Tonight, the reference desk at UGL was rather quiet. There were some exceptions, like a million high schoolers pouring in earlier in the day. Or the lady really upset that there were young men talking about the woman's anatomy and sexual intercouse in not-so-appropriate fashions. However, there was a part of my day that made me feel strange.
This older patron came in and asked a very specific question on a particular Church's involvement in the Underground Railroad. To my shock and dismay, WSU carried nothing that dealt with Michigan's role in the Underground Railroad. Regardless, we didn't have any books on a state-wide scale, much less on her specific topic. She wasn't good at listening and kept trying to talk when I was trying to explain what the situation was and what other options she had.
I talked to Andrea about the patron, as she was sitting right next to me while I dealt with the patron for about 20 minutes. By the end of that twenty minutes, I gave the patron a list of 12 books in the UGL, a list of 8 articles having to do with Michigan and the Underground Railroad (which WSU had subscribtions to every journal listed - I checked), the number and hours to the Burton Collection across the street and I even found a big friggin' pot o' researcher gold - the Bentley Historical Archive in Ann Arbor, which had a collection full of the resources that would take this person's research to the next level. Plus, I even printed the history that came off the finding aid at AA (she wouldn't stop baggering me, so I barked, "Don't get used to this, because we never print stuff other than lists and resource information").
The patron said that she couldn't believe that their teacher was giving them such impossible researching assignments. Yet, the assignment wasn't impossible because Ann Arbor had such a wealth of information.
When the patron went upstairs to look for the books I gave her, she found none. When I tried to get her to come to the desk to show her how to use the "Get It" button, she was frustrated and walked away.
So, did I do my job? I mean, looking at the list of stuff I gave her, I'd say I might have done too much. I did practically all her research for her!
But what do you say on the matter???
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I would probably have done the same thing, but I'm sure that experienced librarians would have stopped searching much earlier than you did.
I suspect that the student was looking for an easy answer, probably something bearing the title "The Underground Railroad in Michigan Churches." Perhaps she left suffering from information overload. Some students just aren't that good at compiling information from multiple resources.
I think the most troubling part of your account is the library's lack of resources on the Underground Railroad in Michigan (although I did see an encylopedia...perhaps there was more specific information in that). This is a university in Detroit...we should have that information. If this was an undergraduate course, the instructor definately should have ensured that the library had the resources to support the assignment. I guess the situation would be more acceptable if patron was a graduate student, as they're supposed to move beyond merely reciting information and begin assembling knowledge.
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