How would a librarian direct someone who states I do not know anything about the Humanities but want to learn? What is a good starting point?

In a pluralistic, multicultural world, how do we (as humanities librarians, or not) decide what's important? What gets put on the shelves of the library?

Besides the library, what are the places in which the humanities are researched?

How does an education in the Humanities benefit the community? Is this the motivation for governmental support in the Humanities?

Can a multicultural education help deflate stereotypes and improve relations among all citizens? What role should libraries play?

What are the best ways of presenting materials to encourage further exploration?

Do the humanities bring peoples together with themes common to all people or separate them by emphasizing cultural differences?

How do we treat art? And artists? Has this changed over time? How do we regard ourselves? Do we learn from our past? Is the individual or the group more important?

How has the gender gap been addressed in the humanities? Is gender important -- more than politically? What do our attitudes, as seen in literature, art, film, music, say about our sexuality and our sense of our place in the grand scheme of things? Is there a grand scheme of things?

How do visual and performing arts, architecture, language and literature, religion, and history intersect with the lives of ordinary people?

How does a librarian develop the objectivity and sensitivity to facilitate patron exploration of issues within the humanities without personal bias or influence?

How does one choose an ending point to humanities queries which never end?

How does one make the humanities more accessible to children and young adults?

How can we promote the holdings of the library to make them more interesting / alluring to someone? Do we advertise?

What can we bring in from the outside -- exhibits, speakers, productions, concerts -- to attract people to the library ... ?

What determines the values of a particular discipline? What are the values of that discipline?

How do people within a particular discipline communicate about their work?

How do I not become overwhelmed by the scope or amount of materials that are covered by this area? I hope to learn how I can keep control and be aware ...

Why does culture turn so many people off?

How is the quality of a work judged? How does a work of art strike a responsive chord in its audience?

What influences shape an artist's creation?

What is the relationship between professional artists and the community of amateurs? How does the presence of professional artists impact participation in the arts by amateurs? Is the relationship the same across genres, or is there a difference between, for example, painters and musicians?

To what extent does the presence or absence of a public forum change the arts? We all know the difference between the experience of watching a film in a theater and that of watching at home...

How can traditional, printed and electronic resources be combined a research process? What are research strategies in the humanities?

How do I become more than competent in other humanities disciplines? I must be prepared to deal with issues in more than one subject area.

The humanities seem to me to be more interconnected (influencing each other) than the sciences and social sciences. (E.g., a poem can inspire a musical composition, which can inspire a dance; a Greek god can serve as a literary metaphor or the focus of a painting.) Are the humanities rally more interconnected and reciprocal than other fields are?

What approaches would work best to introduce someone to research methods and resources in the humanities? (In order not to bewilder them or scare them away.)

What, among that which we learn and experience every day, can be brought into the library in order to help others learn? In other words, how do our individual experiences affect us as librarians?

Why do people create?

Can I consider all photographs a form of expression within the humanities? Is an X-ray part of humanities?

Does womenÕs studies and lesbian/gay studies fit into this course in any way?

How does the advent of the computer, including the personal computer, affect research in the humanities?

What forms are to be included in the humanities? Are posters art work that is part of the humanities? If yes, what about animated cartoons from Disney studios? Who decides?

Why do some great works go virtually unnoticed during the artist's lifetime?

Why are people in government so willing to attach the humanities financially?

How can a new librarian play a role in the promotion of the humanities to the general public?

What are the different or unique materials that are found in humanities libraries, not found in most public libraries? Is there more visually stimulating material than the printed word? (i.e., paintings as compared to books?

I have heard of the electronic book where you select a beginning, middle and ending, thus creating your own book. In light of the emerging information/entertainment highway, what are some of the predictions for other newer types of art using the new telecommunications medium?