Since I had the brainstorm last week to make myself available to friends and family as their own personal reference librarian, I have had several interesting questions ranging from, "What would be the proper nickname for St. Aloysius Gonzaga?" to "What is the derivation of the word God, when did we start using that name/term?"

It's been a fun week as a result. I am learning even more quickly about sources and, frankly, it's fascinating to find out what the people I know are thinking about. It's a great rush to actually be able to answer a question--everyone is so grateful. This is a nice side benefit for me.

Here's two things I've learned in the last two days since I sent a broadcast email to my friends and family offering free reference services....

1. It's a good idea to do a trial run of a new venture so you can work out the kinks--don't send an email to 50 people until you can handle 50 simultaneous requests. It's not that I didn't know this before, but I sure did get reminded when I was flooded with requests for information.
2. When you're learning how to do something or trying to improve a skill it helps to have realistic expectations of your abilities.
   

I have gotten some really juicy information requests so this is a lot of fun and it keeps me from dying of boredom while I'm toiling at the circulation desk.

Today I have decided that I need a lot more practice doing reference work so I'm offering my info sleuthing services to everyone in my network. Working for a few hours a week on the Info Desk is not giving me the exposure I need to become more familiar with available sources.

For today I've also learned how to add my photo to my profile.

Baby steps, baby steps....

This summer while I am on a miniscule hiatus from the pursuit of my Master's degree in Library and Info Science, it is my mission to play with the tools of the trade.

So, today I got some more clues about how to be productive with my cellphone and I started this blog.

Now I think I have to take a nap....