One night at the reference desk

I had an interesting night at the Reference Desk of Mighty Library last night, so I started jotting down the questions. It was a night that showcased the variety of questions we get in one of the departments of a multi-story downtown library.

- I need help with a job hunt.

- I need Immigration Forms printed. What is Immigration Form I-551? How much does it cost to apply?

- Please cancel my computer reservation.

- The computer is "acting crazy and jumping around."

- I'm trying to fill out a job application for CSL Plaza. Several tries with no luck. I finally got her to show me the envelope she was holding. CSL Plasma. Problem solved.

- Where does my color print job go?

- The new $5.00 bill doesn't work in the printer coin box. (A known and aggravating problem.)

- I need a book about Ph levels in the body.

- I'm looking for a casino gaming job at Mystic Lake.

- I need a renter's rebate credit form.

- What is a Lidoderm patch? What is Polysubstance?

- Please cancel my computer reservation.

- I don't have my library card with me, and I don't have ID, can I still get on the Internet? Sorry no. Really. Really. Really.

- Printer out of magenta toner.

- Job won't print.

- Do you have an area with special job hunting resources?

- I was on Crag's list . . . [long story.] Had closed Internet Explorer window, needed to get it back.

- Did anyone turn in a pacifier?

- Need info about personal loans and grants from the government.

- What was the name of the women's dress shop in the 1970's on the corner of 9th and Nicollet?

- Do you have environmental impact statements from 1984?

- The color is off on the 4th floor printer. Can you reprint this for me free on this floor?

- Looking for primary sources (government documents) on the Little Rock 9.

- Need career info and textbook/study info on Physical Therapy

- Help me find this book: "Danger and Survival: Choices about the bomb in the first 50 years."

- The computer is not recognizing my USB drive.

- Asked customer to take cell phone to lobby or use a quieter voice.

- Spoke to customer about cell phone voice volume again.

- Asked customer to use headphones while listening to music.

- Looking for an online fashion design school.

- Looking for an online course for MN real estate license.

- Looking for books about labor law. Actually was looking for a particular book, "State of the Union; a century of American labor."

- No library card. No ID. Sorry, can't give you your library card number without a picture ID. Really. Really. Really. Really. Really.

- Need the  phone number and any info for Springboard foundation.

- I'm looking for some books that I left out on the table last night.

- I'm looking for a phone number for Mr. L--- O--- , maybe near Crookston. His wife's name is Mary.

Meanwhile, my colleagues at the desk were handling as many questions, including several government document questions, a library tour, and question about a source for Venetian blind cordage, and a lengthy set of questions about the national debt and the Minnesota state debt.

A busy night at the library!

The dream of the novel

Tom Chatfield’s “Do writers need paper?“ (Prospect). As the comic novelist Julian Gough told me:

“One of the jobs novels used to do was to create a universe for characters, one that felt believable and complicated. But the complexity of life at the moment is such that no writer is able to keep up. The novel once had a dream of itself as this universal art form that could describe to the world to everybody in a way that everybody could understand, and that no longer rings true.”

Up until the minute I read this, I still had that dream, that the novel could describe the world to everybody in a way that everybody could understand. Now I may be convinced otherwise. It was a startling thought!

I think the better a book is, the better it succeeds at that dream.

But I find it freeing to think that novels no longer have the burden of being universal.

Link to original post on Book Blog!

Malcolm Gladwell on Social Media

Author Malcolm Gladwell on Twitter, Facebook, and social activism in the New Yorker:

[Social media] is simply a form of organizing which favors the weak-tie connections that give us access to information over the strong-tie connections that help us persevere in the face of danger. It shifts our energies from organizations that promote strategic and disciplined activity and toward those which promote resilience and adaptability. It makes it easier for activists to express themselves, and harder for that expression to have any impact. The instruments of social media are well suited to making the existing social order more efficient. They are not a natural enemy of the status quo. If you are of the opinion that all the world needs is a little buffing around the edges, this should not trouble you. But if you think that there are still lunch counters out there that need integrating it ought to give you pause.

The Casual Optimist - Books, Design & Culture

This passage from Malcolm Gladwell, quoted in "The Casual Optimist Blog," is a refreshing change from the good/bad dichotomies that usually arise when discussing social media. (OK, a little good/bad. . . ). What do you think?