I've lost count of how many times students have told me they're having trouble finding sources for their papers--which means I've also lost count of how many times I've told them to go talk to a reference librarian. I can't sit down with every student in a 100-person class, explain the library's system of databases, tell them which databases best fit with their paper's topic, help them identify search terms, and then show the students how to find books, print the articles on the library's printers, or purchase copy cards for the photocopiers.

Many college students (and, alas, graduate students, too) don't grasp the sheer usefulness of librarians. So I offer to the world my top-secret process for successful library research:

1. Step away from the Google.
2. Walk up to the librarians at the reference desk.
3. Pose your research question, and ask for the best ways to find possible answers to that question.
4. Listen to and watch the librarians as they show you the fabulous digital resources available to anyone who walks in the front door.
5. Apply what you've learned.

I know, I know--you're thinking students trip up on #4. But now--it's step #2 that intimidates them.

I, too, was a DIY library patron until graduate school. But then one day I got stuck, really stuck, on a topic I was researching--let's say (totally hypothetically of course) it was my dissertation subject, women scientists who worked in U.S. natural history museums in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. So I screwed up my courage, summoned some optimism, and walked up to the reference desk. And guess what? I met a librarian who not only could help me find resources in our library, but it also ends up he has a Ph.D. in the history of science from an Ivy League school, that his own dissertation was on an eerily similar topic, and that he had done a fellowship at the Smithsonian with the very same person with whom I was about to start a fellowship. I'm not making this up. And now, in a library packed with library professionals, I think of him as "my librarian." He sends me e-mail when an interesting new book comes in, and I try to return the favor by advertising his digital resources workshops. (It's not a fair trade, I know.)

When I was doing some research in Washington, D.C., I shared living quarters with another doctoral student, a Dane who was getting her Ph.D. in economics in Australia, and who had traveled to the U.S. to get her hands on some essential historical data about coffee prices. She imagined she would need to assemble this data set by poring over dozens, if not hundreds, of sources in the Library of Congress. It would be "her" data set, her contribution to her field. After several days laboring in the library's awesome Main Reading Room, she asked a reference librarian for advice on making her search more efficient. Imagine her surprise (and delight and disappointment) when the librarian literally turned around and pulled a volume from the shelf behind her. "You mean this data?" the librarian said, dropping the tome on the counter.

It's really spectacular, the ways that librarians can connect you with access to the knowledge you need. If you're at a university, the librarian might not only recommend books and digital resources, but also faculty members, graduate students, other librarians, or even colleagues at other institutions who might be willing and able to help you with your research project.

I'm not alone in feeling this magic. Bloggers--researchers, teachers, students, and even librarians themselves--are sharing their library "secrets." Bardiac posted yesterday about librarians:

If I could convince all college students (heck, all people in general) of one thing, it would be that you can usually get really good help finding good information about things if you visit the local library and talk to a librarian.

They know things. It's like magic. They can find basic information; they can find in depth information. They can put their hands on weird bits of information. (Who was the first son of an English monarch to use the title "Prince of Wales"? I asked that at a local library in a small town once, and it took maybe two and a half minutes for the librarian to find the answer, and she didn't look on the web.)

Best of all, they can help you figure out really solid, useful sources of information, so that you don't get confused by stuff that's too technical or so far off the wall that it's not helpful.

I love librarians. I only wish my students would, too.

It sounds like Clio Bluestocking's students could use a library consultation as well.

When I need a good laugh from the perspective of the other side of the circulation desk, I turn to Miss Information. A recent post alerted me to an informational fetish of which I was unaware:

Back when Miss Information still had some integrity (she remembers it well…it was a Tuesday, around 10-ish—good times) she took an interest (professional interest) in the government documents collection, weeding, labelling, etc. On these occasions she noticed to her great shock that someone didn’t find the publications quite so boring and had, in fact, left lipstick prints on a large number of them. Oh legislation about fisheries…how wonderful you are…let’s never argue again, my darling…

Want to celebrate National Library Week by seeking out more library blogs? Check out the librarian blogs and sites internet directory, or cruise BlogHer's own Research, Academia, and Education blogroll. Some of my favorites include:

• The Shifted Librarian
• Librarian.net by Jessamyn West
• The Days and Nights of the Lipstick Librarian
• Annoyed Librarian
• Free Range Librian

Share your library tales--or promote your library blog--in the comments.

Leslie Madsen-Brooks helps university faculty improve their teaching. She blogs at The Clutter Museum, Museum Blogging, and The Multicultural Toy Box.