We all know how amazing reference librarians are. Their ability to point us in the right direction on a myriad of things is nothing short of miraculous. However, they do get their fair share of odd questions. A quick search of librarian message boards are quite interesting in the range of bizarreness. “How can I sue Satan?” “Where can I plug in my hairdryer?” And this gem asked of the Smithsonian reference librarian, “Where do you keep the flying saucers you’ve captured?”
I just came across an article that mentioned a lecture given by two prominent reference librarians, Amy Hale-Janeke Head of Reference Services U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeal Law Library and Sharon Blackburn Reference Librarian, Texas Tech School of Law Library. They came up with a brilliant system called the Bizarre Questions Pyramid. I could not find many other links about it but I did come across a woman’s notes from the lecture, specifically the notes of Meg Kribble, research librarian and outreach coordinator at the Harvard Law School Library. I took the excerpts listed below directly from her blog post. Overall, the advice of Hale-Janeke and Blackburn can be directly applied to almost any job the requires a lot contact with the general public.
SEAALL Session C2
Negotiating with the Bizarre: Strange Questions at the Reference Desk
Friday April 13, 2007
Amy and Sharon’s patented bizarre questions pyramid:
unusual belief
sane but stubborn
sane but angry
base level: sane, but misguided or uninformed
Ways to tell the difference:
- dress
- smell
- excessively suspicious (low cowboy hat in TX!)
- unusual perceptual experiences (listens to no one, invisible friends, rapidly shifting eyes)
- claims to be special
- sudden mood swings
- inappropriate personal questions
- difficulty staying on point (can be a symptom of meth use)
Solutions:
- treat bizarre questions routinely
- use creative solutions: step into the alternate reality, treat routinely
- take them to the resource
- the benefits of watching sci-fi
- tell them it’s a secret
- practice saying absurd things with a straight face
Remember:
- never argue
- repeat, repeat, repeat (policies, limitations, etc.)
Click here for the full article about this lecture.
Click here for the full blog post of Meg’s notes.
1 Comment
While working at a Borders Book Store I guided a man with a sock puppet to Jack Kerouac’s ‘On The Road’. He spoke through the puppet in a cartoon voice. I kept a straight face through it all while a co-worker looked on aghast. “Here it is , Sir…” “Oh! Thank You! Thank You!” he continued in the high-pitched cartoon voice.