Greensboro College Practicum, Day 15 (7/15/09)

I arrived at the library at 8:30 a.m.

This morning I completed the textbook guide, (http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=tilE_OoTnHlFSzgnCTLoO9w&hl=en) and I finished going through the textbooks in the CMC, completing the missing publishers list. (http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=tSLfhTo9ZjDN6n8F7jJXldw&hl=en)

After lunch at Chick-fil-a (Jennie's treat) I began copy cataloging a set of books that are designated for the BB&T Ethics in Capitalism collection. The library received a donation earmarked for this collection. The collection consisted mostly of books on economics and capitalism.

I left the library at 6:00 p.m. thus completing this practicum. :)

I feel this practicum was a valuable experience for me for many reasons. It was my first look at how a technical services department runs in an academic library. Also it gave me a look at an academic library during a time of great financial strain and uncertainty. In today's economic climate I feel that this in itself was an important experience. Things do not always go as planned in a library, as was demonstrated during this practicum. It requires librarians to be creative and think outside of the box. Even with the absence of Classweb I was able to complete one of my main objectives, the textbook guideline. It is good to know that in a pinch there are alternatives to paid services for some situations.

This experience also confirmed that I do want to be a cataloger. I look forward to working in the technical services department at UNCG next semester. It will be interesting to see the differences and similarities between the two schools.

Greensboro College Practicum, Day 14 (7/14/09)

I arrived at the library at 8:30 a.m.

Today I began working on the textbook guideline that Jennie and I had discussed creating. I had to create it without the help of Classweb. I used the Library of C0ngress Classification Guideline website (http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/lcco/) along with Worldcat to construct the list. The list is a guideline for catalogers to use when cataloging textbooks. Most programs would place all textbooks in the L classification instead of placing it where its subject matter would fall. I assigned each licensure program a range of call letters that their textbooks could be found in. I used a Google Spreadsheet to create this. I also created cutter numbers for the main textbook publishers. The spreadsheet can be found here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=tilE_OoTnHlFSzgnCTLoO9w&hl=en.

Also, working from a checklist given to me by Jennie, I went through the textbook section in the CMC (Curriculum and Materials Center) room and checked off what was there. I also used that time to see which publisher's books we had that were not on the list. I made a Google spreadsheet that listed each publisher that was not present on the checklist. (http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=tSLfhTo9ZjDN6n8F7jJXldw&hl=en) Through this list the library will know which publishers they need to contact.

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

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.

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.

Greensboro College Practicum, Day 9 (6/10/09)

My birthday! :)

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

I began the day by continuing my work on the JSTOR journals that the Jones Library subscribes to. I worked on adding an 856 field to each journal's catalog record. I finished the list right before lunch.

After lunch I went to the catalog to check every journal that I had added an 856 field to. I wanted to check and make sure that the links were valid and would actually take a patron to the right journal in JSTOR. All of the links worked.

I left the library at 3:00 p.m.

Greensboro College Practicum, Day 8 (6/9/09)

I arrived at 9:00 a.m.

Today, after copy cataloging a gift book, I worked on processing the books that I had previously copy cataloged. This involved putting the spine label on the books, and the security strip in the books.

After lunch I began working on adding an 856 field to the journals that are in the catalog. This field is used by Jones Library to add a link to their catalog records so that each journal is more easily accessible through JSTOR.

At 3:00 p.m. Dr. Bird arrived for a site visit. Jennie gave Dr. Bird a tour of the library and introduced her to everyone that works in the library.

I left the library at 4:30 p.m.

Greensboro College Practicum, Day 7 (6/3/09)

I arrived at 9:00 a.m.

Jennie was not scheduled to be in until 2:00 p.m. this afternoon. So yesterday afternoon, we had put together some items that I could work on before she arrived. This morning I worked on copy cataloging reference books, as well as circulating books. I also copy cataloged a couple of books for the Levy-Loewenstein Holocaust Collection.

After lunch I returned to working with the thesis collection that I will be cataloging this summer. I read through the remaining thesis abstracts, again pulling keywords that I could use to construct subject headings. I was not able to begin actually constructing the subject headings because Jones Library is still having issues with Classweb.

When Jennie arrived, we again discussed the reports she runs every month. The Unicorn WorkFlows cataloging software they use has many different options for type and coverage of each available report. I ran an item count report on my own. I then reviewed the reports that Jennie had ran this week.

I left the library at 6:30 p.m. in the middle of a torrential downpour.

Greensboro College Practicum, Day 6 (6/2/09)

I started my day today at 9:00 a.m.

The library is still having issues with Classweb, so I spent today going through thesis abstracts and making note of keywords that could be used as or lead to subject headings. Whenever the Classweb woes are remedied, I will take my keywords and begin to construct subject headings and call numbers for the theses I will be cataloging this summer here at Greensboro College.

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

Greensboro College Practicum Day 5, (6/1/09)

I arrived today at 9:00 a.m.

Jennie had planned that I work with Classweb this morning, but they are still have issues with their Classweb subscription. So I began this morning with some copy cataloging. I worked on a reference book by myself. It is the first reference book I have cataloged. It was entitled Session Laws of North Carolina. Since this is a series of books that Greensboro College keeps, I had to add a call number to the existing record. I also cataloged a book that already had a very brief record in the catalog. For that I had to find the brief record, then download the record from Smart Port over top of it. It was the first time I had cataloged something like that too.

On the first of every month Jennie runs several cataloging reports. Among those are the new book reports. This report list every new book the library has acquired in the past month. Jennie uses this list to update the new book section on the library website. Other reports include a list of every book that has been cataloged in the past month. After lunch, Jennie attempted to run off a label report so that I could put labels on all the books I had cataloged so far. She was attempting to use a new system to print the book labels. She ran into some trouble with it, so I tried to help her figure it out. I went through the Report training manual for Unicorn Workflows and it was useless. It covered every report, except for the label report.

I left the library at 4:00 p.m.

Greensboro College Practicum, Day 4 (5/27/09)

I began my day at 9:00 a.m.

Jennie was working the afternoon/night shift, so she was not scheduled to come in until around 3:30 p.m. I spent this morning copy cataloging again using Unicorn WorkFlows by SirsiDynix. The records are downloaded from OCLC using the Smart Port wizard within this software program. After entering the ISBN number for the book I am working on I choose which record out of the ones provided is appropriate for use. I then capture and download the record. After the record is downloaded, I add the necessary extra fields and the bar code. I write the call number on the first page of the book in pencil, then I move on to the next book. I cataloged thirteen books before lunch.

After lunch I began working on some ILL requests that the library had received. I worked on that for the remainder of the afternoon, while helping Jennie man the reference desk.

I left the library at 6:30 p.m.

Greensboro College Practicum, Day 3 (5/26/09)

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

Today I spent all day copy cataloging education books that had been donated to the Jones Library. I started the day by reviewing the copy cataloging part of the Sirsi Dynix manual. After I had re-read the copy cataloging section, Jennie showed me how she does the copy cataloging for the library. I was assigned my very own cataloger code (KQXC) and then I began copy cataloging. The first book I ever copy cataloged was called Getting to Got It by Betty K. Garner. I tried to put a link to it on here, but the library's catalog would not pull it up. However, if you search the catalog at http://www.greensborocollege.edu/library/ you will surely find it.

I'm so proud of myself I cannot hardly stand it. :) I cataloged a total of 19 books today. I'm not sure if that is a lot or an average amount for a cataloger or what. Anyhow, I am glad to be doing some real cataloging. :) Tomorrow I will be doing more of the same.

I left the library today at 4:00 p.m.

Greensboro College Practicum, Day 2 (5/21/09)

I began my day at 9:00 a.m.

This morning I worked with Unicorn WorkFlows which is the Jones Library's cataloging software. It is a product produced by SirsiDynix. After I read through the Cataloging and Authority Control training guide I began to explore the program. I pulled up some MARC records with it, and studied them to compare which fields were used and which were omitted. When I felt comfortable, I created a MARC record of my own from some books we will be cataloging this summer. The Jones Library is having problems with Classweb, so I used WorldCat to access classification information. From there I was able to compare the record I had created to other libraries' records.

After lunch Jennie and I went down to cover the reference desk. From there Jennie let me take care of the ILL requests that had came in this morning. Using FirstSearch I located and requested the books that a professor needed for his summer research. I also prepared a book to be sent out to a requesting library. Also during that time two professors came in to pick up books they had requested through ILL.

When we were finished covering the reference desk, Jennie and I went up to her office so she could look over the MARC records for the books I had cataloged. My records were all correct. Jennie then walked me through different aspects of Unicorn WorkFlows. She showed me a template that I will be using later when we catalog the theses.

After Jennie left, I continued to work with Unicorn WorkFlows and I also read over the TSARS manual that Jennie made available to me. TSARS stands for Technical Services and Resources. It is a group of technical services librarians that represent each of the NC-PALS institutions. The TSARS manual goes over different rules or standards for using WorkFlows at one of the NC-PALS institutions. Different NC-PALS institutions are assigned different MARC fields for different uses. Greensboro College is assigned fields 970-979.) Each institution is given a "call number" to represent it. (Greensboro College's is KQX.)

I left the library at 5:30 p.m.

Greensboro College Practicum, Day 1 (5/20/09)

Today I began my practicum at Greensboro College. I am working in Technical Services at the James Addison Jones Library with Technical Services Librarian Jennie Hunt. Jennie is a graduate of UNCG's Library and Information Studies program, and a long time friend. She has hosted many library interns over her nine plus years at Greensboro College.

I arrived today at 9:00 a.m. Jennie and I had a brief conversation about cataloging and librarianship in her office before she gave me a tour of the library. We also discussed what I will be doing this summer. Among other things, Jennie has a box of bound theses that need cataloging. We will be doing original cataloging with those theses. Jennie is handling interlibrary loan this summer so I also plan to learn the ins and outs of an ILL librarian's job.

The James Addison Jones Library is a small academic library with only four floors of stacks. The library has recently converted one of their front rooms in order to house their serials collection. This room will also house a coffee bar when the Fall semester begins.

Today Jennie and I worked in interlibrary loans. I learned how ILLs are requested, received, and returned. The Jones Library uses OCLC for all of their ILL transactions. Jennie also keeps a separate spreadsheet to keep track of all the ILLs that are coming into or going out of the library. I assisted Jennie with preparing some ILL books to return to their respective libraries. We also filled a few lending requests from other libraries.

Jennie left at 4:00 p.m. today, and after she left I was going to familiarize myself with Classweb. However, the password I had would not work, and so I decided to browse OCLC FirstSearch instead. I left the library at 6:15 p.m.