Mary Whisner

I won't review it myself, but here are others' comments:

Mary Whisner, who has held various public services positions at the University of Washington's Gallagher Law Library since 1988, has contributed an article about some aspect of reference work to almost every issue of Law Library Journal since 1999. Employing an engaging style, Whisner may be known as much for the tangents she pursues in her footnotes as for the important topics and issues she addresses in her wide-ranging essays. Ranging from two to four thousand words, each piece is a delightful gem, perfect for reading in a single sitting. Picking just one is an impossible task (“so many great articles!!” ), so read them all.[note 115]

[note 115]. Fortunately, this recently was made easier when many of the “Practicing Reference” columns were compiled and republished in Mary Whisner, Practicing Reference: Thoughts for Librarians and Legal Researchers (2006).

-- Frank G. Houdek, The Essential Law Library Journal, 100 Law Libr. J. 137, 166-67 (2008)(one footnote omitted)

For me, the “essential” Law Library Journal feature is ... one that crystalizes why I became a law librarian in the first place .... Beginning in 1999 with an auspicious first piece tantalizingly titled “Golf Buddy Reference Questions,” Mary Whisner's column quickly gained a devoted readership as she ruminated on everything from “Bouvier's, Black's and Tinkerbell” to “What Do You Do All Day?” For more than eight years Mary has discussed those characteristics that make one effective at the reference desk, including the ability to look at things from our patrons' point of view, coping with bad days, and a sense of fun. Mary's column is usually the first article I read when I crack open the newly arrived issue of Law Library Journal, and it always puts me in a better frame of mind about the “practice” of reference and ultimately being a law librarian. -- James E. Duggan

-- Id. at 167 (footnotes omitted)

You can get it from the publisher, William S. Hein.… (meer)