Tuesday, February 22, 2011

A Challenging Reference Question is A Nice Way to Start the Day

Today I arrived at my desk a little before 12 noon since I am working on the late shift today.  As a "ritual" I turn on my computer and then check my phone for messages.  It seems unusual these days that old-fashioned Alexander Graham Bell technology is used for reference.  Anyway, I recieved a question from a graduate student asking for information on the analysis of pentachlorophenol.  He said he had trouble narrowing his answer set in Scopus and Science Direct.  He was not familiar with Scifinder Scholar.  Since he only came to campus once a week, I told him I could do the search and e-mail the results.

In my e-mail I explained the steps in doing the search and that the next step was for him to evaluate the abstracts to see if the retrieved references answered his question.

2 comments:

Gerry Caprario said...

That was me!!!! Ha! I've since updated my skills and just sent you an email.

Gerry Caprario said...

That was me! Ha! I've since updated my skills; I just sent you an email requesting more help.