Comments (0) Best Lo-Fi Way to Get Answers - 2009
Phoenix Public Library, Telephone Reference Line
Imagine this: You need answers. But you're not sitting in front of a computer or within reach of an iPhone. Never fear, telephone reference is here. Forget Google, and Wikipedia — at the Phoenix Public Library telephone reference desk, real people are ready to answer your calls and give you useful information. Picture the Katharine Hepburn movie Desk Set, in which Ms. Hepburn plays Bunny Watson, the head of the well-run research department at the Federal Broadcasting Company. Bunny's world is full of reference books and chatty banter, and the filmic predecessor to PPL's Telephone Reference department. Need to know the population of Vatican City, or the year Wade Boggs was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame? Telephone reference is only a call away. Oh, sure, the librarian on the other end of the phone might do a Google search to answer your question, but isn't it nice to know you can still pick up a phone and speak to a human being? One note: The staff cannot give medical advice.
