Reference Desk, 9/30/2010

8 a.m. on the reference desk.

1. (Chat) What I call a drive-by chatting. The person said hi and then immediately closed the chat.
2. Student told me that tray 3 was empty on printer BW2. I told her it was supposed to be.

These one hour shifts do not produce many questions.

Reference Questions, 9/29/2010

I'm beginning to feel more comfortable at the ref desk with each shift. I'm so glad that I am settling in so well.

1. (Chat) Question about citing an article that did not have a journal in APA format
2. Looking for an eraser to borrow

This was a slow hour on the desk. :|

Reference Questions, 9/28/2010

My first evening on the desk. This will be a 4 hour shift. Lovely. :)

1. Looking for a tape/digital recorder
2. Student had question about how to use scanner
3. (Phone) Student worked called in sick
4. Looking for room 230D
5. Looking for the bathroom
6. Looking for printer BW5
7. Student wanted to know how to print in color
8. Wanted to know how to print a powerpoint in color
9. (Chat) Question about APA citation style
10. Looking for a pen to borrow
11. (Chat) APA citation style question
12. Wanted to know how to use the scanner
13. Looking for the Greek sign in sheet. The Greek peeps have to log so many hours in the library a week. Learned something new :)
14. Wanted to know where he could print
15. Had a question about inserting pics into a powerpoint presentation
16. Assisted a student in using the electric 3 hole puncher
17. (Chat) APA citation style question concerning in-text citations
18. (Chat) APA citation style question concerning in-text citations
19. Wanted to download special fonts in Adobe Illustrator to the computer she was using; the computer would not let her and there was nothing I could do about it
20. (Chat) APA citation style question concerning author's name

It was a busy night. The library was packed! That's always good to see. :)

Reference Questions, 9/27/2010

Not supposed to be on the ref desk until 3, but I got called to the desk during lunch to answer 2 history inquiries so I decided to log them in my archive. I knew the answer to these 2 questions instantly. It's times like these that I know I am in the right place. :)

1. Student was looking for articles on the Ottoman Empire and daily life. I immediately thought of JSTOR and hit a home run. I found the absolutely perfect article.
2. Student was looking for books on the Ottoman Empire. Most of our books on the subject were checked out, but we did have a lot of ebooks on the subject so I pointed those out and explained how to use them.

Shift #1:

1. Looking for a highlighter to borrow
2. Question about printing from a Mac
3. Having trouble printing pictures; turned the Word Doc into a pdf and then it printed correctly
4. Looking for books and articles on the Ottoman Empire and daily life
5. (Chat) Looking for articles for a lit review on normal cervical dilation in nulliparous women
6. Having trouble with the copier. Sent her to the Front Desk, they handle that.

Got some real reference questions. Yay! :)

Reference Questions, 9/24/2010

I have 2 shifts on the reference desk today. The 8:00 a.m. shift and the lunch shift. Time to guide those ships in the right direction. :)

1. Having trouble printing from one of the Mac computers
2. Looking for the pay for print printer
3. Having trouble printing a pdf
4. Having trouble printing from IE. All university services hate IE for some reason. I suggested for future reference that she never use IE with Radford services.
5. Looking for the periodicals (in print)

Shift 2:

1. No questions on this shift. How sad. :(

Reference Desk, 9/22/2010

Back at the desk again. Yesterday's class went very well, and I have been assigned to teach two classes next week. I am learning more and more about this place everyday. It won't be long before all of this is old hat. :) Shift 1 (9 - 11):

1. Had question about whether or not he was allowed to use the 2 computers on the second floor.
2. Looking for classroom A
3. Looking for a textbook for a class
4. Looking for a textbook for a class
5. Looking for change
6. Having trouble with a Word doc. It froze when she tried to print it. I tried to cancel the print job in order to unfreeze it, but when that didn't work she had to force the program to quit.
7. Wanted 2 blank sheets of paper
8. Student had a question about the APA workshop that is being taught today. Wanted to know where it was going to be.
9. (Chat) APA in text citation question

Shift 2 (3-5):

1. Wanted help finding a reference book. Couldn't help them because they were playing the UNIV 100 Game.
2. Looking for book reviews
3. (Chat) Wanted to know how to get to the first floor. (With the way this building is laid out that is a very good question.)
4. Having trouble printing her paper that contained pictures. Had her turn it into a pdf per Sarah suggestion and it worked. :)
5. Wanted to know if they could use the stapler
6. Looking for a book and an article about propaganda
   
7. Question about scanning

I finally got a few chat questions. Yay me! ;)

Reference Desk 9/21/2010

Another day, another reference shift. So far, McConnell is definitely not as hectic as Jackson was. Then again this is only my third shift on the reference desk. Things can change in the blink of an eye on the reference desk.

1. Looking for a stapler

Got that one question right before the shift was over. :) I teach at 11:00 a.m.

Reference Desk, 9/20/2010

First day at the reference desk as a professional librarian. How exciting. :) I admit I'm a little nervous about it. Must show no fear. Shift #1:

1. Student had trouble printing because document opened in protected view. Had to figure out how to get document out of protected view so that it could be printed. Had to figure out how to get document out of protected view so that it could be printed. Went under document settings. It was a 97-2003 Word doc, was trying to open in Word 2010.
2. Student brought up keys that had been left at a computer in the back. I took the keys to the lost and found at the front desk.
3. Student was having problems printing from a Mac. Student needed to make sure her RU login ID was being used instead of her full name. After that was changed it worked.
4. Student had question about printing from her laptop. Gave student instructions about wireless printing. Suggested that if that didn't work that she email the paper to herself and print from one of the computers here in reference.
5. Student wanted to save a webpage as a pdf. Was unable to help her figure it out, but she figured it out herself after a few minutes.
6. Closed classroom A, opened classroom B
7. Looking for the bathrooms
8. Looking for Classroom A
9. Student having trouble opening assignment in Blackboard. Suggested she try another browser, it worked then.
   

Not bad for a one hour shift. It went well and I was able to answer some of the questions with no assistance. It is a learning process though. The more I do it, the better I'll be at it.

Second shift on the desk today. Another hour of knowledge dropping fun. Shift #2:

1. Student was looking for the book The Coal Tattoo.
   
2. Student wanted to borrow some scissors.
3. Looking for classroom A
4. Looking for classroom A

Today consisted of mostly directional questions and printing problems. This library makes Jackson look like a printing Nirvana. Hopefully all of the printing bugs will be worked out soon. Tomorrow I team teach for the first time. We'll see how that goes.