I finally gave in and asked a librarian for help with old newspapers

For years I thought I was doing fine digging through microfilm on my own at the library here in Austin. Then last month a librarian named Carol walked by my table and asked what I was searching for. I told her I was looking for 1940s wedding announcements in the local paper and she just shook her head. She showed me they had a searchable digital archive that wasn't linked on the main catalog page. I spent 3 hours finding stuff I never would have seen on those reels. Honestly I felt dumb for not asking sooner. Anyone else ever ignore the help desk and regret it later?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_jade6d ago

Carol from my local library in Portland saved me from three years of searching for my great grandma's obituary. Turns out I was looking at the wrong newspaper entirely and she just knew which paper covered that part of town in the 1920s. Librarians are basically wizards with better organizational skills and less pointy hats. My favorite part was watching her pull up a document in about 8 seconds that I had spent hours trying to find on microfilm. Now I make a point to bother them at least once a visit, even if it's just asking where the bathroom is. Still feel like a fool for all those years of squinting at tiny text when the answer was literally a quiet whisper away.

faithj106d ago

I read somewhere that librarians are basically search engines with a personality and a local history upgrade.