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February 13, 2007
Contained in a Reference Librarian's Rolodex
Well, we finally disposed of the Rolodex that's been sitting at the Reference Desk forever. We did go through it and decided to keep the answers to some of the more frequently asked questions readily available. But, most of the information was so dated. What made it dated, wasn't the questions themselves, necessarily, but that all of it is so easily accessible now. Now, every agency has a website, which lists contact information. It's so easy to look something up and have an answer in seconds! What used to take librarians ages to find, (and the public didn't have access to at all) is now easily available online.
* Words ending in GRY (angry, hungry, gry, aggry, meagry and puggry)
* Groups of Animals: have you ever heard of a clowder of cats, a crash of rhinoceri or a charm of goldfinches?
* What does 1 bell mean in Maritime time? It means that it's 8:30 a.m... 8 bells? It's 12 noon.
* What color is the Jets uniform? Apple green and white, of course! And, the Knicks? The colors of the Nassau County Police cars.
* There is actually a card for "Horses in Movies." Dale Evans (Buttermilk), Lone Ranger (Silver), Roy Rogers (Trigger) and Hoppalong Cassidy (Champ) are just a few on this list.
* Ivy League Colleges from Harvard, established in 1636 to Cornell, established in 1853.
* Slogans of the Revolutions: French (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity), Russian (Land, Peace, Bread) and Spanish Civil War (No Pasaran - They Shall Not Pass)
* The trees in the Roslyn Park area are Cornelian Cherry, with yellow blossoms in Feb. through March.
* Seven Dwarves: Doc, Bashful, Dopey, Sleepy, Grumpy, Sneezy and Happy
* Santa's Reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen and Rudolph (from "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore
* And, under Motor Vehicle Department, it actually says, "Mrs. Anonymous says that the Huntington Motor Vehicle Department is very accommodating - no lines and much comfort." How's that for personal service?!
We still get questions like "where is there a public fax machine?" or who to call to help the injured wildlife in the park, and we're still prepared to answer those questions. But, now the job of a librarian is so much more broad and complicated. And, to think that librarians found and thought to hold onto this information for the future. But, they also had to put those little cards into their typewriters and painstakingly type them up before they filed them! I wonder what we'll be leaving for future librarians...
Posted by Michele at February 13, 2007 3:12 PM
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