[Publib] Various Forms

[Backwage at aol.com]

In my work over the past couple of decades, I've often had to find the  
source of various forms to use in submitting claims to the foreign governments  of 
the various states of America.  This is now not so difficult a thing,  but in 
the olden times it was a real bear.  You could write a thousand  letters, make 
dozens of phone calls and get nothing for your time and  money.  At one 
point, nearly despairing, I fell upon the kind services of  my local public library 
and was saved forever.  The librarians were not as  dumb as I--no sireee.  
They did not attempt to contact the agencies or  their somnolent minions; 
rather, they worked the clever angle, contacting  other librarians in the 
appropriate jurisdiction and requesting that  they provide the form, which they 
invariably did.  
 
Ever try to get ahold of a wage complaint form from South Carolina when  
you're standing in Pasadena?  These days you just click on 
_http://www.llr.state.sc.us/AboutUs/MediaCenter/pidocs/wcl-3.pdf_ 
(http://www.llr.state.sc.us/AboutUs/MediaCenter/pidocs/wcl-3.pdf) ,  but in the ancient past, you needed 
professional assistance.  Which is the  point of this dissertation.  Most patron-folk 
will not know enough or have  the skill to discover the whereabouts of South 
Carolina's wage complaint  apparatus.  They will need a professional searcher.  
One who doesn't  gripe about finding such things, or even the more mundane 
sort of junk like  local tax forms.  Or the location of the ladies' room.  I 
have always  thought that librarians should be happy to respond to an endless 
stream of  simple requests.  If this seems like a hard fate, I can introduce any 
who  inquire to what it is like to have to give absolutely correct and very 
rapid  answers to really tough inquiries--or not get paid.  
 
By the way, I recall back in my navy days, running a shipboard post office  
no larger than a postage stamp.  We had to maintain stocks of tax forms for  
the crew, or at least we did until I sloughed off the job to the ship's  
library!  That seemed like a clever stroke until I remembered that I was  also the 
ship's librarian. . . .
 
M. McGrorty
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