Puzzles and Essays from "The Exchange": Tricky Reference Questions

Who said that? When did that happen? Where the heck does that thing come from? Was that French, or what? What's that supposed to mean?

For 35 years, librarians in the United States and other countries sent puzzles they could not solve locally to “The Exchange,” a column for reference librarians appearing in RQ (and later, RUSQ), the official journal of the Reference and User Services Division of the ALA. Other readers often furnished the answers—sometimes years or even decades later! Puzzles and Essays from "The Exchange" organizes those perplexing questions and answers into a reader-friendly reference format, embellished with essays that appeared in the column over the last fifteen years of its publication.

This unique collection of questions and answers that stumped librarians on four continents over a 35-year period comes complete with authoritative bibliographic citations. It also contains an extensive subject, person, and keyword index, providing easy access to the material.

Packed with fascinating information, little-known trivia, and hard-to-find facts, Puzzles and Essays from "The Exchange" is a wonderful reference source, answering difficult questions about:

• the origins of common—and not-so-common-customs, like giving engagement rings, driving on the right or left side of the road, tying yellow ribbons around trees in memory of captives, leg shaving, visits from the “Tooth Fairy,” and much, much more!
• the origins of words, phrases, and terms that don’t, when taken literally, make much sense
• the origins of popular sayings—The grass is always greener; The whole nine yards; It ain't over until the fat lady sings; Close but no cigar; Going down the tube; Light at the end of the tunnel; Katy, bar the door; Goodbye, cruel world; etc.
• the sources of famous quotations—both spurious and real!
• the sources of poetry fragments and bits of verse that have become part of the popular lexicon
• hard-to-find biographical information-from George Washington Carver's many uses for the peanut and the sweet potato to the name of Paul Revere's horse to the truth about the “let them eat cake” story attributed to Marie Antoinette
• trivia and miscellany—how lullabies began; why a yawn is contagious when a sneeze is not; what the names of the monkeys in The Wizard of Oz were; why pigeons bob their heads when they walk; what the vital statistics of the Venus de Milo are; and much more!
• the history of “The Exchange” itself!

Anderson presents the queries and eventual findings of public library reference librarians writing to "The Exchange" column of the RQ and RUSQ, the official journal of the Reference and User Services division of the American Library Association. The material is organized into broad categories, including poem fragments, people and places, popular sayings, and words and phrases. Those questions (53% of those submitted) where no answer was found are also included, along with the inconclusive research that was devoted to them. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Library Journal

"Where can I find?" "What is?" Who were?" For 35 years librarians stumped by reference questions they couldn't answer would send those puzzles to "The Exchange," a column appearing in RQ and later RUSQ, the professional journal of the Reference and User Services Division of the American Library Association. In turn, readers of the column often provided the answers, sometimes years later. Anderson, a reference librarian and public services administrator who was editor of "The Exchange" from 1984 to 1999, has compiled a collection of those questions and eventual answers, organized by category: Strange and Common Customs: Popular Sayings; Quotations: Spurious and Real; Poem Fragments; People and Places; Words and Phrases; Literary Connections; Miscellany; and Unanswered Questions. Anderson alternates the puzzle chapters with short essays that originally appeared at the beginning of each column. They are "somewhat rearranged, edited, and in some cases updated," presenting "a view of [Anderson's] ideal level of library service." The puzzle chapters are fun reads and can function on a smaller scale as a ready-reference source, much like The New York Public Library Desk Reference volumes; the essays are seasoned with practical advice and a dash of opinion and could serve well as discussion starters in library school reference classes. In his introduction Anderson notices what seems to be a general trend toward fewer reference questions in libraries since many patrons have access to the web. He writes, "To lose the talents [of reference librarians] would be to lose something which... has brought rewards to those who practice the field and benefits to countless numbers of patrons." So take that, Google!-Janet Brewer, Murray State Univ. Lib., KY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.