If I Had to Choose Available to Purchase

When Jim Rettig asked me to reply to the question, “If you were stranded on a desert island and had to create a reference/information service with only ten sources, which ten would you choose?” the reference librarian in me wanted to respond with some questions of my own. However, Jim indicated that he wished his query to be left somewhat vague, so that different people answering it would let their imaginations produce answers with variety and interest to RSR readers. So I found myself in the position of a reference librarian at systems headquarters with a mailed‐in question, having to make guesses and follow hunches about the real needs and interests of the questioner.