Balancing Online and In-Person Demands

My college roommate Anne is also in library school, attending at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. We've been comparing notes all through graduate school, having both had the same undergraduate background, to see how things are different. We also compare our jobs, both working part-time at public libraries.

At Anne's library, they have a clear cut policy: in-person patrons always come before digital ones. Tell the person on IM to wait while you help another customer. Be polite, but always service the ones that made the physical effort first. Since they made the effort, you should too.

My library isn't as clear-cut as Anne's though, and we've spent a lot of time talking about it. I like that I can do things on a case-by-case basis as I see fit, but sometimes I'm not sure what to do. Maybe it's better to have a set policy to always follow so that time doesn't have to be spent making the decision... but I think I like getting to choose for myself. If you have an online patron that only needs a little more information, it seems more efficient to wrap that up and then go on to the next person. It's easier to make someone not standing there in person wait though, as well. I go back and forth on this topic, and just will basically follow the policy in place wherever I get a job, as best I can.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

For our practice question, we were to answer the following question as submitted by email to a University library: I'm doing an informative speech on Texas for a group of visiting Scottish high school students. Can you send me a couple of web sites with some basic and/or interesting facts? I need basics like demographics and wildlife but I'd also like some memorable historical facts that will leave them with a positive impression of the state."

No problem! I just did a basic search on "Texas" on the Internet Public Library's search engine, and came up with a few good links, right away. The Texas Almanac is great at giving both hard demographic facts and historical tidbits. Texas Treasures, the online exhibit of historical artifacts and documents (produced by the Texas State Library & Archives Commission) also provides a good mix of information.

This question just seemed too easy. I must be getting better at knowing where to start looking when I get a request. I think if the request is academic, I hit up the UT libraries subject search, and if it seems less academic (like this one), my first stop is the Internet Public Library. It's hard to analyze every small decision I make when answering reference questions but I keep trying to do that, so I know the rules I make for myself and subsequently follow. I know not to be too dependent on UT libraries since I won't be a grad student forever, but since I use the Austin Public Library resources so much at work, I figure it's a good way to get practice elsewhere.

IPL Question #2: Reference Process

For my second Internet Public Library question, I chose a question from someone in Nigeria who asked, "What is reference process?" I wrote the person back to ask if s/he wanted information on the reference interview, or the information seeking process, but didn't hear back, so I went ahead and gave them information on both, blending sources I had used in previous classes on the topics, and some new sources I found that used easily-readable language to give tutorials on the topics.

Here was my answer:

Hello from the Internet Public Library!

Thank you for your question about the reference process.

I wasn't sure if you wanted information on the reference
interview, or the process a librarian uses to help a user find
information.  I also wasn't sure if you wanted information on the
information seeking process, which is the steps a person takes
when they want to do research.  I'm going to give you information
on both.

The ODLIS is the Online Dictionary for Library and Information
Science.  It is a reliable source for information that is
recommended by the Internet Public Library.  It has an entry for
the reference interview, as well as a some sites that can give
you more information.  The ODLIS entry on reference interviews is
at the following link:

http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_r.cfm

Just scroll down from the top to the entry called "reference
interview" and also please click on any other links that interest
you as well.

The ODLIS also mentions free online tutorials on giving reference
interviews from the Ohio Library Council.  I found these for you
by Googling "ohio library council ORE online tutorial."  This
sites gives links to lots of places that give you online,
interactive tutorials on giving lots of different kind of
reference interviews.

The link to Ohio Library Council's page is as follows:

http://home.earthlink.net/~stephaniegerding/accidentaltechnologytrainer/id2.html

Since that link is so long, I also made a shorter link that will
take you to the same place, in case your browser doesn't accept
the other long link.  They Tiny URL is as follows:

http://tinyurl.com/324vhg

Since I wasn't sure if you needed information on reference
interviews or the information seeking process, I'm also going to
provide some links to explain the steps people take when they
search for information. 

A very reputable scholar in the Information Seeking Process is
Carol Kuhlthau.  She has written many famous articles on this
process.  One is available freely on the internet at the
following URL:

http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Feb-99/kuhlthau.html

A big part of the information seeking process is evaluating
sources, especially those on the internet.  I found a website
that gives information on teaching web evaluation, so that your
user can evaluate his/her sources.  I found this website by
Googling "web evaluation."  That site is as follows:

http://www.lib.vt.edu/help/instruct/evaluate/evalbiblio.html

"Information Research: is "an open access, international,
scholarly journal, dedicated to making accessible the results of
research across a wide range of information-related disciplines"
sponsored by the Lund University Libraries, Sweden.  I found this
journal by Googling "information seeking process."  The website
for the journal is as follows:

http://informationr.net/ir/

There was an article published in "Information Research" on
teaching the information seeking process.  The link is as
follows:

http://informationr.net/ir/12-1/paper280.html

If you still have more questions about the reference process, the
reference interview, or the information seeking process, please
write back.

Thanks for visiting the IPL!

Fact Tools

Here are my picks for the best online dictionaries:

Best Visual Dictionary: http://www.visuwords.com/

Best Gated Dictionary: http://www.urbandictionary.com

Best Thesaurus: http://www.acronymfinder.com

Best Rhyming Dictionary: http://www.rhymezone.com

Best Metadictionary: www.dictionary.com

Best Quotation Dictionary: http://www.bartleby.com/100

Best Citation Writer: http://citationmachine.net/

Best Translator: http://babelfish.altavista.com/

treacher collins syndrome practice question

In class today, we had a practice question that was a request submitted via email to a public library. It read: Hi - I just need one thing but I need proof of it so maybe you could photocopy a page from a book and mail it to me or something. I need basic information on Treacher Collins syndrome. If possible, I'd like the genetic profile, signs, diagnosis, and prognosis. I'm looking for something concise- not too much to read at once. Thank you very much for your assistance, Margaret Wilson."

I did a subject search within health and medicine. Going down through the lines, Treacher Collins Syndrome was an option, so I checked out what they had available. This website seemed pretty helpful, to provide lots of different avenues of information concisely without going into overload. It can give her support groups, and the information she asked, as well as concise personal websites of people who have Treacher Collins. I also trust this website because it's produced by the Genetic Education Center at the University of Kansas' Medical Center. I was really curious as to her information need details, but as always, had to put that aside. Because of this, I loved the information Dr. Westbrook was telling us about the differences between Monitoring and Blunting, the process in which an information seeker goes from seeking more and more information until saturation and overload is reached, at which point the information seeker needs things to be simplified and concise. That makes so much sense. I love putting abstract names to things we all know but don't call a name.

IPL Question #1: Red Doors

I answered my first question as an Internet Public Librarian today!

Q: what did it mean when they painted their door red in Boston, Mass?

My answer:

Hello from the Internet Public Library!

Thank you for your question about the symbolism of red doors.

I've found a few explanations for red doors.  They all seem to be
based on word-of-mouth instead of on real, concrete information. 
I can't find any scholarly sources that say definitively what red
doors mean, but there are lots of loosely-linked ideas on the
Internet.  They all seem to be based on Christian beliefs that go
back to a quotation in Exodus.

To show you this Bible passage, I first found a Bible website
that was recommended by the Internet Public Library.  I found one
called 

BibleGateway.com.  

I searched for "red" and "blood" and found a bible verse that may
be the answer.  It's in the Book of Exodus, Chapter 12.  It
states that God was to take a firstborn son from every home, but
those that believed in him should put blood on their door
(coloring the door red) and he would pass over those houses,
keeping them safe.  You can see the Bible verse here:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=2&chapter=12&version=31

Since that link is so long, here's a TinyURL that will take you
to the same place:

http://tinyurl.com/344wu8

I found many sources on Google where regular people had different
ideas on why doors were red, as well, usually stating that the
red, a symbolism for smeared blood, meant that inside was a safe
place of Christian love and protection.  I'm happy to give you
some examples of different ideas that people believe.

I also found some information on a site called everything2.com. 
This website is just like Wikipedia- all of its information is
submitted by regular people, so it's not a source you can verify,
but it's a good place to start.  They have an entry on red doors
that you can read at this link:

http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1405775

To take the theory a little bit further, even, there is also a
theory that Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the doors of
the Wittenberg Church which were red, and other churches painted
their doors red to signify that they were also Reformed churches
with the same beliefs as Martin Luther.

I found evidence that Lutheran churches do agree with the
symbolism of the red door.  The Trinity Lutheran Church for
instance, calls their monthly newsletter "The Red Door."  You can
check it out at the following link:

http://www.tlcnc.org/

and clicking on "newsletter."  It doesn't offer an explanation of
why the newsletter is named that, though.

Another person that agrees that Lutheran churches and Christian
churches in general use red doors as symbolism of their beliefs
writes a beautiful summary that accompanies a photo of a red
door.  You can check it out at:

http://blog.webshots.com/?p=156

In Indiana, the Red Door Home Inspection Company does a great job
of summing up why they named their company after the "red door"
tradition.  You can read their take on the symbolism of a red
door at 

http://www.reddoorhomeinspections.com/

Just scroll down on the main page to the section entitled "Why
The Name Red Door Home Inspections?"

So, as you can see (especially if you want to Google "red door"
in quotation marks like that yourself), there are many ideas of
why doors are painted red, but almost all of them have Christian
traditions going back to the Exodus Bible Passage. 
Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of official information from
reliable sources that can confirm it.

I hope that answered your question.  If you still have more
questions, or want more information about red doors, please write
back.  We're happy to help!

Thanks for visiting the IPL!

Kristen

Reference Reflection

I feel so much more confident now when I work at the children's reference desk now. This newfound confidence is especially serendipitous because it's Science Fair season, and tons of middle schoolers are coming up to me and asking for books and periodicals on increasingly difficult topics like short term memory and human metabolism of drugs. It's difficult to find age-appropriate sources for these pretty specific subjects, but I managed and felt so much more secure in my selections. Hooray for reference processes, pearling and the balance between controlled vocabulary and natural language!

M&T Information Traits

For my personal activity in class on October 15th, Sue and I partnered up as we both have our eyes on public libraries. We figured that our Information trait is specificity, which gradates from applied to theoretical. First, let's back it up for my readers (plural, surely... right?) who may not be familiar with M&T.

"Applied information is immediately useful in an operational sense. It tells how to do something, explains processes, or establishes procedures. Theoretical information gives possible reasons or clues as to why/how something works or behaves. The theoretical principles and logic of an event are sought in order to explain and predict."
MacMullin, Susan, and Robert Taylor. 1984. Problem dimensions and information traits. Information Society. 3 (1): 91-111.

So, since Sue and I plan on continuing to work in public libraries, probably with teens, we decided that Specificity of Use was a good Information Trait to focus on because our patrons will need information that applies directly to them, or information they will disseminate into school assignments.

A great example of this is teen abstinence. In practice, abstinence can very directly be applied, and exist in an operational sense. It tells how to do something (or not do it, as the case happens to be), and establishes a procedure for practice abstinence.

Theoretical information on abstinence, however, would perhaps be an opinionated source on why the author supports abstinence-only education, or why abstinence is considered by some to be the only morally correct sexual option. Readers could use these kind of theoretical sources to logically piece together their own moral decisions, and to decide their personal beliefs on abstinence and sex. S/he would follow the clues given in theoretical abstinence sources to
explain their own feelings on the topic.

The Internet Public Library provides Planned Parenthood as a trusted health resource. Their website is http://www.plannedparenthood.org/. The Planned Parenthood website gives health information in a matter of fact tone and does not judge the reader for any sexual decisions s/he makes. This would be a good source of applied information for a teen user seeking information on abstinence.

The Internet Public Library also cites Yahoo News as a reliable source. On Yahoo News, I searched their article database for "abstinence," and found an opinion article entitled: Abstinence-only education lacks effectiveness." This article is theoretical because it reflects the opinions of the author and also explains, using a few statistics on teen sex and teen pregnancies to explain what abstinence-only education programs lead to, and also to predict what will happen if abstinence-only education programs continue, according to the author. A link to the article is as follows:

http://media.www.reflector-online.com/media/storage/paper938/news/2007/10/23/Opinion/AbstinenceOnly.Education.Lacks.Effectiveness-3048710-page2.shtml

A TinyURL link to the same article, in case the long one doesn't work:

http://tinyurl.com/ynqcbx

Reflection: First Half of my Blog

My blog, or reference folio, is due on 10/15. We are required to post a 100-200 word summary of what my portfolio most clearly indicates to date. I'm to explain what I've learned about the field and about myself as a potential practitioner. Here goes:

I have been doing reference at a children's desk for a while, but had no processes in place, and having no method both frustrated and frightened me. If my few tricks didn't work, I had no idea what to do next, or where to start if I came up against a question where my “tricks” wouldn’t apply. I worried that using Amazon to find a title or Google for an initial search was wrong and beneath a real Reference Librarian. Now, I'm glad to know that I have a set process of how to search for information, and it involves cursory searches. Similarly, I knew I needed a procedure to root out the patron’s exact question, but didn’t know about reference interviews. I also made sure to be courteous and approachable, but didn’t really do it consciously or know exactly why it was helpful. Taking a reference class has helped me know the reasons behind my instincts, and has definitely given me more confidence and strategies to follow said instincts. I am learning methods to my former madness, and feeling more relieved every time I search.

I am officially a IPL Librarian!

Hooray! I got my response back- check it out!

Dear Kristen,

Your answer is excellent! You provide a variety of interesting and informative sources, and your use of TinyURL is perfect. You included the six mandatory elements in a manner that is professional and yet friendly. It was a pleasure to read your response.

You are now cleared to answer real questions in QRC. Please use the same login and password information, and if you have any trouble or questions, please do not hesitate in contacting us through this email, or, while working in QRC, you can set your question to "need help" and tell us what the problem is using "Post-a-Note."

We hope you enjoy your time working in the IPL!

Have fun!
Cathay

Search Analysis: Spinal Arthritis

We received a handout on all the steps we should take as we search for information. I will refer to this process as Search Analysis for the duration of this blog post. We were performing Search Analysis on a specific topic as follows in our prompt:

I need to understand what causes spinal arthritis and what can be done to help with the pain. I don't want stuff on surgery at all- just the less invasive things like physical therapy and nutrition and non-addictive medicines and like that.

First, I reduced the request to its vital elements. The nouns are "spinal arthritis," "pain," "physical therapy," "nutrition," and "non-addictive medicines." Verbs: "understand"ing the "cause", and "help"ing with pain. Finally, adjectives: "less invasive."

Before I could even start my searches, I wanted to get a cursory knowledge of spinal arthritis. Wikipedia defines arthritis in great detail, but my paraphrased definition is this: spinal arthritis is a form of osteoarthritis, which is the most common form of arthritis. Osteoarthritis is a breakdown of cartilage in joints. Therefore, I knew that my main search terms wouldn't include the word "spinal," since spinal arthritis isn't a term used by medical resources, and is a natural language term. Instead, I would use for the more controlled vocabulary of "arthritis," and if that was too specific, I would use "osteoarthritis."

From there, I went to the UT libraries page and looked for a relevant database. I chose HealthWeb, because Medline seemed like it would be too academic. On the UT libraries page, I did a subject search, choosing "Nursing" as my subject, and Healthweb was listed as one of the recommended resources. On Healthweb's main page, it is a list of subtopics to help you narrow your search. I first looked under "elder care/geriatrics," since Wikipedia said that osteoarthritis is common in the elderly, and found nothing. I went back, and tried "orthopedics," a branch of surgery that treats the musculoskeletal system, which was a better place. In the sidebar, I searched for resources on "arthritis" within the orthopedic subtopic. There, Healthweb gives you a list of websites that are authoritative resources. This website, for instance, gives you the causes and some various treatments for arthritis that are non-invasive and non-surgical. It has references also for other sources, and is published by Johns Hopkins University. Another resource, Arthritis.org, gives lots of ideas on how to treat the pain in a non-invasive manner, and gives detailed information on what they consider the best treatment: physical activity.

After this, I checked my two sources against the initial request of the patron. Both of my resources give both layman's but authoritative explanations of what causes arthritis, and both give lots of information on treating its pain, focusing on lots of information of non-invasive treatments like nutrition, dietary supplements, and physical therapy or exercise plans.

Midwives on the Web: Practice Reference

This question was when I could tell I was starting to get better at reference practice. My partner and I very quickly happened upon the article we were looking for, and the way we arrived at it seemed very logical.

Prompt: I've lost a citation to a good article I wanted to read for class. It was something about how midwives use the web to find medical information. Might have been from a conference or something. It's pretty recent. Help!

My partner, Sue, and I quickly accessed the Pyschological Abstracts database in the PCL website and identified the key concepts for this request: Midwife and Web. We searched for these, and the controlled vocabulary for these terms were revealed: Midwifery and Internet. We searched again using these two synonyms, and added the term "information," using all three in a joint "AND" Boolean expression. We received a good list of hits, and the second resource, "Delivering The Goods: Midwives' Use of the Internet" by Sarah Stewart was in fact first presented at a conference. That, besides fitting the criteria very neatly, was the final reason we knew we'd found the right source.

It was rewarding to know that I am learning how to access needed information more quickly, narrowing my search terms quickly and accurately. This practice question was definitely an ego booster.

My IPL Practice Question

So, I bit the bullet and did it. I completed a practice question to become a librarian at the Internet Public Library. Here's the transcript for my practice question. I should hear back within 4 days to see how I did. I'm excited to hear back because I think I did a decent job, but am also trying not to think of it, because I don't want to be too disappointed in case I botched it. We'll see!

Question:

Dear Internet Public Librarian,

My students have been researching Duke Ellington. They have been
unable to find information on his marital status.  Was he
married? I teach in Burlington, IA.  Thank you for your
assistance to this question. We have no dead-line for this
response.

Answer:

Hello from the Internet Public Library!

Thank you for your question about Duke Ellington's marital
status.  I'm happy to help you and your students.

Duke Ellington married Edna Thompson, his high school sweetheart,
in 1918, when he was 19 years old.  However, their marriage was
marked by Duke's adulterous affairs, and in 1929, they separated.
They never divorced.

One biography of Ellington that confirms this is unfortunately
not available at your local library, but has much of its text
available on Google Books. Google Books is a part of the Google
search engine that allows you to search the text of published
books, including biographies, to get information.  To get there,
click on the following link:

http://books.google.com/

and type “Duke Ellington David Bradbury” in the search field,
because we’re looking for a book entitled "Duke Ellington," by
David Bradbury.  From there, this book should be the first
response on your list.  Click on this book, and use the blue
navigation arrows at the top of the screen to get to page 27.
There, in the second paragraph, it gives you more details on the
falling out Ellington and Edna Thompson had over their marriage.

An exact link to this page 27 of this book is as follows:

http://books.google.com/books?id=YIwz2nivT0sC&pg=PP1&dq=duke+ellington+david+bradbury&ei=fzAKR8KAKIyKpwKygp3BDg&sig=MYp-GaVEMzGYcg4ytvRW6BuAUak#PPA27,M1

I will also provide a shortened link to the book, or TinyURL, to
this website as well, since this link is so long. Some email
clients break long URLs or web addresses up into separate lines,
breaking the link.  The TinyURL is as follows:

http://tinyurl.com/32he3q

Another resource I consulted to confirm Duke Ellington’s marital
status was The Internet Movie Database.  This database is listed
on IPL’s website as a trusted resource.  You can access the
database by clicking on the following link:

http://imdb.com/

and then typing “Duke Ellington” in the search field.  From the
selections that will then appear, click on the “Duke Ellington”
entry that appears under “Names (Exact Match)”.  From there,
click on the “more” button next to Trivia.  Here, you will get
lots of biographical information on Ellington, including a
section entitled “Spouse,” which states that Ellington and Edna
Thompson were in fact married in 1918 and later separated.

To get to this information directly, you can also click the
following link:

http://imdb.com/name/nm0254153/bio

Just to make sure my information on Ellington was correct, I also
checked his official website, DukeEllington.com, which is run by
the company that manages Ellington’s estate.  That website is as
follows:

http://www.dukeellington.com/

From there, use the navigation bar at the far left to click on
“Fast Facts.”  On the Fast Facts page, it does confirm (in the
sixth paragraph under “Did you Know?”) that Duke and Edna
separated in the late ‘20s but never divorced.

You can get to the Fast Facts page directly by clicking on the
following link:

http://www.dukeellington.com/about/fastfacts.htm

I checked your local library in Burlington to see if you had any
biographies of Duke Ellington, in case you wanted do to further
research into his life, and you do!

The website for your local library is as follows:

http://www.burlington.lib.ia.us/

From there, click on “catalog,” and in the search field, type
"Duke Ellington Reader," which is the title of one of the
biographies that your library holds.  The library’s record for
this book should appear on your screen.  A direct link to this
book record should be also available at this URL:

http://207.28.140.26/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1191K51Q3W443.203&menu=search&aspect=basic&npp=10&ipp=20&spp=20&profile=bpl&ri=&term=duke+ellington+reader&index=.GW&x=0&y=0&aspect=basic

I will also provide a shortened link to your library’s record of
this book, or TinyURL, to this website as well, since this link
is so long. Some email clients break long URLs or web addresses
up into separate lines, breaking the link.  The TinyURL is as
follows:

http://tinyurl.com/ytre2o

At the time I write this, the book is available, so feel free to
go check it out!

If you still have more questions, please write back.  I'm happy
to help.

Thanks for visiting the IPL!

Comfort Levels and Experiences

How can we question patrons? What actual phrasing works under what circumstances and why?

I would say, generally, try to ask patrons questions in a friendly, courteous manner, and to not come across as frustrating, condescending or insulting. If someone asks you something and you aren't sure what they need from it, you could ask them, "Can I ask you some more specific questions about your request to make sure I understand what you need?" Once they answer those you could verify that you understand by saying exactly that: "Let me make sure I understand what you want. You need X? Is that correct?"

What are the legitimate purposes behind our questions?

We, as librarians, need to work smarter, not harder. To most efficiently spend our time, we should make sure we are researching things that most exactly meet our patron's needs. That is most respectful to the patron's and librarian's time, and keeps everyone's frustration levels as low as possible.

How do patrons question us? Can you generate a set of categories for their questions? Would you have different categories for their f2f and chat questions? For example, in which category would you put the following questions:

1. Can you help me find a science fair project?
   
2. Where are the magazines?
3. Do you have a biography of someone from the '60s?
4. Where are the art books?
5. Is this website the one for my bank?
   

In the library where I work, we have to categorize all the questions we answer into the following groups: reference request, non-reference request, title request, referral request. We are at the children's desk, so the "referral requests" are when we refer someone to the reference desk. Reference requests are for children's reference, title requests are for a title, obviously, or an author of a book, and non-reference requests are other general questions and tech questions. I would categorize questions into the same categories, but I'm biased because my brain already thinks this way, and I think it's a good system.

1. Reference request for a younger student, Referral request for an older student.
2. Non-reference request
3. Reference request
4. Non-reference request
5. Non-reference request

When I first started working at the children's desk, I assumed most questions would be reference questions, but we get many more title requests than I expected, which are good because they are almost always both quick and successful. We also get many more non-reference questions, like "Information Booth" type of questions, about where the bathrooms, copy machines, and CDs are, for instance. That was surprising to me as a new employee of the library, but I am used to it now and since these types of questions are also almost always quick and successful, I'm happy to mark them on our record. By far, reference requests are the most difficult, and we also have to make sure they are within our range of training, or we'll have to refer them to the main reference desk.

Personal Activity: Tesla Coil

Prompt: Identify a question that you'd ask the patron if this were a f2f or chat interview. Identify at least 2 different answers to the question; find the information indicated by each of those 2 different answers. Characterize the difference in your search and/or the kind of information you found and/or the kind of sources you used. NOTE: there's a simple but potentially tricky problem with this question.

The Question: I heard that a Tesler coil radiates electricity for over 20 miles. Is that true? Why don't we use them instead of having electricity run through wires and come out of outlets?

My Thoughts: I knew a little bit about this question because I have seen The Prestige, which is a pretty good movie. In it, a guy named Telsa makes an electric coil similar to this patron's question. Knowing that, I recognized right away that "Tesler" wasn't the right person. The first question I would ask the patron would be if they meant "Tesla" instead of "Tesler," who performed lots of experiments with electricity and also created a Tesla Coil.

Once that was sorted out, I would start researching. I went first to the Internet Public Library's website, where it has lots of valuable, authoritative searches, since this question wasn't quite an academic one. I searched the IPL for "Tesla Coil," and was linked to a website on PBS's server that was a thorough, layman's approach to Tesla, which was perfect for me, because I wasn't going to be able to understand anything too complicated. It succinctly explains that "The Tesla coil transforms an input voltage into brief pulses of extremely high voltages. Tesla's largest coil, built at his Colorado Springs lab in 1899, was 52 feet in diameter and generated pulses as high as 12Mv. This invention was patented as part of a high frequency lighting system" (PBS).

On this PBS site, it states that "Though he kept a day-to-day diary that was rich in detail, the results of his experiments are not clear. One question has never been definitely answered: Did Tesla actually transmit wireless power at Pikes Peak?" So we are actually not even sure if Tesla could wirelessly transmit power. So if we aren't sure whether he even ever did wirelessly transmit power, much less know the details on how we did it, then we can't use it instead of plugging things into electrical outlets.