Reference Questions, 10/20/09

Get start to the shift, on the way over here I got cussed by a relative. Hopefully things will improve from here.

1. A student had a question about an online reference tutorial.
2. A student wanted to use the phone at the desk. When I told him that we are not allowed to let patrons use the phone, he grew irratated. I told him he could use the payphone in the lobby. He went to use the payphone, it took his money so he was then really upset. He demanded that we contact someone and get his 50 cents back. Lea then said he could use the phone. I took his contact information and Lea contacted the assistant dean of administrative services about the incident.
3. A student was having trouble opening a file he had on a flashdrive. He said he thought the file had been messed up some how so I sent him to the SuperLab.
4. A student wanted the library hours sheet.
5. A student needed books on the Greek symposium. A hard topic, I was able to find only two books and two articles, but he seemed satisfied with that.
6. An LIS student pointed out that one of our Express Machines was down. We restarted it, hope that fixes it.
7. A student needed to borrow a highlighter.
8. A nursing student needed help with searching databases and the catalog. Her topic was horizontal violence and nursing.
9. A student was looking for an NC doc. It was available online though, so I showed her how to access it.
10. A patron was looking for articles by Courtland Lee, who is a psychologist. He also needed a guest username and password.
11. A patron needed a guest username and password.
12. A student was looking for a Spanish/English dictionary she said was in the Reference Dept. However, after she took the book, she tried to check it out. Reference books cannot be checked out, so she needed to find one she could check out.
13. A student needed to borrow a pencil.
14. A student needed to borrow a pencil.

A slow shift. Things calmed down after that disgruntled student. I don't know why people feel they need to take their frustrations out on others. I'm just glad that kind of thing doesn't happen much.