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10 December 2012

Daily Information Gathering

As a librarian, I love to find information. I can't even tell you how much I like to help friends and family find tidbits of information. It's like a personal Reference Interview about fun stuff. When I was living in Uganda I used to help my roommate find things online when she was having trouble. We used to joke about how if she couldn't find something she could just hand me the computer and in less than 5 minutes I'd have the answer. Whenever someone says, "I wonder why/who/what...?" I'm usually quick to jump in with, "I'll find out!" And, after returning from Uganda I got my first smartphone which makes it even easier to find information when I'm out and about. Just ask my  husband...when we're out and something comes up I'm often sitting in the passenger seat, searching on my phone.

So, as I continue my search for employment, I'm finding lots of joy in searching for answers in my day-to-day. Admittedly, I mostly use Google but I figure since I'm not looking for scholarly information, it's ok. :) Here are some recent examples of things I researched for friends and family:

In the James Bond movie 'Goldfinger' did the actress playing the Bond girl really die from being painted with gold, as her character did?
[Answer: no. It's all a myth.]

How do gmail labels compare to folders in other webmail services? How do you move an email to a folder?
[Answer: labels seem to be Google's version of folders and emails can have more than one label.

Who was the vice president under Abraham Lincoln?
[Going to see the movie 'Linoln' sparked all kinds of history related questions. Answer: for his first term, Hannibal Hamlin; for his second term, Andrew Johnson]

How do you pronounce Sofitel Hotel?
[After driving by this hotel late at night we had a long conversation about the hotel, trying to make it rhyme, etc. We're easily amused, what can I say? :) Answer: We're still not sure but we did find out it's a French hotel and that there are tons of amusing reviews on TripAdvisor.]

So, there you have it. Some completely random questions I've recently 'researched'. I seriously find these kinds of searches enjoyable.

Anything I can help you find? :)


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