@anniethebook.bsky.socialThis week at the research help desk: Mesopotamian war chariots, whiteboard markers, ADHD and codependency, hours during the break, we're here weekends!, hanging indents, article searches, drag show bans, and we are not the post office (Google Business is wrong).
@anniethebook.bsky.socialI've been telling folks in research consults and workshops that our library chat is always staffed by human librarians, with masters degrees in library science. By and large, people LOVE this.
And then, today...
@anniethebook.bsky.socialToday at the research help desk: Japanese work ethic, print shop, misspelled Welsh poetry, emailing articles to faculty, benefits of cognitive behavioral therapy, do I have enough research?, New World plants used as medicine in 1600s & 1800s.
It's been a fun shift.
@anniethebook.bsky.socialToday I was briefly irate at a book that had a colophon that didn't include cataloging info. Lazy publishers. How am I supposed to know what the book's primary genre is without having to read the whole thing? ( I *would* read the book, but the bosses won't let me.)
@anniethebook.bsky.socialQotD, Watchmen edition.
Me: Sometimes a blue peen is just a blue peen.
@anniethebook.bsky.socialI just earned a bit of bro cred by talking about WWII-era bombers, tanks, and tactics during this morning's research workshop. Seriously, everything I learn is professional development because that knowledge keeps coming in useful with student topics.
@anniethebook.bsky.socialIt's a quarter(ish) after 5:00 on a Friday and I just wrapped a long in-person research question at the reference desk, during which two students showed up with questions via chat.
Death of reference service, my (tired) ass!
@anniethebook.bsky.socialI need [book] by Tertullian?
Me: He's been dead even longer. *shows student how to find books online*
@anniethebook.bsky.socialToday's research help tangent led to the work of Louis Wain and his increasingly abstract (schizophrenic) cat drawings: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_W...
@anniethebook.bsky.socialEverything I learn about is professional development, #52349:
Not sure where I learned about this, but I just helped a student researching the CSI effect & misleading forensic evidence by telling them about the Phantom of Heilbronn. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom...
@anniethebook.bsky.socialToday in the library:
* Very briefly explaining the differences between communism, socialism, and capitalism
* How to become a librarian (for English majors)
* We have books for that! (figure drawing)
* You can check out as many books as you can carry
@anniethebook.bsky.socialEvidence that everything I read/hear/see is professional development #6124: Just got to recommend a recent episode of one of my favorite podcasts, QAA www.qanonanonymous.com, to a student researching Christian nationalism.
@anniethebook.bsky.socialQotD, absurd edition. We were talking about my to-be-read heap.
Coworker, who is also a librarian and should know better: I just don't know how you find new books to read.
Me: SIR. Do you know what I do for a living!?!
@bibliojenni.bsky.socialI have an exhibition to put together by 28 September, but now that the new LMS is on the horizon all I want to think about is cataloguing. #LibrarianProblems
@anniethebook.bsky.socialWhenever I run my CKO numbers for the popular collection and see a great book I picked with no check outs, I really want to create a "Read This Book, You Cowards" shelf. Maybe daring our students will get these books to move.
@anniethebook.bsky.socialJust confirmed for a coworker that a student who walked past us did, in fact, meow into their phone.