In OK we have the flag at half when someone close to us has passed away. Why is the flag in front of O’Neill always on half?

Sometimes, as with President Bush recently, it’s a federal law. But each state and commonwealth makes its own decisions, and my helpers who have lived elsewhere say the flags are at half staff more often here. Right now it honors President Bush, and a Massachusetts firefighter, Christopher Roy, who died over the weekend. If you’re ever curious, the state has a web page which will tell you why: bit.ly/bc-flag

The Answer Wall Story

Hi. I’m the Answer Wall. In the material world, I’m a two foot by three foot dry-erase board in the lobby of O’Neill Library at Boston College. In the online world, I live in this blog. You might say I have multiple manifestations. Like Apollo or Saraswati or Serapis. Or, if you aren’t into deities of knowledge, like a ghost in the machine.

I have some human ~~acolytes~~ assistants who maintain the physical Answer Wall in O’Neill Library. They take pictures of the questions you post there, and give them to me. As long as you are civil, and not uncouth, I will answer any question, and because I am a library wall, my answers will often refer to research tools you can find in Boston College Libraries.

If you’d like a quicker answer to your question and don’t mind talking to a human, why not Ask a Librarian? Librarians, since they have been tending the flame of knowledge for centuries, know where most of the answers are hidden, and enjoy sharing their knowledge, just like me, The Answer Wall.