Ouch, Ouch, and Double Ouch!

It's been a while since the last post.  Part of the reason is that this has been the semester of health problems.  I don't know if this is because my body is reacting to the letdown of graduating from SJSU or what.  The good news is that after a few visits to the doctor and to a physical therapist, I'm finally feeling much better.

All of this reminds me of one of the recurring themes in grad school: the reference librarian's job is to answer questions and only ask them in order to answer them.  In other words, don't pry.

Turns out I have patello/a-femural syndrome, which I'd never heard of before.  If I were the patron instead of the librarian, I'm not sure I would have gone up to a reference desk and asked about my condition.  Yet patrons ask us about their diseases and conditions all the time.  Sometimes I just want to say, "Whoa!  Too much information!"

This reminds me of the student who came in before spring break and explained that she had to write a research paper about anything connected with her science class.  She couldn't decide on a topic--there were way too many for her to choose.  I suggested that she go down the index or glossary pages in her textbook and select something that she's always wondered about.

She came in on Monday, ready to start researching her topic: bedbugs.  We found all sorts of journal, magazine, and newspaper articles.  After she settled in and read a bunch of them, she came back to the desk to tell me, "Oh, they're awful!  I guess I'm going to have to go home and get rid of them."

Like I said, too much information!  And sometimes I don't even have to ask.