I didn't know how to best look for the answer to this, so I asked the reference librarians at the public library.

"Google it," they joked, the paused and answered seriously, "Yeah, google it."

Drats! I was hoping they would show me some handy-dandy "all about weather" reference book. I don't think weather patterns is something that would be outdated.

Well, I ran an Internet search and after about 15 minutes of digging and reading this and that, got an answer. A webpage from USA Today ended up with the most understandable, relevant information.

I tried keyword style searches, but wasn't finding anything. When I typed in "which direction does weather come from in the eastern hemisphere," I started getting results. How come I didn't find the same results with various combinations of "eastern hemisphere weather direction"?

Turns out, weather comes from the west in temperate latitudes, but from the east in the tropics. Eastern and western hemispheres have nothing to do with it.

I still want to know if there is a more efficient way of getting an answer to this question. A print source would be even better. 

If I want information on Viola Spolin and I search for Victoria Spolin, then I will not find relevant results.

Moral: Make sure I search for the correct person.

How many pen names did Samuel Clemens have?

I'm sure there are reference books or databases that would answer this question. The quick way, however, is to go online and search "samuel clemens pen names." The Mark Twain Institute says there are three: Josh, Mark Twain, and Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass. This concurs with what I remember. 

For my own amusement and education, I also searched our EBSCO databases. This took more searching and reading. I readily found results that listed Mark Twain. Reading one result yielded Josh. Many of the results did not appear to be relevant.

I changed my search terms from all words connected with AND to "samuel clemens" AND "pen name*". Nope. Even worse relevancy.

I couldn't return to my original search and while retyping it, ended up with "samuel and clemens and pen and name*." Then I limited the results by not only full text, but also peer reviewed. Uh, uh. I don't want study guides to novels or discussions on how so and so influenced your understanding of education (what's that got to do with Samuel Clemens?).

Next I went directly to Gale Virtual Reference and limited to biography. Searching "samuel clemens" brought up "Mark Twain." Scanning this article did not result in other pen names.

At that point I moved on to other things. It still bugs me, though. Is the information not there, or do I just not know how to find it? If I didn't know there were at least three pen names, I wouldn't know I was missing anything. It's frustrating, but not enough to make me spend hours searching. If I get an idea of a better way to search, I might visit this again, but until then, the open web wins.

Searching the databases was alot of work when I found the answer so quickly with a simple internet search. No wonder patrons are wary of using databases.

"What's this flower called?"

Not being at a place with shrub and flower guides, I went online. I seldom have success finding names for plants by searching online unless I have a guess as to the name.

I started with a Dogpile Images search, which I find to be less than useful, but thought I would try it to see if things have changed. I searched variations of  "pink flower bush in [state]." Didn't come up with anything even close. I tried a regular internet search. Nothing, not even a clue to better search terms.

Reluctantly, I turned to Google Images. Historically, this has brought me the best results, but Google is so popular, I try to avoid using it. Still, if it does the job, I'll make use of it. This time, as is usual for plant searches, I came up empty.

Several days later, I was at the library and turned to the shrub identification guides. I didn't even know if this flower is a native, so I had to look through a few books. I didn't find one with a key, so I was stuck with flipping through the pictures. I was able to narrow down the search area a little because I know this is not a tree or a vine.

In one slim, musty smelling volume with its pages stuck together, I found my flower. It is a Rose of Sharon, a plant native to Asia.

Later, when talking to someone, I learned that locals call this plant "cottonwood." I don't know why; it doesn't look anything like a cotton boll or flower or pickable cotton, nor does it look like a cottonwood tree.

Is there a better way to go about searching for plant names when all one has is a picture and location? I go through this process frequently and would like to be more efficient. Most of the plants I want to learn about are in the woods or fields, but are missing from wildflower guides. I can't even find something close that might be in the same family. I'm a little surprised I discovered the real name of this flower. I would like to know how to duplicate this success. 

"What are those pins used to hold down a man's collar when he is wearing a tie called?"

For some reason, I had no idea how to search for this information. I figured Dappered or The Art of Manliness probably had an article on it, but don't know how to search their sites for something like this. I talked to someone about it, she handed me her phone, and told me to search Yahoo.

"But what words do I use?" I asked, feeling silly that someone who searches for information as a profession couldn't even come up with that much.

"Try 'those pins that hold down a man's collar' or something like that," she said.

Of course, how natural. No need to make things complicated. Searching "pin that holds man's collar" brought up the answer. 

Later, I wanted to duplicate my search, so I headed to my favorite meta search engine, Dogpile. I searched for "pin that holds man's collar." The sixth result provided the answer. Scrolling through the first page of results provides the same information. No need to click a link unless I want more details.

Once someone handed me the words to search, it was easy.

Why does the brain sometimes block and refuse to provide the information it has? To remind us that we need others?

By the way, a collar pin is different from a tie bar. There are also different styles of collar pins and each style as a unique name. Now that you have the words to use, look it up and discover the vocabulary of men's dress shirt jewelry.

When I title a post "From the Reference Desk: XXXX" it isn't necessarily a question I heard as a reference question. It may be something I wondered myself. It may be something I heard others discussing. It may be something I made up because I was bored and felt like writing a post.

There is more than one way to arrive at an answer. Each person has a search style and preference. Perhaps by documenting my methods, I will learn something about how I think and improve my search strategies.

Let us begin.