Reference Questions, 8/30/09

Today I am offering support for one of our new reference interns. I get to sit on the lower desk. I've never done that before. I feel so special. :) Lynda didn't want him by himself on a Sunday. Sundays are usually busy days on the reference desk. Since I am on the lower desk, I'll probably have less questions than Will who is on the high desk. We'll see how it works out today.

1. A student was looking for a textbook on reserve.
2. A student needed general info on water fleas. I sent him to the encyclopedias, and told him if he needed more detailed info to come back.
3. A student needed help finding a book in the Basement. It is very easy to get lost down there.

Yeah, things are slow on the low desk. At least I was able to knock out some work. :)

Independent Study, 8/26/2009

My independent study on authority control has begun. I will be in the cataloging department every Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. While there I will be under the supervision of Mary Jane Conger who is the head cataloger. I will be working on authority control for UNCG's Jackson Library. I prepared for this independent study by reading articles on authority control. Some of the articles I read include"Authority Control to the People!" by M.E. Bates which appeared in EContent and "Series Authority Control at Oregon State University after the Library of Congress's Series Policy Change" by R.E. Saphon-White which appeared in Library Resources and Technical Services. Both articles were published in April 2009. I have also checked out some books from the library on authority control so that I may better understand it.

August 26, 2009

After meeting with Mary Jane briefly in her office, I was taken around the department and introduced to everyone. I then took the OCLC tutorial on Authority Record Searching. After completing that Mary Jane and I worked on replacing subject heading in the catalog that had been changed by the Library of Congress. The subject heading we worked on today was Adventure Films has been changed to Action and Adventure Films. There were 12 records in the catalog that needed to be changed.

At 11:00 a.m. I began working with Anne Marie Taber on new book cataloging. Anne Marie walked me through the process. she then watched me do one on my own before leaving me with a cart of books to work on by myself. I worked on those until time for me to leave at 1:00 p.m. Anne Marie will be on vacation next week, so we thought it best that I return tomorrow to go over the new books I had cataloged. Hopefully I did not make any mistakes.

August 27, 2009

Seven out of the 12 books I cataloged were perfect. The 5 that had problems were very minor. On one in the 300 field the word maps was supposed to be map. Most of the mistakes were similar in nature, so overall I was pleased with how well I did, and Anne Marie was as well.

Reference Questions, 8/25/09

My first day on the desk during the Fall semester. I expect mostly directional and how-to questions, nothing difficult. We'll see...

1. A student wanted to know when the new book cart would be returning to the Reading Room.
2. A student wanted to know where the reserves are kept.
3. A student came to the desk looking for a book. It is being kept on reserves.
4. (Chat) A student was looking of the link to the Research Guides by Subject.
5. A student came by with a flyer he wanted to put up in the library. We do not post flyer in the library. It was on Socialism.
6. A student was looking for her textbook in an online version.
7. A student was looking for textbooks, and also wanted to know where the Tower was that the H.E.A.T. bus picked up at.
8. A student was looking for The Tempest by William Shakespeare.
9. A student wanted to know where to find the reserves.
10. A student wanted to know where to find the reserves.
11. A student was looking for lost and found. He had lost his keys. Yikes.
12. A student was looking for the Music Library.
13. (Chat) A student was looking for the TRC.
14. A student was looking for the UNCG soccer schedule.
15. A student was looking for a textbook. He was lucky, it was on reserve.
16. A student was looking for a textbook. Not so lucky, already checked out.
17. A student was looking for Arabic language self instruction books.
18. A patron wanted to use the phone. That is not allowed. :(
19. A student was looking for an article that his professor had placed on e-reserve. However the Blackboard site was not up yet. I was able to find the article on Google Scholar, so he can access it there. I am Superwoman. :)
20. A patron was looking for a library schedule.
21. A student was looking for the book Give Me Liberty by Eric Foner.
22. A student was looking for the reserve books.
23. A student wanted to use the phone. That is not allowed. :(
24. A student didn't know what her email address was, she had never checked it, didn't know how to access Blackboard, etc. I sent her to the Superlab. I am the Queen of the Superlab referral. :)
25. A student wanted to know where she could access her free printing. Free is good on in the Superlab. Yay!
26. A student was looking for a textbook.
27. A student wanted to know what time the library closed. We are open all night. Crazy I know.
28. A student was looking for a textbook.
29. A student had a question about printing.
30. A student wanted to know where the reserves are kept.
31. A student was having trouble logging on using her Novell username and password. I sent her to the Superlab! :)
32. A student wanted to know where the bathroom was located.
33. (Chat) A student needed an article on Fresh vs. Frozen Fish.
34. A student wanted to know where he could put cash on his Spartan Card.
35. A student was looking for a textbook.

Mostly just textbook, reserve questions and directional questions, nothing too tough. I'll be back Sunday helping out a first semester ref intern. Fun times. ;)

Reference Questions, 8/23/09

On the reference desk the day before classes start. There was a very long line outside the door when I got here. It's going to be a long day.

1. A patron was having trouble with a keyboard on the express machines. The number lock was not one.
2. A student was having trouble logging in using her Novell username and password. I sent her to the Superlab.
3. (Phone) Some guy wanted to locate a friend of his that he has not spoken to in years. He kept insisting he may have died. Out side of Google I had no idea how to help him. A very weird phone call.
4. A student needed help logging in to a computer. Had to send her to the Superlab.
5. A student had a question about printing. She said she had a lot of printing to do, so I sent her to the Superlab to use her free printing.
6. A student wanted to know how to get to the EUC.
7. A student wanted to know where the elevators are.
8. A patron needed a guest password and log in.
9. A professor wanted to turn in an ILL book. I directed him to the circulation desk.
10. A student needed to know where the Eberhart Building is located.
11. A student had been locked out of her Novell account, so I sent her to the Superlab so she could reset her password.
12. A student didn't know what her UNCG email was, so I sent her to the Superlab.
13. A student needed to know where the Reading Room is located.
14. A student had a question about putting money on her card to print.
15. A student needed to know where the Reading Room is located.
16. A student had a question about printing.
17. A student needed to know where the Reading Room is located.
18. A student needed to know where the Reading Room is located.
19. A student had a question about H.E.A.T. routes that run to Friendly Center.
20. A student needed to know where the Reading Room is located.
21. A student needed to know where she could put money on her ID card.
22. Two students were having trouble logging into the computers. I was able to help them log in and didn't even have to send them to the Superlab. :)
23. A student enter the wrong password into the Novell log in screen too many times. I had to send her to the Superlab to reset her password.
24. A student had a printing question.
25. A student had a question about library hours.
26. A student had a printing question.
27. A student wanted to know where LIBR 032 is. We will get over a hundred questions about that this coming week.
28. A student had a printing question.
29. A student had a printing question.
30. A student wanted to know where the Superlab is located.
31. A student had a printing question.
32. A student wanted to know where she could get an undergraduate bulletin.
33. A student had a printing question.
34. A student was looking for a H.E.A.T. bus schedule.
35. A student needed help logging into a computer.
36. A student wanted to know if there was anywhere she could plug in her laptop. She also wanted to know about printing options.
37. A student had a printing question.
38. A student was looking for a book Evening Thought. It is the textbook she has to have for a class this semester and the library doesn't carry it.
39. A student had a printing question.
40. A student wanted to know where the stairs that went up into the stacks are located.
41. A student had a printing question.
42. A professor had a question about renewing a couple of books.
43. A student wanted to know if there were any other copiers in the library other those over at Access Services. They were not working for what he needed.
44. A student wanted to browse our books with pictures of art. The Library of Congress does not cater to those who are used to Barnes and Noble.
45. A student was looking for 2 books on public health. They were in the basement. What a sad place for books.
46. A student had a printing question.
47. A student wanted to know where LIBR 032 is located.
48. A student had a printing question.
49. A student needed a campus map.
50. A patron needed a guest username and password.
51. A student wanted me to suggest a quiet area to study in the library. I told her about the quiet floors in the tower. She also wanted a campus map.
52. A student had a printing question.
53. A student had a printing question.

Now this was a full reference desk block. I have never in my short reference life had that many questions. Before this I think the highest total I ever received was in the 20s. Mostly these were just the queries of confused freshmen, nothing difficult. I got a few actual reference questions, not many. I expect a similar turnout for Tuesday evening when I'm on the desk again. The semester starts tomorrow. :)

Reference Questions, 8/7/09

Summer session is out so things will be crazy dead today I'm sure. I'm here from 1 to 5. The library's still on summer hours so it closes at 5. I will again be heading home during peak rush hour on a Friday no less.

1. (1:46 p.m.) A patron wanted to know how big the library is. Well, it's big.
2. (1:51 p.m.) A student wanted to know where the Foust Building is located.
3. (2:20 p.m.) A student that will be starting graduate school here in the Fall had a few questions about how to search databases and about APA style.
4. (2:30 p.m.) A student wanted to use the phone to call the financial aid office. They had screwed her FA up. Same thing happened to me last semester.
5. (2:56 p.m.) A student wanted to know where the reference computers printed.
6. (3:09 p.m.) A student was having trouble with the reference printer.
7. (3:56 p.m.) A patron needed a guest log in.
8. (4:20 p.m.) A professor needed help searching social work databases. At Chapel Hill she was able to do this and couldn't do so on our computers so she was confused, really confused. She kept singing the praises of the UNC library. Every other sentence was about how much better it was than Jackson. That's were she went to school, well good for her.
9. (4:45 p.m.) A patron wanted a guest log in. Umm, we close in 10 minutes, but oh well. The public gets what the public demands.

I will not be returning to the reference desk until the day before the Fall semester begins. This summer drug by, but at the same time it went too fast.