Today I taught my second and final computer class for the internship, which was a sort of advanced topics in basic computers, (an contradiction in terms, haha!) The class covered some beginning research tips as well as cookies, clearing the cache, antivirus software, and such like that. A reference librarian, Isabel, taught the first half which focused on the research skills. We did have a small hiccup when the presentation called for her to do some research right then, so I closed the powerpoint program and opened up Internet Explorer. I came to find out, however, that the research was already performed and was still in the presentation.
Woops!
My half of the presentation went fairly well. My topics were much more varied, as I covered the more technical topics, and the questions posed to me reflected this. Some were more on topic than others, with a gem of a question being "How do I get my printer to work" when I was in the middle of discussing anti-virus software. I felt slightly conflicted in how I answered their questions, trying to balance the need to break it down for them while at the same time giving them an answer that would be of value. At one point a patron asked me how a spam company got his email address and then sent him a blank email. In my head I thought that I could explain these programs that randomly create email addresses in the hopes of finding one that is in existence, but I felt this would create more questions that it answered, so I simply said "I don't know."
Overall, it was a valuable experience.
I arrived at 1:00pm and left at 3:45pm, totalling 2.75 hours.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Internship Day 13
Today was the second to last day of my internship. My days have more or less fallen into a pattern. I arrive and process some ILL requests online, emailing those whose requests cannot be filled due to it being a recent publication or the fact that they have exceeded five outstanding requests. After that I went on the phones and answered a few questions; nothing terribly exciting.
I periodically worked on my display for the coming month, which is going to highlight the science collection. I spent a long time trying to find a ready-made sign that detailed the parts of the earth, but I wasn't able to find one suitable. Perhaps I didn't look in the right places. I *was* able to find a nice and colorful periodic table as well a diagram of the solar system. I'm trying to throw in some physics and earth science, since I know I'm going to be biased towards biology and chemistry.
Went to lunch, came back, and I did some weeding in the sports section. It's not as long as the cookbooks area, but not nearly as many have gone missing. It's always interesting to me to see which areas of the collection are heavily used. In the sports area what would be called the general information area, I suppose, was very heavily weeded, while titles on specific sports didn't get weeded as much. I suppose people only care about their particular sport and less about the sporting world in general?
After that I went online and did some virtual reference for the Ask a Librarian service. I had a few good questions, but I was again frustrated by my lack of access to other system's databases since they had failed to update their information on the Ask a Librarian website. After that the night was quiet, and I spent a long time reading old minutes of staff meetings, which are always fascinating to me. I did manage to have a really nice reference interaction with a woman who needed materials for a literature project. At the time all of the reference computers were busy, so went over to the reference stacks and actually used an index for Contemporary Authors. I actually used it wrong, failing to notice the difference between the new and old contemporary authors series, but thankfully a computer opened up and I was able to show her our Literature Resource Center and the Biography Resource Center. I also showed her how she could access them from home. She was so thankful! It left me with a big smile on my face.
And that was my day!
I arrived at 8am and left at 9pm, totalling 12 hours.
I periodically worked on my display for the coming month, which is going to highlight the science collection. I spent a long time trying to find a ready-made sign that detailed the parts of the earth, but I wasn't able to find one suitable. Perhaps I didn't look in the right places. I *was* able to find a nice and colorful periodic table as well a diagram of the solar system. I'm trying to throw in some physics and earth science, since I know I'm going to be biased towards biology and chemistry.
Went to lunch, came back, and I did some weeding in the sports section. It's not as long as the cookbooks area, but not nearly as many have gone missing. It's always interesting to me to see which areas of the collection are heavily used. In the sports area what would be called the general information area, I suppose, was very heavily weeded, while titles on specific sports didn't get weeded as much. I suppose people only care about their particular sport and less about the sporting world in general?
After that I went online and did some virtual reference for the Ask a Librarian service. I had a few good questions, but I was again frustrated by my lack of access to other system's databases since they had failed to update their information on the Ask a Librarian website. After that the night was quiet, and I spent a long time reading old minutes of staff meetings, which are always fascinating to me. I did manage to have a really nice reference interaction with a woman who needed materials for a literature project. At the time all of the reference computers were busy, so went over to the reference stacks and actually used an index for Contemporary Authors. I actually used it wrong, failing to notice the difference between the new and old contemporary authors series, but thankfully a computer opened up and I was able to show her our Literature Resource Center and the Biography Resource Center. I also showed her how she could access them from home. She was so thankful! It left me with a big smile on my face.
And that was my day!
I arrived at 8am and left at 9pm, totalling 12 hours.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Standing Order Meeting
I came back early from my vacation to attend this standing order meeting. Various people receive a large binder that lists all of our serials, periodicals, and other things we order on a regular and recurring basis. It was a LOT of paper, and I wished that we could have someone done it with computers. But, we did have to make a lot of notes, so I suppose it was necessary.
I attended, along with my site supervisor Dani, as well as the Serials Librarian, the Business Librarian, and another person from the Serials department.
We read through all of the magazines that are kept here at the Main Library. If we hadn't seen it in a long time, it was put on the cancellation list, as well as other instances where we thought we might do well to purchase a duplicate subscription. We discussed budgetary issues. For instance, it seems to be the practice to purchase items that we realize don't have too much value and are very expensive for purpose of filling the budget. Then, as time goes on and we discover items we DO truly want, those less-useful items are cancelled in favor of the newer one. Interesting strategy. For instance, we discussed ordering a copy of the conservative "rag" New York Post to counterbalance the more liberal and esoteric New York Times.
We also went though our order list of books and other documents that we order but don't catalog, (which I think is the actual standing order list.) We did the same thing as above, and discussed certain items where appropriate.
Overall a very interesting and stimulating meeting.
I arrived at 9:30 and left at 11:30, totalling 2 hours.
I attended, along with my site supervisor Dani, as well as the Serials Librarian, the Business Librarian, and another person from the Serials department.
We read through all of the magazines that are kept here at the Main Library. If we hadn't seen it in a long time, it was put on the cancellation list, as well as other instances where we thought we might do well to purchase a duplicate subscription. We discussed budgetary issues. For instance, it seems to be the practice to purchase items that we realize don't have too much value and are very expensive for purpose of filling the budget. Then, as time goes on and we discover items we DO truly want, those less-useful items are cancelled in favor of the newer one. Interesting strategy. For instance, we discussed ordering a copy of the conservative "rag" New York Post to counterbalance the more liberal and esoteric New York Times.
We also went though our order list of books and other documents that we order but don't catalog, (which I think is the actual standing order list.) We did the same thing as above, and discussed certain items where appropriate.
Overall a very interesting and stimulating meeting.
I arrived at 9:30 and left at 11:30, totalling 2 hours.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Seflin Conference
Today I attended a conference in Davie, Florida, for the SEFLIN libraries. I have to say it wasn't as impressive as PLA, but that was to be expected. I was, alas, but I did catch most of the speech by one Meredith Farkas, whose blog I've stumbled across before. I have to say if there's anyone in the Library World who I'd like to emulate, it would be her. She encapsulates most of my ideas very well, and articulates and argues them much better than I ever could.
After her speech I went to my first workshop, which was about the decline and fall of the OPAC. This presenter argued that OPAC is more or less doomed since it was never meant to be a tool for the public, but rather a tool for our own use. We've done our best, I suppose, to retrofit it for the public, but it never seems to have caught on. He went on to differentiate the differences between a finding tool, (OPAC,) and a discovery tool, (Google, which is apparently what the patrons really want.) In fact, he predicts that in 10 years or so, the public won't use the OPAC at all and it will revert to being a staff-only tool, with the public going to 3rd party websites like WorldCat to find our materials. Interesting idea.
At lunch the people I was supposed to ride with got to sit with Meredith. This made me very bitter about being late. Instead, I was exiled to a table where I didn't know anyone. They were all apparently from a career school. The lunchtime presentation was by an important woman, but I would argue that the only people interested in her presentation were statisticians. The woman basically organized a large phone interview for people and how they find their information. Her research claims to find that people are using libraries more, exactly the opposite of what we'd thought for a long time. From what I learned in my research methodologies class, (I can't believe I'm actually using something I learned from that class,) I would argue that this whole study is flawed and biased, since the only people who are going to respond are those that care about libraries anyway. But, that's my two cents. I'm sure someone would have brought up that point before, and hopefully it was taken care of, and this is me just speaking out of ignorance.
But still, I'm not putting much faith in that study.
The afternoon conference was about government research, and I have to say it wasn't particularly interesting. I think many people attended it in hopes of gaining tips on how to help patrons who come to the library to fill out government forms due to the E-Government initiatives. But, the only help the woman offered was basically "do what you can." It was interesting to see a few of the website she pointed out, though.
After that the conference was over. I hung around until 4 to mingle, but that was it, folks.
I arrived at 9:30 and left at 4, totalling 7.5 hours.
After her speech I went to my first workshop, which was about the decline and fall of the OPAC. This presenter argued that OPAC is more or less doomed since it was never meant to be a tool for the public, but rather a tool for our own use. We've done our best, I suppose, to retrofit it for the public, but it never seems to have caught on. He went on to differentiate the differences between a finding tool, (OPAC,) and a discovery tool, (Google, which is apparently what the patrons really want.) In fact, he predicts that in 10 years or so, the public won't use the OPAC at all and it will revert to being a staff-only tool, with the public going to 3rd party websites like WorldCat to find our materials. Interesting idea.
At lunch the people I was supposed to ride with got to sit with Meredith. This made me very bitter about being late. Instead, I was exiled to a table where I didn't know anyone. They were all apparently from a career school. The lunchtime presentation was by an important woman, but I would argue that the only people interested in her presentation were statisticians. The woman basically organized a large phone interview for people and how they find their information. Her research claims to find that people are using libraries more, exactly the opposite of what we'd thought for a long time. From what I learned in my research methodologies class, (I can't believe I'm actually using something I learned from that class,) I would argue that this whole study is flawed and biased, since the only people who are going to respond are those that care about libraries anyway. But, that's my two cents. I'm sure someone would have brought up that point before, and hopefully it was taken care of, and this is me just speaking out of ignorance.
But still, I'm not putting much faith in that study.
The afternoon conference was about government research, and I have to say it wasn't particularly interesting. I think many people attended it in hopes of gaining tips on how to help patrons who come to the library to fill out government forms due to the E-Government initiatives. But, the only help the woman offered was basically "do what you can." It was interesting to see a few of the website she pointed out, though.
After that the conference was over. I hung around until 4 to mingle, but that was it, folks.
I arrived at 9:30 and left at 4, totalling 7.5 hours.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Internship Day 12
Today was another long twelve hour day! I arrived and input the ILL requests as usual. I also helped out on the phones again, but nothing too interesting to report there.
In the evening I read more journals and also helped out with the Ask-A-Librarian service. I received an interesting question regarding women's rights in pre-revolutionary France, but I wasn't able to help the student too much. The Ask-A-Librarian service posts dummy library card numbers so that other librarians may have access to whatever library system is serving the patron, but many seem to have forgotten to renew theirs. Part of me wanted to write an email to kindly remind the system I had to use to renew theirs, but I thought better of it.
I also got to have a nice chat with an older librarian tonight. It's always interesting to see their perspective on the profession, it's changes, and their thoughts on it.
I arrived at 8am this morning and left at 8pm, totalling 12 hours.
In the evening I read more journals and also helped out with the Ask-A-Librarian service. I received an interesting question regarding women's rights in pre-revolutionary France, but I wasn't able to help the student too much. The Ask-A-Librarian service posts dummy library card numbers so that other librarians may have access to whatever library system is serving the patron, but many seem to have forgotten to renew theirs. Part of me wanted to write an email to kindly remind the system I had to use to renew theirs, but I thought better of it.
I also got to have a nice chat with an older librarian tonight. It's always interesting to see their perspective on the profession, it's changes, and their thoughts on it.
I arrived at 8am this morning and left at 8pm, totalling 12 hours.
Monday, July 7, 2008
Internship Day 11
Well, today is a very long day. According to my calculations, I'm rather behind on the hours I need before the end of the semester, so I'll be working a few twelve hour day to make up for them. And today was the first!
My day began much like they always do. I came in and logged on the computers, which were already on for some reason. I checked the ILL mailbox and input those. I had to email another person since the item they requested was too new again. Throughout the day I've been checking the mailbox just for something to do. I did run up against a wall with one request. A patron had requested a particular book that OCLC had designated as an atlas. When I clicked on the link to ILL the book from WorldCat, I got the screen to fill out information for a photocopy request. Puzzling! In the end I asked a couple librarians, Susan and Barb, (I think,) and they suggested I simply input the information manually. I hope the ILL ladies don't get upset if I did something wrong.
I was able to complete a miniature scavenger hunt prepared for me by my site supervisor. It was rather fun! I got to get some experience with a few resources I hadn't used before, (which isn't saying much, to be sure,) but I enjoyed it. I'm hoping for more on a variety of subjects.
I spent a fair amount of time today going through another issue of Library Journal. As I knew I'd have lots of time, I went much more slowly than I have in the past and researched more. I also took a lot of breaks between reading all these reviews by reading some periodicals from the professional room. I read probably five issues of Library Journal, (which isn't a lot, since half of the issue itself are book reviews,) a couple issues of American Libraries, and an issue of Computers in Libraries. Very interesting articles, I must say!
My favorite find was this particular website called "drop.io" Literally, that's all you type in. It's more or less a glorified file hosting service with an added bonus of not requiring user accounts. No user names, nothing! And what a great host of bonus features! For instance, I was able to upload a word document, and then have the website FAX IT to me. Any number in the US is eligible for this!
How cool!
I found out about this from an article in Computers in Libraries that was detailing a selection of library-tech blogs. I found another website from this particular blog, (whose name I now forget,) that will allow one to convert file formats without having to download software. I'm really in love with both of these sites. I would hope that the library could avail itself of the drop.io site, especially for those patrons interested in faxing. We'll see.
I did answer a few questions here and there on the telephone today. Again, mostly telephone numbers. But, I did have a question that actually required me to bust out the microfilm. I have used it before, back when I was in high school, but not since. It took me a while to figure it out, and I still think I did the winding wrong, as I had to manually turn the cartridge with my finger. I doubt I was supposed to do that, but the serials staff was busy, and I wasn't in much of a hurry. Of course, the portion I needed was at the very end!
What I needed was an obituary from the Palm Beach Post from October 1986. This was earlier than the database we have provided. And while I was able to find an obituary for this person from the Miami Herald, it was brief, and I figured the microfilm would give me some good practice. The lady sure was grateful!
I also did a reference simulation for one of our more difficult patrons. I had some trouble with it, as it dealt with industry and strange classifications, but it gave me good practice, which is what I'm looking for above all from this internship.
I really do wonder about the reference materials we purchase. I see that we have the Canadian Postal Code Directory. It certainly seems like it wouldn't be used much, but I suppose that's my youthful inexperience.
Speaking of, I think I browsed three different articles about young workers in libraries. One was exploring the virtues of having an intern, (no joke!) to dealing with the Millennial mindset, to how to engage a nextgen librarian. I guess I'm a hot button issue!
I arrived at 8am and will be leaving at 9pm, totalling 12 hours.
My day began much like they always do. I came in and logged on the computers, which were already on for some reason. I checked the ILL mailbox and input those. I had to email another person since the item they requested was too new again. Throughout the day I've been checking the mailbox just for something to do. I did run up against a wall with one request. A patron had requested a particular book that OCLC had designated as an atlas. When I clicked on the link to ILL the book from WorldCat, I got the screen to fill out information for a photocopy request. Puzzling! In the end I asked a couple librarians, Susan and Barb, (I think,) and they suggested I simply input the information manually. I hope the ILL ladies don't get upset if I did something wrong.
I was able to complete a miniature scavenger hunt prepared for me by my site supervisor. It was rather fun! I got to get some experience with a few resources I hadn't used before, (which isn't saying much, to be sure,) but I enjoyed it. I'm hoping for more on a variety of subjects.
I spent a fair amount of time today going through another issue of Library Journal. As I knew I'd have lots of time, I went much more slowly than I have in the past and researched more. I also took a lot of breaks between reading all these reviews by reading some periodicals from the professional room. I read probably five issues of Library Journal, (which isn't a lot, since half of the issue itself are book reviews,) a couple issues of American Libraries, and an issue of Computers in Libraries. Very interesting articles, I must say!
My favorite find was this particular website called "drop.io" Literally, that's all you type in. It's more or less a glorified file hosting service with an added bonus of not requiring user accounts. No user names, nothing! And what a great host of bonus features! For instance, I was able to upload a word document, and then have the website FAX IT to me. Any number in the US is eligible for this!
How cool!
I found out about this from an article in Computers in Libraries that was detailing a selection of library-tech blogs. I found another website from this particular blog, (whose name I now forget,) that will allow one to convert file formats without having to download software. I'm really in love with both of these sites. I would hope that the library could avail itself of the drop.io site, especially for those patrons interested in faxing. We'll see.
I did answer a few questions here and there on the telephone today. Again, mostly telephone numbers. But, I did have a question that actually required me to bust out the microfilm. I have used it before, back when I was in high school, but not since. It took me a while to figure it out, and I still think I did the winding wrong, as I had to manually turn the cartridge with my finger. I doubt I was supposed to do that, but the serials staff was busy, and I wasn't in much of a hurry. Of course, the portion I needed was at the very end!
What I needed was an obituary from the Palm Beach Post from October 1986. This was earlier than the database we have provided. And while I was able to find an obituary for this person from the Miami Herald, it was brief, and I figured the microfilm would give me some good practice. The lady sure was grateful!
I also did a reference simulation for one of our more difficult patrons. I had some trouble with it, as it dealt with industry and strange classifications, but it gave me good practice, which is what I'm looking for above all from this internship.
I really do wonder about the reference materials we purchase. I see that we have the Canadian Postal Code Directory. It certainly seems like it wouldn't be used much, but I suppose that's my youthful inexperience.
Speaking of, I think I browsed three different articles about young workers in libraries. One was exploring the virtues of having an intern, (no joke!) to dealing with the Millennial mindset, to how to engage a nextgen librarian. I guess I'm a hot button issue!
I arrived at 8am and will be leaving at 9pm, totalling 12 hours.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Emailing Class
Today I taught my first library-related computer class. I taught the class with the supervisor of the Main library, which was slightly intimidating. Thankfully, she's very approachable and kind. We had some difficulty working the projector, but thankfully one of the librarians showed us how. I've since forgotten how; it looked very complicated.
At any rate, this class was actually an introduction to the internet. My partner taught the first half, which covered the very basics, such as what is a server, what is a browser, etc. She's a consummate public speaker, and I suspect she's taught this class more than once. I hope my skills are comparable someday. After that I took over and taught the second half of the class, which covered email. I spoke about inboxes, spam, filters, web-based vs program-based, and all sorts of things. We did have a very curious man in the audience whose questions were slightly out of the scope of the class, but we did our best. We also had some trouble with the internet, (as we were on the public wireless,) but we managed to forge ahead.
I ended the class with no incidents. I think I did pretty well all things considered. I know I got ahead of myself a few times and started to talk about things that were on a subsequent slide, but I knew that was going to happen. My partner was happy with my performance as well, so I suppose that's all that matters!
I arrived at 1:30 and left at 3:45, totalling 2.25 hours.
At any rate, this class was actually an introduction to the internet. My partner taught the first half, which covered the very basics, such as what is a server, what is a browser, etc. She's a consummate public speaker, and I suspect she's taught this class more than once. I hope my skills are comparable someday. After that I took over and taught the second half of the class, which covered email. I spoke about inboxes, spam, filters, web-based vs program-based, and all sorts of things. We did have a very curious man in the audience whose questions were slightly out of the scope of the class, but we did our best. We also had some trouble with the internet, (as we were on the public wireless,) but we managed to forge ahead.
I ended the class with no incidents. I think I did pretty well all things considered. I know I got ahead of myself a few times and started to talk about things that were on a subsequent slide, but I knew that was going to happen. My partner was happy with my performance as well, so I suppose that's all that matters!
I arrived at 1:30 and left at 3:45, totalling 2.25 hours.
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