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.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Internship Day 10
Today was also very productive. I arrived in the morning with a set itinerary provided to my from my site supervisor, which promptly flew out the window. They were very short today in reference, and so I spent the morning answering phone calls. The majority of these calls were simply phone number requests. I had one patron, who I suspect was a lawyer, who said he was in the hospital and wanted more than the normal two requests for phone numbers. I didn't know it was limited to two, (I'll have to review the PPM,(that I just reviewed, no less!)) and so I decided I would be magnanimous and give him all he requests, which was four. Three of these were for law firms, and the final was for the district attorney's office. He said he'd call back in 15 minutes, and so I rushed to gather the phone numbers.
He ended up calling about an hour and 15 minutes later, and I jokingly said I was wondering when he was going to call back. He didn't' seem to think that was funny, and reminded me he was in the hospital. So, very business-like I gave him the phone numbers he requested, although he only wanted one in the end, and not the one I provided, but the local number, which he hadn't specified.
*rolls his eyes*
So, I quickly got him that, and sent him on his way. He ended up calling back for the number for the publisher of the Palm Beach Post, so I gave him the number for their office on Belvedere Road, since that's where it's published. He didn't want that, said thanks anyway, and hung up on me.
So, I guess that was my first rude reference patron. No doubt many will follow!
The majority of the afternoon was spent inputting orders for DVDs from a list I had to go back over last week. This list was much more extensive and the items in it were older, so many more had to be ordered. In fact, I ended up not finishing but only got to the Rs. My site supervisor had people she wanted me to see in the afternoon, so I briefly saw them. I spent an hour with a health reference librarian, and we discussed different resources she uses and why. I also was given another nice introduction to the government resources by the government research librarian. It was much the same as when I had a job exchange here, but I guess he didn't remember me, and I didn't want to make him feel awkward.
And that was my day! I arrived at 8am and left at 6pm, totalling 9 hours.
He ended up calling about an hour and 15 minutes later, and I jokingly said I was wondering when he was going to call back. He didn't' seem to think that was funny, and reminded me he was in the hospital. So, very business-like I gave him the phone numbers he requested, although he only wanted one in the end, and not the one I provided, but the local number, which he hadn't specified.
*rolls his eyes*
So, I quickly got him that, and sent him on his way. He ended up calling back for the number for the publisher of the Palm Beach Post, so I gave him the number for their office on Belvedere Road, since that's where it's published. He didn't want that, said thanks anyway, and hung up on me.
So, I guess that was my first rude reference patron. No doubt many will follow!
The majority of the afternoon was spent inputting orders for DVDs from a list I had to go back over last week. This list was much more extensive and the items in it were older, so many more had to be ordered. In fact, I ended up not finishing but only got to the Rs. My site supervisor had people she wanted me to see in the afternoon, so I briefly saw them. I spent an hour with a health reference librarian, and we discussed different resources she uses and why. I also was given another nice introduction to the government resources by the government research librarian. It was much the same as when I had a job exchange here, but I guess he didn't remember me, and I didn't want to make him feel awkward.
And that was my day! I arrived at 8am and left at 6pm, totalling 9 hours.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Internship Day 9
Today was a quiet day. It seemed that the video list that I printed out had two sections for the entertainment videos, and I only printed out one. I'm not sure of the circumstances, but at some point many were stuck with a call number of "791.43" while others had "791. 43" (with a space.) I only printed out the ones without a space.
Woops!
So, today, I went back and looked at the ones with a space. Many more of them had been lost, damaged, etc, so that part of the list will be costly to replace!
I also spent some time in the morning putting away reference books and tagging and stickering.
I finished weeding the cookbooks! That's something to be proud of. Near the end I was forced to shelf-read the area I was going to weed, or else I'd simply end up marking half of them missing. I wish people took better care of those shelves, or we had more people to shelf-read. It's a shame.
I arrived at 8:30 and left at 5:30, totalling 8 hours.
Woops!
So, today, I went back and looked at the ones with a space. Many more of them had been lost, damaged, etc, so that part of the list will be costly to replace!
I also spent some time in the morning putting away reference books and tagging and stickering.
I finished weeding the cookbooks! That's something to be proud of. Near the end I was forced to shelf-read the area I was going to weed, or else I'd simply end up marking half of them missing. I wish people took better care of those shelves, or we had more people to shelf-read. It's a shame.
I arrived at 8:30 and left at 5:30, totalling 8 hours.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Internship Day 8
Today was a very productive day! I arrived this morning and booted up all of the computers, turned on the lights, etc. I also checked the ILL online mailbox and entered in those requests. I saw one that we used to own, but now no longer. I wonder when IT will be able to upload our catalog to OCLC again.
We opened soon therafter, and my site supervisor wanted me to answer phone calls in the morning, aiding a librarian who had lost her voice. As it was slow, and that didn't officially start for another hour, I went ahead and finished weeding the cookbook section. What a bag of strange books! I actually pulled a cookbook about seaweed from the north atlantic ocean. Bizarre!
After that, phone duty started. I mostly proferred phone numbers and addresses, but I was also introduced to a patron that has a lot of special needs. He originally wanted to know the difference in efficiency between newer models of automobile air conditioners and those of the past. Well, I knew that was going to be a doozy! The librarian and I searched all sorts of places; consumer reports, article databases, the internet, other texts reviewing cars old and new, and actual texts on automobile air conditioners. The air conditioner books turned out to be the best resource we could get, but when I called back he changed his question to a specific make and model of car, which is what we suspected he really wanted all along. I suppose this would be a good learning experience for the reference interview...
At any rate, I pulled books pertinent to his make and model and left a message saying that we'd set them aside.
After that I went to lunch, and when I came back I saw the circulation manager, who instructed me in selecting replacement DVDs for their collection. Really quite simple, except for an old Sherlock Holmes DVD series, (that I actually used to watch with my father.) Nothing too exceptional there.
After that I finished shifting the reference storage area and shelved and stickered a few random books. All in all a productive day.
I arrived at 8am and left at 5pm, totalling 8 hours.
We opened soon therafter, and my site supervisor wanted me to answer phone calls in the morning, aiding a librarian who had lost her voice. As it was slow, and that didn't officially start for another hour, I went ahead and finished weeding the cookbook section. What a bag of strange books! I actually pulled a cookbook about seaweed from the north atlantic ocean. Bizarre!
After that, phone duty started. I mostly proferred phone numbers and addresses, but I was also introduced to a patron that has a lot of special needs. He originally wanted to know the difference in efficiency between newer models of automobile air conditioners and those of the past. Well, I knew that was going to be a doozy! The librarian and I searched all sorts of places; consumer reports, article databases, the internet, other texts reviewing cars old and new, and actual texts on automobile air conditioners. The air conditioner books turned out to be the best resource we could get, but when I called back he changed his question to a specific make and model of car, which is what we suspected he really wanted all along. I suppose this would be a good learning experience for the reference interview...
At any rate, I pulled books pertinent to his make and model and left a message saying that we'd set them aside.
After that I went to lunch, and when I came back I saw the circulation manager, who instructed me in selecting replacement DVDs for their collection. Really quite simple, except for an old Sherlock Holmes DVD series, (that I actually used to watch with my father.) Nothing too exceptional there.
After that I finished shifting the reference storage area and shelved and stickered a few random books. All in all a productive day.
I arrived at 8am and left at 5pm, totalling 8 hours.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Reply to Comments
Alas, that I cannot directly reply to comments on Blogger! I use Livejournal to keep a personal diary, and that allows me to reply to someone's comments instead of just to the posting at large. I definitely don't really enjoy this site, but oh well.
From CLO 804
We don't fax to people's homes, for the most part, because we charge for print jobs. If they come to the library to pick up a print job, they have to pay. I can think of patrons who would LOVE to have endless free materials faxed right to their homes.
But the cost of faxing to a patron's home is incurred on their end, with their own fax machine and their own paper, right? And I think limiting the faxes to 20 pages would provide a nice cutoff point as it is consistent within the policy. Just my thoughts....
From CLO 800
Ah, all that info about property records dates from the distant past when you had to get it from the microfiche. We had a regular stream of queries from all areas of the country, and apparently it was very time consuming. Of course now it is all available online, and this section will not be included in the new reference policy (also updated, just not published yet)
A legal search would be something like - what is the statute of limitations on shoplifting? How can I get my husband to pay child support? My neighbor has an rv parked in his driveway, is this against the code in my neighborhood? Anything that requires an interpretation of a law or code. If the patron says, I need to see Florida statute 727.11, we can show that to them, because they ask for a specific citation. We can also show them the statutes (or regulations or codes) and how to use the indexes, etc., so they can get started on their own research.
I had suspected as much, but wasn't quite sure. And thank you for the clarification on a legal search. I had thought that a legal search was simply looking up a statute. Good to know!
From CLO 804
We don't fax to people's homes, for the most part, because we charge for print jobs. If they come to the library to pick up a print job, they have to pay. I can think of patrons who would LOVE to have endless free materials faxed right to their homes.
But the cost of faxing to a patron's home is incurred on their end, with their own fax machine and their own paper, right? And I think limiting the faxes to 20 pages would provide a nice cutoff point as it is consistent within the policy. Just my thoughts....
From CLO 800
Ah, all that info about property records dates from the distant past when you had to get it from the microfiche. We had a regular stream of queries from all areas of the country, and apparently it was very time consuming. Of course now it is all available online, and this section will not be included in the new reference policy (also updated, just not published yet)
A legal search would be something like - what is the statute of limitations on shoplifting? How can I get my husband to pay child support? My neighbor has an rv parked in his driveway, is this against the code in my neighborhood? Anything that requires an interpretation of a law or code. If the patron says, I need to see Florida statute 727.11, we can show that to them, because they ask for a specific citation. We can also show them the statutes (or regulations or codes) and how to use the indexes, etc., so they can get started on their own research.
I had suspected as much, but wasn't quite sure. And thank you for the clarification on a legal search. I had thought that a legal search was simply looking up a statute. Good to know!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Internship Day 7
This isn't really an entire day, since I was only here for 2 hours, but I figured I'd keep the format going.
I was out sick on this past Monday, June 12, which wasn't really good. I'm short 8 hours now, but I've just made up 2, so yay for that. What is mildly disstressing to me is the fact that I don't have more evenings to come here to work as I had thought. Monday I'm here all day anyway, so I suppose I could just pull 12 hours days. Tuesday evenings I have class. Wednesday evenings I work at my job, and Thursdays I have a regular social engagement. Fridays and weekends the Main library closes at 5 or 6, and so I have no time. Erg!
But, I'll make do. If I have to pull a couple 12 day work weeks, I suppose I have no choice.
*wilts like a flower*
So, since I was here only for a short time I don't have much to say. I spent some time in telephone reference anticipating some phone calls, but none came. As it was slow, (due to the weather, we think,) I went ahead and weeded the cookbook area more. The area I was weeding before must not have seen much action in a long time, as it was in much better order than the area I did tonight. Simply deplorable! I had to end up shelf read each area as I went before I went and pulled books or else I'd not find half of them. But, progress was made.
I took a look at more ready-reference materials as well. Asked my trainer about some, but he gave the same response, something along the lines of "Oh, we used to use that all the time before Google, but not so much anymore." True enough. Makes me think about one of the Library 2.0 articles I read about a diminishing collection. Are we headed that way? Should we purchase more database access and less print materials? So far I'd say yes.
And that's about all I have to say for now.
I arrived at 7 pm and left at 9 pm.
I was out sick on this past Monday, June 12, which wasn't really good. I'm short 8 hours now, but I've just made up 2, so yay for that. What is mildly disstressing to me is the fact that I don't have more evenings to come here to work as I had thought. Monday I'm here all day anyway, so I suppose I could just pull 12 hours days. Tuesday evenings I have class. Wednesday evenings I work at my job, and Thursdays I have a regular social engagement. Fridays and weekends the Main library closes at 5 or 6, and so I have no time. Erg!
But, I'll make do. If I have to pull a couple 12 day work weeks, I suppose I have no choice.
*wilts like a flower*
So, since I was here only for a short time I don't have much to say. I spent some time in telephone reference anticipating some phone calls, but none came. As it was slow, (due to the weather, we think,) I went ahead and weeded the cookbook area more. The area I was weeding before must not have seen much action in a long time, as it was in much better order than the area I did tonight. Simply deplorable! I had to end up shelf read each area as I went before I went and pulled books or else I'd not find half of them. But, progress was made.
I took a look at more ready-reference materials as well. Asked my trainer about some, but he gave the same response, something along the lines of "Oh, we used to use that all the time before Google, but not so much anymore." True enough. Makes me think about one of the Library 2.0 articles I read about a diminishing collection. Are we headed that way? Should we purchase more database access and less print materials? So far I'd say yes.
And that's about all I have to say for now.
I arrived at 7 pm and left at 9 pm.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
CLO 804
This document covers the use of the fax machine for reference services. Even before I begin this, I'm curious to know if, in the days ahead, we'll have a similar document detailing procedures for contacting patrons via email.
That being said, this document details procedures for the use of the fax machine. Reference librarians may fax a document up to 20 pages long to another branch, but may only fax a single page to a patron's home or office. I'm curious to know why there is this discrepancy? I can understand why one would not want to fax a 100 page document, but since the 20 page rule is in effect for transmittal to other branches, (thus establishing a limit that is acceptable,) why not extend it to patrons?
Or is this, too, an outdated provision?
Otherwise, understandable and obvious provisions are included, such as the prohibition of transmitting copyrighted materials and the fact that the library will not guarantee same day service.
That being said, this document details procedures for the use of the fax machine. Reference librarians may fax a document up to 20 pages long to another branch, but may only fax a single page to a patron's home or office. I'm curious to know why there is this discrepancy? I can understand why one would not want to fax a 100 page document, but since the 20 page rule is in effect for transmittal to other branches, (thus establishing a limit that is acceptable,) why not extend it to patrons?
Or is this, too, an outdated provision?
Otherwise, understandable and obvious provisions are included, such as the prohibition of transmitting copyrighted materials and the fact that the library will not guarantee same day service.
CLO 802
This particular document establishes guidelines for the use of the Inter-library loan service. The document goes on to state that the Palm Beach County Library System provides this service on all subjects through various networks to which it belongs. Materials available include books in English and other foreign languages, large print, microforms, and photocopies.
The document goes on to state various procedures for the use of the ILL service. Obvious provisions are made, such as the patron in question must have a valid library card in good standing, the material in question must not already be owned by Palm Beach County, discussion of payment for fines and fees, etc.
What I was interested to know is how often librarians check to see if we own the material in electronic format? Included in the document is a provision that we may not request an ILL if we own the material in question, in electronic form or not, but we may if the electronic format isn't comprehensive. That being said, how often to librarians check to see if we own the material via the Net Library?
Also, the document specifies that a form must be filled out, but I'm supposing that this is simply outdated?
Finally, the document also specifies that there is no renewals on ILL materials, but I know that we do this now. Should this also be updated?
The document goes on to state various procedures for the use of the ILL service. Obvious provisions are made, such as the patron in question must have a valid library card in good standing, the material in question must not already be owned by Palm Beach County, discussion of payment for fines and fees, etc.
What I was interested to know is how often librarians check to see if we own the material in electronic format? Included in the document is a provision that we may not request an ILL if we own the material in question, in electronic form or not, but we may if the electronic format isn't comprehensive. That being said, how often to librarians check to see if we own the material via the Net Library?
Also, the document specifies that a form must be filled out, but I'm supposing that this is simply outdated?
Finally, the document also specifies that there is no renewals on ILL materials, but I know that we do this now. Should this also be updated?
Policies and Procedures Discussion, CLO 800
Some time ago my site supervisor told me to review a variety of policy documents relating to the reference department. I had printed and reviewed most of them about a month ago, but kept forgetting them in my mailbox at my actual job. Since I hadn't been able to go to my internship this past Monday, I decided it was high time I reviewed them on here. Plus, my job is going through this big Web 2.0 project, so I thought it would be an excellent demonstration of Web 2.o for my site supervisor and I to discuss them on here.
And so, I'll begin with CLO-800, which discusses reference services. Each of the PPMs has four sections. It begins with a statement of Purpose, followed by the authority the PPM cites, followed by the legal-ese policy itself, followed finally by the actual procedure that follows from the policy.
So, this PPM states the priorities and guidelines followed by the reference staff when on desk or when otherwise aiding the public in a reference capacity. The procedures detail a variety of activities and how they should be carried out. It states that reference staff should have an opening and inviting atmosphere and should actively seek out patrons.
The PPM details an extensive variety of activities that reference staff should undertake in relation to telephone reference service. Among these are that the phone should be answered promptly, sources should be stated, limits to the types of questions and their number, among other things.
I was curious as to why inquiries regarding property records are not provided over the telephone. It mentions that the microfiche collection is only available for in-library use. But, I'm supposing that this information is now available online, so would this still apply?
It also mentions that all telephone cross-reference inquiries should be referred to Main library and will not be answered at the branches. Is this because the branches do not carry the cross-reference materials? It also went on to detail a procedure whereby callers may leave a message with three requests to look up this information per day. I also wondered if this was still the case?
The document then went on to detail procedures for legal and medical questions. It stated the obvious that librarians may provide information but may not interpret it. It also prohibited legal searches entirely, and I was curious to know what exactly a legal search was?
Finally, the document went on to detail a variety of miscellaneous items, such as book appraisals, quiz questions, and mathematical calculations. Among these was a provision prohibiting the mail delivery of materials and/or copies of pertinent pages. I understand why we wouldn't want to mail our materials in the absence of medical or some other home-bound situation, but I'm curious to know why we can't mail or fax them to a location of the patron's request? Do we save on postage?
So, that was the first PPM. I had originally intended for this entry to be a summary of all of them, but it seems that I'll be reviewing them each individually. I look forward to your comments!
And so, I'll begin with CLO-800, which discusses reference services. Each of the PPMs has four sections. It begins with a statement of Purpose, followed by the authority the PPM cites, followed by the legal-ese policy itself, followed finally by the actual procedure that follows from the policy.
So, this PPM states the priorities and guidelines followed by the reference staff when on desk or when otherwise aiding the public in a reference capacity. The procedures detail a variety of activities and how they should be carried out. It states that reference staff should have an opening and inviting atmosphere and should actively seek out patrons.
The PPM details an extensive variety of activities that reference staff should undertake in relation to telephone reference service. Among these are that the phone should be answered promptly, sources should be stated, limits to the types of questions and their number, among other things.
I was curious as to why inquiries regarding property records are not provided over the telephone. It mentions that the microfiche collection is only available for in-library use. But, I'm supposing that this information is now available online, so would this still apply?
It also mentions that all telephone cross-reference inquiries should be referred to Main library and will not be answered at the branches. Is this because the branches do not carry the cross-reference materials? It also went on to detail a procedure whereby callers may leave a message with three requests to look up this information per day. I also wondered if this was still the case?
The document then went on to detail procedures for legal and medical questions. It stated the obvious that librarians may provide information but may not interpret it. It also prohibited legal searches entirely, and I was curious to know what exactly a legal search was?
Finally, the document went on to detail a variety of miscellaneous items, such as book appraisals, quiz questions, and mathematical calculations. Among these was a provision prohibiting the mail delivery of materials and/or copies of pertinent pages. I understand why we wouldn't want to mail our materials in the absence of medical or some other home-bound situation, but I'm curious to know why we can't mail or fax them to a location of the patron's request? Do we save on postage?
So, that was the first PPM. I had originally intended for this entry to be a summary of all of them, but it seems that I'll be reviewing them each individually. I look forward to your comments!
Monday, June 2, 2008
Internship Day 6
Today was a very productive day! I spent the beginning part of the morning shadowing at the reference desk and answered a few questions on my own. The only one of note was this spanish woman who wanted textbooks on contract law. I told her we didn't typically carry textbooks, but that I'd see what we had on contract law. Sadly enough, all I could find was one book, and that looked like it was published in the 80s. I asked the actual reference librarian if he could think of anything else, but he couldn't. I'm actually somewhat surprised, but oh well. I guess we can't be all things to all people, (thank goodness!)
After that I decided to play around with the databases that we have and to take a more in depth look at them. I found some neat things, and some were so so. I discovered that many databases in effect search only a subset of another database that we have, Infotrac Onefile. We have that split up into 2 categories, Academic and General, and then we have Science, and Medical, and Literature, and all sorts of little things. I did enjoy looking at Access World News. They have maps provided and special reports of topics of interest.
I looked at a few health databases, and that was a mixed bag. The common search feature on one I thought was useful, and I especially loved the e-book library that one of them featured. That one was the Consumer Health Complete database. Another was a Gale database, so that was par for the course. And a third had a really slick interface, but I didn't find much useful information except a great link database of trusted health information. That one was Health and Wellness Reference Center.
After that I decided to mess around in the reference storage area, which chiefly consisted of shifting books around. The tops of the reference area are considered to be storage, and the first few tops are all filled up, with the last half being nearly empty. So, I decided to take it upon myself to shift them to make room for a cart of books that cannot be put away. At least, I'll take care of most of it, half of it are encyclopedia sets, (Something about the author, I think) which isn't going to be something I'll be able to tackle, unless I have a few helpers. I've gotten about halfway done with that. Hopefully next week I'll have it done.
After lunch I was given a list of VHS tapes to look at. I went through the whole thing and looked to see if we have a DVD copy in the system. I suppose the powers that be had thought that we would have many that were unique, but I found only 10 or 15 in 10 pages that were so, perhaps 3 per page. Not bad, I'd say. Hopefully I can throw those out next week.
And that's about it for this week.
I arrive at 8:30 and left at 5:30, logging in 8 hours.
After that I decided to play around with the databases that we have and to take a more in depth look at them. I found some neat things, and some were so so. I discovered that many databases in effect search only a subset of another database that we have, Infotrac Onefile. We have that split up into 2 categories, Academic and General, and then we have Science, and Medical, and Literature, and all sorts of little things. I did enjoy looking at Access World News. They have maps provided and special reports of topics of interest.
I looked at a few health databases, and that was a mixed bag. The common search feature on one I thought was useful, and I especially loved the e-book library that one of them featured. That one was the Consumer Health Complete database. Another was a Gale database, so that was par for the course. And a third had a really slick interface, but I didn't find much useful information except a great link database of trusted health information. That one was Health and Wellness Reference Center.
After that I decided to mess around in the reference storage area, which chiefly consisted of shifting books around. The tops of the reference area are considered to be storage, and the first few tops are all filled up, with the last half being nearly empty. So, I decided to take it upon myself to shift them to make room for a cart of books that cannot be put away. At least, I'll take care of most of it, half of it are encyclopedia sets, (Something about the author, I think) which isn't going to be something I'll be able to tackle, unless I have a few helpers. I've gotten about halfway done with that. Hopefully next week I'll have it done.
After lunch I was given a list of VHS tapes to look at. I went through the whole thing and looked to see if we have a DVD copy in the system. I suppose the powers that be had thought that we would have many that were unique, but I found only 10 or 15 in 10 pages that were so, perhaps 3 per page. Not bad, I'd say. Hopefully I can throw those out next week.
And that's about it for this week.
I arrive at 8:30 and left at 5:30, logging in 8 hours.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Internship Day 5
This week I'm doing two days of my internship in anticipation of a vacation I'll be taking in late July. Today, sadly enough, the discard function is still broken. It has been my experience that it normally doesn't take this long, and sure enough, a call has been put in for our ILS vendor to take a look at the situation.
And so, instead, I spent the day reading journals and book reviews again. I did take a break to peruse the powerpoint files for the classes I'll be teaching. They're fairly long, one being sixty slides and another being almost eighty five, but each slide contains only about one concept each. I'm fairly nervous about it, only because I'm rather shy and have stage fright. I've taught more complex stuff before, and this is fairly basic, but I know I'll be pretty nervous on my first day.
Otherwise, not much to report!
I arrived at 8:30am and left at 6pm, totalling 8.5 hours.
And so, instead, I spent the day reading journals and book reviews again. I did take a break to peruse the powerpoint files for the classes I'll be teaching. They're fairly long, one being sixty slides and another being almost eighty five, but each slide contains only about one concept each. I'm fairly nervous about it, only because I'm rather shy and have stage fright. I've taught more complex stuff before, and this is fairly basic, but I know I'll be pretty nervous on my first day.
Otherwise, not much to report!
I arrived at 8:30am and left at 6pm, totalling 8.5 hours.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Internship Day 3
Today was the third day of my internship, and I spent most of it weeding the cookbook collection. I personally enjoy weeding, and take a great deal of pleasure in knowing I'm helping to create a more nimble collection. I do regret that it takes so much time, and I anticipate as I progress in the profession I may even come to dread doing it, as many seem to. But, for the time being, it is enjoyable; I wish I had more time for it!
I did hit a small snag insofar as our ILS's discard file became full halfway through my first cart. This has happened before, and it doesn't seem to take too long for a new one to be created. But, alas, none has been yet. Regardless, I have prepared two carts for discarding. All that remains is for the items to be scanned.
I've weeded fiction for some time at my day job, but I've never weeded a non-fiction area. The cookbook area wasn't particularly challening, and all I had to look for were items that were related to Florida or that struck me as classics. So far, I've only saved one item.
In the morning I assisted in inputting ILL requests. We have an online form that patrons may fill out at any time of the day or night on our website to request an item that we don't own. I've done this myself a few times! This information is then sent in an email to the reference desk here at Main, and is entered into the ILL system through WorldCat. I didn't have too many problems, except one gentleman requested a DVD, (I emailed him alerting him that A/V items aren't typically available through ILL,) and another who had an incomplete request.
Another exciting part of my day was my participation in the selection committee meeting. I have been reading many book reviews and writing down my thoughts on if we should consider the option of purchasing it. Today, everybody who has also been doing this from all the branches converged and shared our thoughts. Mostly everyone was in agreement except for a couple titles, and even then those that were interested weren't particuularly crestfallen. I suppose it's a good system to weed out what they called "shelf-sitters." I did anticipate more debate, and I have to say the meeting was pretty brisk!
I arrived at 8:30AM and left at 5pm, totalling 7.5 hours.
I did hit a small snag insofar as our ILS's discard file became full halfway through my first cart. This has happened before, and it doesn't seem to take too long for a new one to be created. But, alas, none has been yet. Regardless, I have prepared two carts for discarding. All that remains is for the items to be scanned.
I've weeded fiction for some time at my day job, but I've never weeded a non-fiction area. The cookbook area wasn't particularly challening, and all I had to look for were items that were related to Florida or that struck me as classics. So far, I've only saved one item.
In the morning I assisted in inputting ILL requests. We have an online form that patrons may fill out at any time of the day or night on our website to request an item that we don't own. I've done this myself a few times! This information is then sent in an email to the reference desk here at Main, and is entered into the ILL system through WorldCat. I didn't have too many problems, except one gentleman requested a DVD, (I emailed him alerting him that A/V items aren't typically available through ILL,) and another who had an incomplete request.
Another exciting part of my day was my participation in the selection committee meeting. I have been reading many book reviews and writing down my thoughts on if we should consider the option of purchasing it. Today, everybody who has also been doing this from all the branches converged and shared our thoughts. Mostly everyone was in agreement except for a couple titles, and even then those that were interested weren't particuularly crestfallen. I suppose it's a good system to weed out what they called "shelf-sitters." I did anticipate more debate, and I have to say the meeting was pretty brisk!
I arrived at 8:30AM and left at 5pm, totalling 7.5 hours.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Internship day 2 continued
In my previous post I mentioned the many different areas that reference materials are kept. We have the three current areas, ready-ref, telephone/virtual ref, and the general reference collection. Each of these carries current year materials, and as these are replaced, some are placed into a storage reference collection. There are three storage reference collections, one the so-called atlas room, which carries "Who's Who" books as well as military-related materials. The second is a Florida-related area which is, perhaps, 4 bays of shelves in a hallway. The third is a general reference storage area, which is actually located on top of the bookshelves in the reference area.
All of these materials, (some of which may not be cataloged at all, I can't be sure,) are labeled in our computer system simply as reference. I, at least, find that completely inefficient! I know our computer system is capable of so much more than we utilize it for. I suppose, if it were up to me and we all lived in a perfect world, I'd ask our kind IT folks to make us a couple more locations so we could more easily find these materials. Of course, this would require that someone scan each of these items individually, which is probably the biggest hurdle. In the few times I've interacted with the reference staff, complaints of poor staffing have been pervasive, and so I doubt they'd be thrilled with this idea from some young whipper-snapper.
Of course, this idea of putting things into a virtual storage location to reflect a different physical location might be something that administration frowns upon. At my branch for at least two years we had probably close to 10 crates of science fiction and mystery books that we didn't have room for on the shelf. I had raised the idea of simply putting them all into storage so that we knew where they were as opposed to where the computer claimed they were. This idea was not received well, however, resulting in many being marked missing. I'm happy to say we've been weeding a great deal lately, which makes my heart warm, so we don't have this problem anymore.
I can only hope that one day, perhaps when the Main staff get a new library, they'll be able to rectify this.
All of these materials, (some of which may not be cataloged at all, I can't be sure,) are labeled in our computer system simply as reference. I, at least, find that completely inefficient! I know our computer system is capable of so much more than we utilize it for. I suppose, if it were up to me and we all lived in a perfect world, I'd ask our kind IT folks to make us a couple more locations so we could more easily find these materials. Of course, this would require that someone scan each of these items individually, which is probably the biggest hurdle. In the few times I've interacted with the reference staff, complaints of poor staffing have been pervasive, and so I doubt they'd be thrilled with this idea from some young whipper-snapper.
Of course, this idea of putting things into a virtual storage location to reflect a different physical location might be something that administration frowns upon. At my branch for at least two years we had probably close to 10 crates of science fiction and mystery books that we didn't have room for on the shelf. I had raised the idea of simply putting them all into storage so that we knew where they were as opposed to where the computer claimed they were. This idea was not received well, however, resulting in many being marked missing. I'm happy to say we've been weeding a great deal lately, which makes my heart warm, so we don't have this problem anymore.
I can only hope that one day, perhaps when the Main staff get a new library, they'll be able to rectify this.
Internship day 2
Today was the first day that I worked with the reference trainer at the Main Library. I was given a sheet that, presumably, they give to new reference librarians. For the first two days we are to review ready-reference materials, although we didn't do much of that today. Perhaps next week we will, as I'm under the impression that this was the first day the trainer had come back from vacation. I'm looking forward to learning more about them, as there are certainly a plethora of them to know about! I'm hoping a class I'm looking to take in the Fall, (if my work schedule permits,) will compliment this information, as all of my other classes at FSU have been lacking in this real world librarianship information.
So, this morning I did more journal reviews, also from a copy of Library Journal. I wasn't able to review my reasonings as much with Dani this week, but I suppose she understands my rationale from last week enough to carry it over to this week. An exciting thing I learned to do today was to input ILL requests into the ILLIAD computer system. I did mess up the delivery location for one, and wasn't able to fix it as the folks from ILL had already processed it. I'm told next week I'll have an opportunity to practice this on my own.
I also spent some time classifying materials in our reference collection, which is quite large and sprawling to me. We have six separate places that materials classified as "reference" might be found. We have a small collection for the telephone and virtual reference areas, a ready-reference collection for the actual reference desk, a large catch-all reference collection, and three separate storage areas: one for the catch-all reference materials, one for Florida-related materials, and a third for military-related materials as well as "Who's Who" reference materials. As materials from the first three areas become outdated, they are transferred to our three storage areas, depending on their subject matter. It has fallen to me to correctly classify them into their proper area as well, it seems, to find room on the shelf for them.
I'll continue this discussion at a later date.
I worked eight hours today, from 8am to 12 noon, and from 1pm to 5pm.
So, this morning I did more journal reviews, also from a copy of Library Journal. I wasn't able to review my reasonings as much with Dani this week, but I suppose she understands my rationale from last week enough to carry it over to this week. An exciting thing I learned to do today was to input ILL requests into the ILLIAD computer system. I did mess up the delivery location for one, and wasn't able to fix it as the folks from ILL had already processed it. I'm told next week I'll have an opportunity to practice this on my own.
I also spent some time classifying materials in our reference collection, which is quite large and sprawling to me. We have six separate places that materials classified as "reference" might be found. We have a small collection for the telephone and virtual reference areas, a ready-reference collection for the actual reference desk, a large catch-all reference collection, and three separate storage areas: one for the catch-all reference materials, one for Florida-related materials, and a third for military-related materials as well as "Who's Who" reference materials. As materials from the first three areas become outdated, they are transferred to our three storage areas, depending on their subject matter. It has fallen to me to correctly classify them into their proper area as well, it seems, to find room on the shelf for them.
I'll continue this discussion at a later date.
I worked eight hours today, from 8am to 12 noon, and from 1pm to 5pm.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Internship Day 1
Today was the first day of my internship. I was more or less familiar with the lay of the land at the Main Library as I had recently participated in a job exchange from my branch library, which is located nearby. I worked from noon until 9pm, with an hour for lunch, equalling 8 hours for the day.
I arrived and went to see my site supervisor, Dani. We spoke regarding my schedule, various things she would like me to attend, and other administrative tasks. Afterwards we discussed the selection committee process, and she showed me a journal for me to review. In my system, various journals are reviewed for new and upcoming titles. Various staff members from a variety of locations review them, and these titles are discussed and ultimately compiled into a selection list. It is this list that various locations may order from.
So, today, I was given a copy of Library Journal from which I had to read reviews and judge whether or not a title was worthy of being on the selection list. Various criteria that I had to consider was if the author was popular, if the topic of the book was popular, cost, relevancy to the area, and other such things. So, for about four hours I did this. I made notes according to my thoughts, such as, "popular author, but recent titles didn't circulate well," or, "title is somewhat pricey, but received an excellent review." Afterwards, Dani and I discussed my choices. I learned a few things from this discussion. For instance, I had decided a gardening book was worthy, but I was told that our particular climate was a problem as it typically alters gardening practices significantly. As such, many generalized gardening books aren't considered unless they mention or deal with our particular climate.
After dinner I came back and observed Dani doing virtual and telephone reference. Monday nights my system participates in the program run by the Florida State Library, "Ask a Librarian." We received questions from all over the state which ran the gamut from scholarly research questions to the more mundane, such as if a particular system carries a TV show. One excellent resource I learned about was the Statistical Abstracts resource, which we consulted to determine how many children were in foster care between a two year period.
I logged 8 hours today, from 12 noon to 4pm, and from 5pm to 9pm.
I arrived and went to see my site supervisor, Dani. We spoke regarding my schedule, various things she would like me to attend, and other administrative tasks. Afterwards we discussed the selection committee process, and she showed me a journal for me to review. In my system, various journals are reviewed for new and upcoming titles. Various staff members from a variety of locations review them, and these titles are discussed and ultimately compiled into a selection list. It is this list that various locations may order from.
So, today, I was given a copy of Library Journal from which I had to read reviews and judge whether or not a title was worthy of being on the selection list. Various criteria that I had to consider was if the author was popular, if the topic of the book was popular, cost, relevancy to the area, and other such things. So, for about four hours I did this. I made notes according to my thoughts, such as, "popular author, but recent titles didn't circulate well," or, "title is somewhat pricey, but received an excellent review." Afterwards, Dani and I discussed my choices. I learned a few things from this discussion. For instance, I had decided a gardening book was worthy, but I was told that our particular climate was a problem as it typically alters gardening practices significantly. As such, many generalized gardening books aren't considered unless they mention or deal with our particular climate.
After dinner I came back and observed Dani doing virtual and telephone reference. Monday nights my system participates in the program run by the Florida State Library, "Ask a Librarian." We received questions from all over the state which ran the gamut from scholarly research questions to the more mundane, such as if a particular system carries a TV show. One excellent resource I learned about was the Statistical Abstracts resource, which we consulted to determine how many children were in foster care between a two year period.
I logged 8 hours today, from 12 noon to 4pm, and from 5pm to 9pm.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
First Post!
So I'm trying to blog about my experiences at my internship this summer. The first few posts are being backdated simply to allow me to chronicle them on the actual day that they occurred.
This internship will last all summer long and will be for three credit hours, equalling out to nine hours each week. I'll be working at the Main Library for the Palm Beach County Library System each Monday, all day, and odd hours here and there to bring myself up to nine hours.
I have three learning objectives. I'll be taught introductory things one would normally teach a beginning reference librarian, such as how to use various reference materials, how to conduct a reference interview, and such like that. My second is to participate in the Collection Development process. I'll be doing this by participating in selection committee meetings as well as aiding in weeding processes. My third and final objective is to practice my teaching skills by teaching two different computer classes before the end of the summer.
This internship will last all summer long and will be for three credit hours, equalling out to nine hours each week. I'll be working at the Main Library for the Palm Beach County Library System each Monday, all day, and odd hours here and there to bring myself up to nine hours.
I have three learning objectives. I'll be taught introductory things one would normally teach a beginning reference librarian, such as how to use various reference materials, how to conduct a reference interview, and such like that. My second is to participate in the Collection Development process. I'll be doing this by participating in selection committee meetings as well as aiding in weeding processes. My third and final objective is to practice my teaching skills by teaching two different computer classes before the end of the summer.
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