Stupid Questions

Helping people who have never been in a library do research is excruciatingly painful. shudder.

I am one of those teachers who says things like "there are no stupid questions" in order to elicit questions when obviously the students have questions but won't ask. And since I'm not a mind-reader, I need to find out what those questions are. I can guess, but I can guess wrong. So though I don't believe it, I say it.

There are stupid questions. "How do I find books?" is one of them. Here are more:

So is that where I can look up books and stuff? (pointing to the computer terminals labeled "Library Catalog.")

What do I do?

So, can I use books?

Does this book count? (I don't even know what that question means.)

Are you busy? (No, I'm your teacher who is supposed to be helping you research; therefore, you have every right to ask me questions while we're in the library and I'm supposed to be helping you research.)

Where do I find sources?

Are these the books?

I'm not making these question up. I answered them today. The sad thing is, this is our second trip to the library as a class. The first one involved a librarian teaching them how to use the library. They had a handout with step-by-step instructions on how to do today's assignment and a textbook (which most forgot to bring) that is solely about library research.

They wandered around the Reference section in a daze. I eventually just started walking up to people and asking, "do you need help?" They all looked so grateful. The instructions on the handout even state, "If you need help, come ask me or the reference librarian. We are here just to help you."