Question for Sept. 20: Library users, what's going on?

["Steve Curwood" <SCurwood@aol.com>]

One of the biggest problems of using the internet for research, of
course, is browsing. The limitless nature of internet browsing is
frustrating, compared to the act of looking over a bookshelf to
check out what might be of help on a given subject. Ironically
there is more likely to be a real person on hand near the
bookshelves--a librarian--than on the internet. Librarians can
synthesize all the needs that are raised for today's agenda: what
people want and where to find it.

So today's question has several parts, with the second specifically
aimed at those of us who are not librarians. What has been our
experience when we have asked librarians to assist us in our
searches?


Steve Curwood
NPR's Living On Earth