Librarians are People, Too...

Aw, poor Google...




Seriously, though, you'd be surprised by how many librarians go through this all the time. Librarians doing reference interviews online, via text-a-librarian or chat programs, are constantly approached like they are automated systems. I suppose that's an easy mistake to make, when one becomes used to search engines and automated responses. Back when I did online reference interviews, I would gently let the other person know that I was a living, breathing individual - not that it always made a difference.

It's more confusing when it's on the phone. I don't think I sound like an automated system.

And it's downright rude when it's face-to-face. Robot technology is not that advanced.

That said, I'm ready to go back to work tomorrow. The kids don't listen to me any better than patrons, but with patrons I can pretend it's not personal. (I'm just kidding - patrons listen better.) (No, no, seriously, Swicky and Coconut are great kids. Usually. Except when they have to clean their bedroom.)

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