Sometimes librarians get in the habit of going to Google as the first resource consulted. However, it may be faster and more relevant to go directly to an official site.
Consider this chat session:
Patron: where can i find a list of all the U.S. presidents in chronological order?
Librarian: Hello! This is the reference librarian. I'm reading your question...
Librarian: Here is a site that looks good. I am sending you the page
Librarian: http://mingo.info-science.uiowa.edu/~welch/refclass/preschrono.htm
Patron: this is ok, but i was looking for something that had the years in office, too. anything on that?
Librarian: Try this site. You do need to click on each president to get the information you are looking for, but it is very thorough.
Librarian: http://www.geocities.com/peterroberts.geo/Relig-Politics/PresOrder.html
Librarian: Will this work?
Patron: yeah, it's awesome!
Librarian: O.K. glad it worked. Thanks for using <name of service>.
Patron: thanks for all your help.
Patron: Patron ended chat session.
It’s very likely that the librarian used a search engine such as Google to find these websites. The first website admits that it is not a complete listing--after all, it is only an academic library’s list of print resources: “If a President does not appear on this list, Cole Library has no print resources on that President.” The second website does not give the years of office that the patron requested, other than (as the librarian suggested) clicking on each president to view more details.
Instead, it would have been better to go directly to a site that would be an authority on the subject, such as: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/chronological.html
How do you know which sites to visit unless you use a search engine? If a print resource comes to mind, check if there is an online equivalent (e.g. Occupational Outlook Handbook). Try browsing through librarian-based websites that describe internet ready-reference resources, such as QuestionPoint’s Ready Reference Resources: http://questionpoint.pbwiki.com/readyref
This resource, on the QuestionPoint wiki, has links by category and a search box. A search of “presidents” will get you the link to the Internet Public Library’s POTUS collection, which has the list of presidents in order, with dates of their terms, and links to further information: http://www.ipl.org/div/potus/
Other ready reference resources to start with include:
Internet Public Library: http://www.ipl.org/
Librarians’ Index to the Internet: http://www.lii.org
Internet Library for Librarians: http://www.itcompany.com/inforetriever/
BUBL LINK Catalogue of Internet Resources: http://bubl.ac.uk/
If you have other good starting points, share them here in the comments section. Any suggestions for Quality Tips? Email Susan McGlamery at [email protected]
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