Interview With Legal Reference Specialist at Law Library of Congress

In Custodia Legis, the blog of the Law Library of Congress in Washington, has been running an interview series featuring members of the library staff. The series started in late October 2010.

This week's interview is with Margaret Wood, Legal Reference Specialist. It is number 35 in the series:

"I often talk about the work we do with public patrons who have pro se complaints or launch into a description of the challenges of legislative history at friends’ dinner parties. But I think the characteristic that would describe this job would be how busy – even hectic – it is: from answering patron questions in a variety of formats; to working on the Reading Room collections; creating exhibits for the Reading Room; giving briefings and presentations to visitors; ... and on one occasion analyzing the work of a legal medieval scholar. Many of the people I know still think of the librarian as someone who sits quietly dispensing information at a measured pace – we are not those librarians!"