there are numerous call numbers depending on which specific text you have.
I began by searching the New York Public Library's circulating collection, otherwise
referred to as LEO. The link to their search engine is:
http://leopac.nypl.org/
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By searching by Title (Keyword) for "Behavior Management", I was led to, "Behavior
management: applications for teachers" which has a call number of: 371.153 B. You can
find the record for the book here:
http://leopac1.nypl.org/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=123N19730P5N0.24356&profile=dial-3&uri=link=1100002~!1592494~!1100001~!1100087&aspect=basic&menu=search&ri=
1&source=~!dial&term=Behavior+management&index=TL#focus
Since that is a long URL and may be broken, here is a shorter link:
http://tinyurl.com/dzxzfk
That is the third edition of the text. There is a newer, fifth edition, which I located on the
Library of Congress website:
http://www.loc.gov/index.html
I chose Library Catalog on the top, and then did a Basic Search, utilizing the "Title
Begins With" option.
The result of that search is here:
http://catalog.loc.gov/cgibin/Pwebrecon.cgi?Search_Arg=Behavior+Management&Search_Code=TALL&PID=43
KNuQFaR6m2YmZalEMt75ZaltM&SEQ=20090209112545&CNT=100&HIST=1
If that long link is broken, you can use this shorter link:
http://tinyurl.com/dem7j9
That provides a list of books that begin with the phrase, "Behavior Management." The
5th edition of "Behavior Management: applications for teachers" published in 2008 is
here:
http://catalog.loc.gov/cgibin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=9&ti=1,9&Search%5FArg=Behavior%20Management&Search%
5FCode=TALL&CNT=100&PID=KefRuQFaR3dRGtxTvkzfeUTx7C&SEQ=20090209112606&SID=1
And a shorter link:
http://tinyurl.com/dd5wnu
The Library of Congress call number for that text is: LB1060.2.Z57 2008
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I believe this information should answer your question. If you need further assistance on
this question, if you could provide the ISBN number (above the bar code on the back of
the book) or the exact title of the book, I will be happy to provide more assurance of the
call number. In addition, both the Library of Congress and LEO allow you to search
using the ISBN number and will provide the record for that specific book, including the
call number in both the Dewey Decimal System and the Library of Congress
Classification System.
Thank you for using the IPL!
Discussion
For this question I didn’t consult any other sources outside of LEO and the Library of
Congress. I knew LEO worked off of the Dewey Decimal System and obviously the
Library of Congress uses its own classification system. In addition, I anticipated that
between those two sources I would be able to locate the book about which the patron was
asking.
The question took about 45 minutes to answer because I had to search through the
different databases and try and locate the correct edition. I was unhappy with my answer
only because I couldn’t be more definitive. Understandably not every question that I
receive as a librarian will either have a concrete answer, and that I will be able to locate
and provide that answer, but I felt like in a face-to-face interaction I would’ve been able
to ask follow-up questions such as: Are you classifying according to the Dewey Decimal
System or the Library of Congress? Which edition of the book do you have? What is the
full title of the book? Since there were a number of different books containing the
phrase, “Behavior Management”, I had to make a best guess of the exact title. Since
there was no response from the patron, I hope that they weren’t discouraged by a wrong
answer but rather that my answer satisfied their query.
Question 3
http://qrc.ipl.org/view/refgen.cat/12032574
Question:
When is Presidents Day
Response:
Welcome to the IPL!
From your question, it appears that you are interested in the date of President's Day.
In 2009, Presidents Day fell on Monday, February 16th. I found this information by
going to the Internet Public Library's website and clicking on "More Ready Reference"
on the left side, and then choosing "Calendars." That brought me to this listing:
http://www.ipl.org/div/subject/browse/ref20.00.00/
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That's a long link, so here's a shorter one in case the first breaks:
http://tinyurl.com/6bmhj2
I chose the American Secular Holidays Calendar, which is here:
http://www.smart.net/~mmontes/ushols.html
The site directed me to the Office of Personnel Management, which publishes the Federal
Holiday Calendar, posted here:
http://www.opm.gov/Operating_Status_Schedules/fedhol/2009.asp
A shorter link in case that breaks:
http://tinyurl.com/6dbyqz
That site stated that February 16th is actually called Washington's Birthday, per federal
law.
To confirm the information, I did a search at the ipl.org website (using the search box in
the top right) with the search string <Presidents Day>. I located the following site:
http://www.patriotism.org/presidents_day/
It provides information on the history of President's Day, and refers to their link to
Washington's Birthday (located on the right side of the page) which confirms the date of
February 16th, 2009 for President's Day.
It also states that, to determine when President's Day falls in future years, it's always on
the third Monday of February.
I believe that answers your question. If you need further assistance, or require more
information on this topic, please write back to us.
Thank you for using the IPL!
Discussion
For this question, I first googled President’s Day to find the short reference answer. But
because the patron didn’t state whether they wanted this year’s date, as well as to find out
if the date was a fixed date or a roving date, I didn’t want to just give that straight answer.
This answer didn’t take as long, approximately 20 minutes to find the resources listed on
the IPL website.
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I had found the calendar resource buried a few links into the IPL website, but was forced
to do a straight search on President’s Day on the site. I prefer to be able to use the
directory listings to locate what I need as the IPL website seems hit-or-miss sometimes
on what they’ll have listed in the abstracts. When I went to search for President’s Day, I
wasn’t sure if that would return any listings at all, or if I’d have to be more broad and
search for holidays and see if there was a listing of sites that discussed holidays, and from
there locate a specific site and check that site to see if it talked about President’s Day. As
it is I was able to locate the patriotism site and that provided a more wide-ranging
discussion of President’s Day, specifically mentioning its roving nature.
Going forward, though, I would probably check one of the encyclopedias as well as it’s a
basic enough topic that I think it would be covered in them, but that didn’t occur to me at
the time.
Question 4
http://qrc.ipl.org/view/refgen.cat/12034051
Question
I'm really interested in the life of Bruce Lee! I check wikipedia
but I don't think if it's right. Can you tell me some sources
about Bruce Lee?
Response
Welcome to the IPL!
From your question, it appears you are interested in more information about Bruce Lee.
As a fellow fan, I am more than happy to help you out with this question.
Bruce Lee was born on November 27th, 1940 in San Francisco, CA as Lee Jun Fan. His
father was a Hong Kong opera singer who had taken his wife and three children to the
United States the year before. His mother first called him "Bruce" and he first appeared
in a movie at three months old!
After finding success as an actor and director in China, Lee starred in and directed his
first major Hollywood film, "Enter The Dragon" in 1973. As you may have heard, Lee
died one month before the premiere of the movie from what was diagnosed as a brain
edema, caused by a reaction to a prescription painkiller Lee was taking at the time.
I found this information (and much more) by going to the Librarians’ Internet Index, at
http://www.lii.org/
I then went to People-->Biography, and the third link down took me to
http://www.biography.com
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I did a search on the top toolbar for Bruce Lee, and found his biography here:
http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9542095
Long links have a tendency to break, so here's a shorter one you can click on:
http://tinyurl.com/aat54o
In addition, Biography.com has a timeline of Bruce Lee's life here:
http://www.biography.com/deathiversary/bruce_lee/brucelee.jsp
Here's a shorter link in case the first breaks:
http://tinyurl.com/a9k7x4
Finally, Time Magazine, as part of its 100 Most Important People of the Century, did an
article on Bruce Lee as part of its Heroes and Icons series. The link to that article is here:
http://www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/lee01.html
If that link breaks, you can use this link instead:
http://tinyurl.com/37pfzj
I believe that answers your question. If you need further assistance, or require more
information on this topic, please write back to us.
Thank you for using the IPL!
Discussion
It took me about 35 minutes to research and formulate a response for this question.
Because it was a celebrity (as opposed to a historical figure) I determined that searching
the Librarians’ Internet Index probably wouldn’t yield much in results. Instead, I decided
to work through their hierarchical directory listings.
By drilling down through PeopleBiographies, I was able to quickly locate
Biography.com, a site I wouldn’t normally have thought as authoritative, but since it was
listed on the lii website, I was more confident in that result. I also tried Infoplease.com,
which was listed before Biography.com on lii, but the listing for Bruce Lee was fairly
short and thus not as comprehensive as biography.com’s listing. In addition,
biography.com covered most, if not all, of the information covered in the infoplease bio.
I also checked CMG Worldwide to see if Bruce Lee happened to be a client, but he
wasn’t listed.
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After going through the biography.com entry on Bruce Lee, I was able to locate the
timeline as well as the Time Magazine listing about Bruce Lee. I also checked the
website for the Bruce Lee Foundation, hoping that it would provide more information on
him, but it was more about his style of martial arts. I left it off but I believe in the future I
would include it, as it’s not irrelevant information and may have been of interest to the
patron.
Overall, though, I was happy with my response and with the exception of the inclusion of
the Bruce Lee Foundation link, I wouldn’t have done much differently with that
biography.
Question 5
http://qrc.ipl.org/view/refsource.cat/12034152
Question
How do I locate a 1963 obituary for a boy that died in Londonderry, NH and any related
articles on the death?
Response
Thank you for using the IPL!
From your question, it appears you are looking to locate an obituary for a death in 1963
in Londonderry, NH.
Without the actual name of the deceased, I can't locate the actual obituary, but I can
provide you the process by which you may be able to locate the obituary and relevant
articles.
The best step-by-step guide is offered by the Internet Public Library. I did a search at
http://www.ipl.org
for "Obituaries" and was redirected to this site:
http://www.ipl.org/div/pf/entry/77286
Which is titled, "Finding Obituaries." It provides a guide to locating newspapers in the
area and possibly archival material that may contain the article.
To help with some of the surrounding information, I see you are located in Rhode Island.
Your local library may have access to some of the databases listed in the abovereferenced link, such as ReferenceUSA and WorldCat. Here is the link to the Ocean
State Libraries website:
http://www.oslri.org/
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On the right side, you can click on "About Ocean State Libraries" which has a listing of
websites and you can locate one in your specific area. Directly underneath that link is
driving directions to the individual library. Finally, below that is the individual library
websites which will contain information about what databases they subscribe to, allowing
you to confirm access to the information you may need.
To locate the specific newspaper that may have contained that obituary and relevant
articles, I went back to the IPL website:
http://www.ipl.org
and scrolled down on the left side to "Newspapers" under "Reading Room". I then chose
"New Hampshire" and was provided with a list of major newspapers covering the New
Hampshire region. The link to the page is here:
http://www.ipl.org/div/news/browse/US.7007564/
If that link breaks, here's a shorter one you can use:
http://tinyurl.com/ab5xj5
In addition, I did a google search for "Londonderry New Hampshire newspaper" (without
the quotes) and was directed to two local newspapers:
The Derry News
http://www.derrynews.com/
The Londonderry Times
http://www.nutpub.net/html/ltmain.html
Those are two newspapers you may be able to search in the databases provided in the
IPL's step-by-step instruction.
Should you not be able to access the archives for those papers through your local library
database, you should contact the Londonderry, New Hampshire library. Oftentimes the
town library will have access to newspaper archives that may be unavailable outside the
region. The contact information, found through a google search, for the "Leach Library"
can be obtained from this link:
http://www.londonderrynh.org/library/library.htm
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I wish you the best of luck in your search and hope that the information I have provided
assists you. If you need further assistance, or require more information on this topic,
please write back to us.
Thank you for using the IPL!
Question Part 2
Thank you so much for your help- if I provided a name would that help?
Response Part 2
Ms. Tanner,
If you would like to submit a query to the IPL with the name, myself or one of my fellow
librarians would be happy to help further.
Thanks for using the IPL!
Question Part 3
Well, I am looking for siblings of:
Robert Allen Young
Born: 2/8/58
Died: 9/23/63 in Londonderry, NH at age 5 in a swimming accident
or children of his mother:
Alice T. Valliere
Died: 1966 in New Hampshire, place unknown
or children of his father:
Harold R. Young, Jr.
(death unknown)
THANKS SO MUCH!
Response Part 3
Thank you for the further information you have provided. Unfortunately, upon
researching your question I was unable to come up with the ancestry information. I
searched proquest, which archives major newspaper publications, to see if perhaps the
death was noted in a national newspaper. Unfortunately that search was fruitless.
I also searched through ancestry.com, deathindexes.com, as well as the Social Security
Death Index, with no positive results.
On the more successful end, though, through searching Worldcat, a database containing
information on library holdings, I was able to locate the Derry, NH public library, which
contains an archive of the Derry News, which was in operation in 1963. The archives are
contained on microfilm at the library.
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I will contact the Derry, NH public library's reference librarian, whose information I was
able to locate here:
http://www.derry.lib.nh.us/contactus.htm
I'll e-mail her and include you on the e-mail so that I may provide the resources we've
utilized already and find if they can access the microfilm archive for the newspaper.
In addition, the Internet Public Library has a section on Genealogy with helpful links and
instructions. The link is here:
http://www.ipl.org/div/pf/entry/48476
I'm sorry I wasn't able to locate the exact information you seek, but I believe connecting
with the Derry, NH public library should help you towards your goal. I will send the email shortly introducing you to the librarian and briefing her on our efforts thus far.
Thank you for using the IPL and best of luck to you in your continued search!
Discussion
This question was definitely the hardest one I tackled, as well as the most satisfying
(despite not being able to “answer” the question). Working on it for about 2-3 hours
spaced throughout the day, I was able to get as close as I think was possible to answering
the question.
I had initially decided to tackle this question having read some earlier answers on
locating obituaries, in which the patrons were pointed towards the IPL’s pathfinder on
locating an obituary. With that in mind I thought that I could help locate some of the
information for the patron that she would need when going through the IPL’s step-bystep instructions.
After providing the instructions, and locating the newspaper records, I felt like I had
stepped into a bigger problem by letting the patron know that if she provided the name
we might be able to locate more information. When she responded with that information,
I thought that my response when I wrote up the log would be that in the future I wouldn’t
offer that bit of assistance! But I am glad I did because it forced me to continue to work
on the question at hand.
As I mentioned in the response I checked a few of the bigger genealogy sites that were
offered through the IPL’s pathfinder on tracing genealogy. My efforts were mostly
fruitless, and I mentioned to the patron so as to help her hone her search and not double
my efforts.
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The reason I feel satisfied with my end response, and I think I would do the same thing in
the future, is that I came to the realization as I prepared my final communication with the
patron that not every question asked of a reference librarian will end with a straight
answer. In essence not every question has a complete answer. Instead, at times after
going through our best efforts, we don’t have access to the information necessary to
answer the question and have to pass the patron along to the next librarian in the process.
Having kept that in mind, I really felt like I was part of the field of library sciences when
I wrote to the Londonderry reference librarian informing her of the process I had gone
through with the patron and requesting their further assistance in answering the question.
I knew the material was on microfilm at that library and it just required someone that was
physically on-site to locate the information from there. Not every answer is going to be
found on the Internet.
As an addendum to this question and response, I received an e-mail back shortly after
referring the patron to the Londonderry librarian thanking me very much for my “prompt
and courteous assistance!” I felt like I had not only done a good job with the question,
but also ensured that the patron would think and speak highly of the IPL in the future.
Question 6
http://qrc.ipl.org/view/refsource.cat/12034173
Question
Can you please find me biographical information on Jet Li?
Response
Welcome to the IPL!
From your question, it appears you are interested in some biographical information about
Jet Li. I'd be happy to help you with your question!
To locate biographical information on Jet Li, I went to the Librarians’Internet Index,
located at:
http://www.lii.org
I clicked on the link for People, and then went to Biography. This subcategory provides a
listing of librarian-approved resources on the Internet.
The first site I chose was:
http://www.biography.com/
I typed in "Jet Li" in the top search and was brought to his biography, located here:
http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=241077
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That link is long and might break, so you can click on this one instead:
http://tinyurl.com/b6e559
In addition, I went to the who2 website, which contains basic information about various
celebrities, as well as links to more information. The site is located here:
http://www.who2.com/
And Jet Li's listing on the site, which I located, using their search box, is here:
http://www.who2.com/jetli.html
The links on that site include to the transcript of a 2003 CNN interview with Jet Li, as
well as a link to his official website, which is here:
http://www.jetli.com/
Be aware, when you click on Jet Li's website, there is a button at the top of the site to
change the tabs to English. If you click on "Life" on the left-most tab, you can choose
biography and learn more extensively about Jet Li.
I believe that answers your question. If you need further assistance, or require more
information on this topic, please write back to us.
Thank you for using the IPL!
Discussion
With my previous experience getting information on Bruce Lee, this question only took
me about 20-25 minutes to respond. I knew that I could go through the biography section
of the Librarians’ Internet Index to locate my answer. Biography.com once again came
through with some great information on Jet Li, and will be a site I regularly use in the
future when answering questions about celebrities.
After that, though, I checked infoplease and namebase.org with either none or
unsatisfying results. The fourth site I checked, who2, gave me a good biography on Jet
Li to provide to the patron, though. In addition, Jet Li’s website, which I was hesitant at
first about since the entire page was in a foreign language (with the exception of the
English button) provided fruitful once I was able to locate the biography section. Unlike
the Bruce Lee Foundation page, Jet Li’s page focused directly on the person and gave
some great ancillary information to supplement the biography.com listing.
The search was quick, fruitful, and I believe answered the patron’s question perfectly. I
don’t think I would’ve done anything differently if faced with this type of question again.
Question 7
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http://qrc.ipl.org/view/refsource.cat/12034201
Question
I was wondering if the Princeton, IL library has newspapers on microfilm for obituaries
of the following who died in La Moille.
If so is there a volunteer who could do the look-up?
Joseph Smith d. Feb. 15, 1903
Mary Smith d. Jan 13, 1916
Any help would be most appreciated.
Response
Welcome to the IPL!
From your question, it appears that you are looking to find an obituary from the La
Moille, Illinois area. While I do not live in that area, I think I can help you along with
your search.
To determine whether the Princeton, IL library has that newspaper on microfilm, I first
needed to determine the name of the newspaper. I did a google search for "Lamoille
Illinois newspaper" (without the quotes). The third link down brought me to the Illinois
Newspaper Project:
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/inp/results_full_public.php?oclc=12254929
That link is long and may break so you can use this one as well:
http://tinyurl.com/cxzf4y
The Illinois Newspaper Project is run by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
& the Chicago History Museum. They catalog the newspaper holdings at Illinois
libraries into a centralized database.
The link above shows which locations currently have archived copies of the LaMoille
Gazette, which began publishing in 1889, thus covering the dates you listed.
It shows the Matson Public Library has those dates archived on microfilm. In addition,
the Bureau County Historical Society Museum and the Bureau County Genealogical
Society, both in Princeton have archived copies, the first in original print, and the second
on microfilm.
I then googled "Princeton Illinois library" (without the quotes) to ensure that the Matson
Public Library was the correct library. The first result was the Matson Public Library:
http://www.matsonpubliclibrary.org/
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In addition to their microfilm holdings, on the right side is a link regarding their
"genealogical research":
http://www.matsonpubliclibrary.org/ppl_genealogical_research.pdf
That's a PDF file and the link may break, so you can use this one as well:
http://tinyurl.com/c8yzgr
You will need Adobe Acrobat reader to view the PDF, which you can download from
free here:
http://get.adobe.com/reader/
In addition to the microfilm, the PDF file shows that the library has "Marriage, Birth, and
Death Information from 1889-1920 from the LaMoille Gazette Newspaper", as well as a
number of other local newspapers on microfilm, with the dates listed.
The library does not have a listed e-mail address, but you can contact them via phone at
815-875-1331, or via fax at 815-872-1376. They may be able to locate the obituary on
microfilm for you and fax it or scan and e-mail.
I believe that answers your question. If you need further assistance, or require more
information on this topic, please write back to us.
Thank you for using the IPL!
Discussion
This was my final question. I took it because I had a better sense of how to locate
obituaries and the patron was a little more direct in their question (specifically searching
for an obituary from a specific area on microfilm). While I did not live in the area, I
thought the likelihood was whomever responded to the question would also not live in the
area, thus following my same process.
It took me only about thirty minutes to search for and provide the response above. As I
mentioned in my response, I was fortunate in that when searching for the specific paper,
the third listing down provided not only the name of the paper, but a listing of places
where that paper was kept and what years were archived! The bottom of the page
showed that the page was slightly dated, but upon checking the front page for the Illinois
Newspaper Project showed an update within the past few weeks, indicating that it’s an
ongoing project. This indicated to me that the individual newspaper’s page had
information entered and thus wasn’t something that needed to be updated regularly.
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I then searched for the individual library page but it didn’t have an e-mail address so I
provided the general contact information instead.
I was very pleased with the results of this question and I don’t believe there was much I
would’ve done differently, as it was a quick process that provided the closest answer that
could be provided to the question (short of actually going to that library).
Reactions
As I progressed through question-by-question, I felt more confident in the information I
was providing. I tended to move away from a straight google search or a search of the
IPL or LII website and used the hierarchical structures more often. I think one of the
most important tips for working with the IPL is to read other answers on a consistent
basis. I often found websites and directories that I didn’t even know existed until I read
an answer to a question from another patron. The more “obscure” the question was, the
more interested I was in reading the response from the librarian.
There were times, though, that I was frustrated with the natures of the question (being
from the Internet). With the question about the call number for the book titled, “Behavior
Management”, an in-person reference interview would’ve allowed me to get further
information, or at least give me the knowledge at the end whether the information I had
provided was correct. The President’s Day question would have been answered with the
use of an encyclopedia, and last, with the Emancipation Proclamation, I could’ve
provided the user with some interesting books about Abraham Lincoln or the Civil War
in general. Instead, these questions were basically providing the fact and allow the user
to walk away when they may have been open to learning more. Those instances felt like
lost opportunities.
E-mail reference, though, is going to continue to be a growing component of the library
reference services. While I felt there were missed opportunities, I was still able to
quickly answer the question for the patron. From their standpoint, then, e-mail reference
is a huge help. As for myself, I’ve submitted two or three questions to the IPL while
working with the project for help on other matters. I had questions that I couldn’t locate
the information on, and through the use of e-mail reference, was able to tap into a wide
source of knowledge. If I were to go straight to the reference librarian, I’d have only one
or two people working on the question. With the e-mail reference, and specifically the
IPL, someone who may be more proficient in my topic can answer the question. Again,
the drawback is that as wide-open as the Internet is, it only represents a mere fraction of
printed knowledge, and so there were questions that I answered (as well as other
questions) that we could only provide so much to the user, whereas to go the full 100%
would require in-person interviews.
The project was a boon, though, in that it opened up my eyes to many resources that are
available on the Internet. It drives home the fact that while using a search engine (usually
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Google) can be helpful, hierarchical directories and taking the time to go step-by-step
through a search can be more productive. By utilizing the IPL and LII websites, I was
sure that the information and resources I were providing were authoritative and current.
Each avenue into the Internet has a role to play, but relying too heavily on one or the
other will lead to frustration at not being able to find answers.