Reference Questions, 7/5/09

I hope the before hours phone call is not an indication of how this shift is going to go. The library was not supposed to open until 1:00 p.m. :)

1. (12:57 p.m.) (Phone) A student was having trouble locating an article that she had previously accessed. It was from 1973, in the Journal of Medical Genetics. I found it for her and emailed it to her.
2. (12:59 p.m.) A patron was having trouble filling out his ESC form via the website.
3. (1:01 p.m.) A student wanted to know where the quiet study areas are.
4. (1:15 p.m.) A student wanted to know if Dreamweaver and PhotoShop were available on the reference department computers.
5. (1:25 p.m.) (Phone) The student from #1 called back and first had a questions about how to put the article I had emailed her into her Wiki page, and second needed to access some medical encyclopedias online.
6. (2:56 p.m.) A student had a question about reserve items.
7. (3:14 p.m.) A patron needed a guest log in.
8. (3:23 p.m.) A patron needed a guest log in.
9. (3:41 p.m.) A student wanted to know where lost and found is.
10. (4:01 p.m.) (Phone) The student from #1 and #5 called back and wanted me to proofread a paragraph she had written. She emailed it to me and then called me back and I told her what was grammatically incorrect about it.

Not a bad day for a Sunday, the day after Independence Day. The library should have been closed all weekend. :P~

Reference Questions 6/27/09

Another Saturday morning on the reference desk. I can hardly contain myself.

1. (10:56 a.m.) A patron needed a guest log on.
2. (11:58 a.m.) A patron was looking for a book by Homer Hickam.
3. (12:37 p.m.) [Phone] The caller (it was the infamous Melvin) wanted to know the air dates for Star Search. Wikipedia to the rescue. :)

Three questions, really? It has been so slow today. And to top it all off maintnance has been dusting the book shelves the enitre time I was here. My sinues needed that, really.

Greensboro College Practicum, Day 13 (6/22/09)

I arrived at the library at 9:00 a.m.

First thing this morning Jennie and I discussed what all I had accomplished while she was on vacation the previous week. We discussed in depth what I had learned while examining library fan pages. I also told her about some of the things I learned at the Metrolina Information Literacy Conference that I attended in Charlotte last Thursday. Jennie says she plans on having the library's fan page up by the first week of school. After that I did some copy cataloging.

After lunch I continued to work on copy cataloging, and I began processing books. Jennie and I also had a talk. Classweb is still a problem, and Jennie does not believe that their subscription will be reactivated until the next fiscal year begins on July 1. Therefore we decided that I would not return to the library until I can use Classweb. I have 16 hours remaining to fulfill my required 120 hours for my practicum. These hours will be completed sometime after July 1.

I left the library at 6:00 p.m.

Reference Questions, 6/19/09

A Friday on the reference desk. It's been slow, or so I have been told. Not a big surprise, Summer Session is a slow time on campus.

1. (1:36 p.m.) Student needed to know where the printer was.
2. (1:43 p.m.) The student from #1 needed to know how to find sources on O.J. Simpson's latest criminal trial. She was looking for books and journals.
3. (1:47 p.m.) An incoming freshman wanted to know if he could sit and read in the reference department. I directed him to the comfy chairs in the theatre alcove.
4. (1:51 p.m.) The student from #3 needed to know where the restroom was.
5. (1:53 p.m.) Another SOAR student, this one needed to know how to log on to the computers in the reference department.
6. (2:43 p.m.) A patron need a guest log in.
7. (2:50 p.m.) A student wanted to know where the newspapers were.
8. (3:12 p.m.) A patron needed a guest log on.
9. (3:50 p.m.) A patron needed a guest log on.
10. (3:54 p.m.) A patron needed a guest log on.
11. (3:55 p.m.) Patron from #8 had a question about Word on the guest computers.
12. (4:06 p.m.) A student wanted to know where the closest public library is located.
13. (4:18 p.m.) A patron needed a guest log on.
14. (4:18 p.m.) A patron needed a guest log on.
15. (4:56 p.m.) A patron came up and was looking for a book from 2006 with the words performance measures in the title. She had no idea the actual title nor did she know the author. The library was also closing in 4 minutes. I did everything that I could to help her, but I was unable to find the book. She said she was going to come back tomorrow. She also said she was from out of town so I don't know why she just didn't get her local library to ILL the book. How is she going to be able to check it out anyway?
    

I got more questions then the Saturday I had worked previously. Fun times.

Greensboro College Practicum, Day 12 (6/17/09)

I arrived today at 9:00 a.m.

Today I searched Facebook for library fan or group pages. Jennie is thinking about starting a fan page for Jones Library and wanted to know what other libraries at similar institutions are doing. I focused primarily on the libraries of private colleges and universities in North Carolina. There are a total of 39 private colleges and universities in NC including Greensboro College. I first checked each college/universities library home page to see if a Facebook presence is promoted. I then searched Facebook to see if I could find any fan or group pages that existed for these libraries.

Seven of the colleges/universities have fan or group pages. They include Barton College, Brevard College, Duke University (who had a total of 4 fan pages for 4 of their different libraries), Lenoir-Rhyne College, Wake Forest University, Warren Wilson College, and Wingate University.

At 2:00 p.m. I went down to the reference desk to fill in.

I left the library at 6:00 p.m.

Greensboro College Practicum, Day 11 (6/16/09)

I arrived at 9:00 a.m.

Today I finished up the gift books. There were a total of 60 books. I choose 31 to keep. The reasons I choose not to keep 29 of the gift books varied. Some of the books were in very poor condition, others were duplicates of material that the Jones Library already possesses, and some would not benefit the collection in any way (including those whose subject matter was out-of-date). The books were primarily music and political science in nature. Many of the political science books were beyond their useful date. Political science is a subject that requires currency. Music books can be timeless, so many of those were kept. I kept track of each book in a Google Document, so I shared that spreadsheet with Jennie when I had finished going through all of the books.

I left the library at 6:00 p.m.

Greensboro College Practicum, Day 10 (6/15/09)

I arrived today at 9:00 a.m.

Today I worked on some gift books that the Jones Library had received a few weeks ago. These books were mostly music and political science books. It was my job to go through each book one at a time and see if:

1. Jones Library owned the book. If so was this a newer edition or did it offer something that the other edition did not.
2. If Jones Library did not own the book, would it benefit the collection to add it.
3. Also to check the over all condition of the book. (Some of these books were in no condition to be added to the collection.)

I achieved this by first searching the catalog for the book, and then using Worldcat to see which libraries owned. After that it was up to my judgement in the matter. I kept track of every book that I evaluated in a Google Docs spreadsheet.

I also handled a ILL renewal request. A professor (Steven Davidson) called Jennie's office, and wanted to extend a due date on a book he had ILLed from Elon University. I requested the extension for him, and heard back from Elon later that day. I then called, and left a message for him letting him know that the loan had been extended.

In order to take a break from gift books, I began browsing library fan pages on Facebook. Jennie is planning on creating a fan page for the Jones Library and wanted to know what worked and what did not.

I left the library at 6:00 p.m.