Every reference librarian has at least one—the question that makes you scratch your head in bewilderment or even literally laugh out loud. Public libraries are magnets for the odd and unusual questions, but the National Library of Medicine gets them, too. Mixed in with the questions you might expect—the cost of developing new medications, the…
This story is a part of our weeklong series on reference librarians at the National Library of Medicine. Tomorrow we’ll tell you about some of the more unusual requests that NLM reference librarians have received. Wanda Whitney, PhD, was desperate. “My baby was having seizures and I didn’t know why. I went online and read forums…
In our week of focusing on reference librarians at NLM, today we’re featuring Ron Gordner, who has been a go-to source of information at NLM since 1990. Tomorrow, we’ll focus on a librarian who found her dream job here only after her child became ill. On Friday, we’ll share some of the more unusual requests…
In our week of focusing on reference librarians at NLM, today we’re featuring Terry Ahmed. Since 2010, Ahmed has been head of Reference and Web Services. When Terry Ahmed was growing up, his father was a security guard at the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. “There were days when he would just plop me…
All week, we’ll focus on reference librarians at the National Library of Medicine. Today, we’ll cover what reference librarians do and what makes them unique at NLM. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we’ll introduce you to three reference librarians at NLM. They’re all passionate in their pursuit of making health and medical information more available…
NLM in Focus 