Reference Questions of the Day

I received this question when I was on QANDANJ this morning. Someone needed information about a Samuel Mason Clark who lived from 1910-39. I received on other information. After I checked the most likely sources and couldn't find anything, I went back to the chat and tried to ask the patron if he knew the field of endeavor for this person. The person had left the chat. This my general complaint about chat reference. They just don't want to wait.

At the reference desk someone wanted information about the adverse effects of human growth hormone. I started out by showing him Scopus and Medline, but those sources seemed too technical. I then referred him to http://medlineplus.gov/ where he found some web sites that gave him the information he needed at the appropriate level.

A student came into my office asking for the prices of bulk chemicals. I was able to find her information from the Business Source Premier database.

Students are very often vague when they pose a question and we must get them to be more specific. Here is an example:

A student ask for articles on engineering management. I referred him to Business Source Premier and found too many articles. He then said lets try chemical engineering management. He then said he a pharmaceutical engineering student as was looking for information in that area. He only needed one article.