One way to strike fear into the heart of this librarian is to ask me to interpret the APA style manual (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association). Can even the APA interpret this?? I am convinced that the manual is intentionally complex so as to require users to need counseling. I'm an MLA style guide kinda gal.
I also get FANTASTIC questions like:
Can you research this topic and give me the 10 most relevant scholarly articles? (Yes, I've actually been asked to do this by a student. Guess what the answer was???)
I'm looking for a book that ... like ... explains words? (Oh, you mean a dictionary? Last time I looked, the school had the word "university" in its name.)
There are these articles, that the library doesn't have, that I need by tomorrow? (Yes, it is quite appropriate to turn that statement into an interrogative because, no, we can't get it for you by tomorrow.)
I love my job. It's like being part of a comedy troupe some days.
Sadly, I'm the opposite. My first degree was psychology, so I had APA hammered into my brain. Now I have to use MLA, and I know it's widely used for a reason, and everyone tells me it's much simpler, but what can I do! I grew up with APA. They brainwashed me :P
ReplyDeleteA book that...like...explains words. lol. That's priceless.
I am pretty comfy with MLA, but APA? No thank you!! I always cringed when teachers asked us to create our bibliographies in MLA and APA.
ReplyDeleteLOL--I remember the days when I needed an article TODAY that the library didn't have. Really I loved researching topics and miss my university subscription to JSTOR. It was the putting the reserach into a paper that I hated.
I have a lot of admiration for librarians. I am convinced they must be the world's most patient people. Because goodness knows grad students certainly aren't! :)
Nymeth: It is true that whatever you learned is probably the easiest! Somehow, even though my grad work was in a social science, I was always allowed to use MLA.
ReplyDeleteTrish: I love JSTOR; and I only appear patient ;o)