Reference Questions 4/16/09

And now for the Thursday edition of Irma knows best...

1. Student was looking for a reference book that listed all the books in the Bodley Head Quarto series. Nancy F. was still here so I referred the student to her. Come to find out there is a reference book perfect for this. Titles in Series.

2. A student was looking for Gerald, luckily he was still here.

3. A student was looking for scholarly journal articles and books on the portrayal of Christians in the media.

4. A student was looking for issues of Ladies Home Journal from 1925 and 1952.

5. A student was looking for books on fire and mythology.

6. (Chat) A student needed to access an article and wasn't familiar with how to use Journal Finder.

7. A student was looking for issues of Better Homes and Gardens from 1925 and 1952.

8. A patron needed to get access to checkout materials in order to study for the Praxis.

We had someone in here tonight that might have wandered off from a group home or something. You couldn't understand what he was saying and no one could make sense of what he wanted. He wasn't bothering any students just the security and staff. The police had to be called. I guess they took care of it.

It was a very slow night, which is just fine with me. I like the evening shifts. :)

Reference Questions 4/13/09

It is Irma Minerva time once again. :)

1. Student wanted to know if she could talk while in the reference room. It amuses me how some people think you cannot talk in the library. Then there are the people who walk in here yelling. :) 2. Student needed help printing.
3. Student wanted suggestions on how to search for books and articles on child molestation.
4. More helping with printing.
5. Student was looking for the volume of Plutarch's Lives that talks about Pompey.
6. A student was looking for bound copies of magazines such as Good Housekeeping and Ladies Home Journal. She needed issues that predate World War I and that follow.
7. Student was looking for the book I Love Dollars and Other Stories from China.
8. (Chat) A student had a questions about parenthetical citations in APA.
9. A patron needed some British magazines that were on microfilm and microfiche.
10. A patron needed a guest log-in.
11. A patron needed a guest log-in.
12. Student had a question about MLA citations.
13. A patron needed a guest log-in.
14. A student was looking for the book The Mis-education of the Negro. It was checked out. :( He said he was just going to go buy it an Amazon.
15. Student accidentally stuck their debit card into the First Card reader and it got stuck. We eventually got it out.
16. I just had my first rude patron. She was a graduate student in the School of Ed and she knew everything, got mad when I tried to perform the reference interview, was really having a bad day. She was having trouble accessing an article. Anyway the library does not have access to that journal for the dates she needs it for. She was saying how terrible the library is and how horrible ILL is. She was also complaining about always having to go to the public library to get what she needed. She said they were the only ones that would help her. Poor thing also had no idea that the library has databases that are tailored to education students and their needs. She went away mad. Oh well, this is why I want to work in technical services.

Truthfully, though I've been working on that Reference Desk since January 22, 2009, and tonight was the first time I had to interact with a rude student. I guess I can't complain too much.

Reference Questions 4/12/09, Easter

Yes, I am working the desk from 8:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. on Easter Sunday. This library was closed on Friday, but open on Sunday, makes tons of sense. Anyway, Irma never sleeps so here we go.

1. Student needed articles with pictures on interior architecture and the use of silk, marble and seagrass.
2. Student wanted to know if textbooks were on reserve here. Ok, first off reserves are at the Circulation Desk. Second, unless your professor put it on reserve it is not on reserve.
3. A student was having problems with the printer in the reading room. Sometimes all it takes is a little violence, I slammed their card in the card reader and it finally worked. ;)
4. A student was having problems printing off of Blackboard.
5. (Chat) A student was having trouble accessing a journal article. Seems that we do not have access to the journal she wanted, even though it looks like we should. Before I could suggest an alternative way of getting the article she logged out of the chat.
6. Another student having trouble printing off of Blackboard. Blackboard is a pain in the butt.
7. (Chat) A student needed help accessing an e-book.

Slow night, but it was Easter so that was to be expected.

Reference Questions 4/9/09

Here we go, another fun filled evening at the Jackson Library Reference Desk. Good Friday (oh, sorry I mean Spring Holiday) is tomorrow so I get off at 7:00 p.m. instead of 9:00 p.m. :) And to top it off I am the president-elect of LISSA. :-D Anyway, here are the questions in the order of their appearance.

1. Student wanted to know where the Basement was.
2. (Chat) Patron needed to search for an article in Newsweek or The Economist. It ended up being an article about "Plan Columbia" which was a plan by the government to quell drug smuggling. No luck in Newsweek finding an article so I went to Wikipedia and looked in the notes section and found an article that would be perfect from Newsweek International. Score one for the Wiki. :)

3. A patron wanted to know if we had anymore tax forms other than the ones we had out.
4. Student wanted to know if he could post flyers in the library.

5. Student wanted to search the MLA job listings, but you have to be a member of MLA to do that. She said she knew that it could be done from the library. However, Lynda told her that she need to get the password from the department. (I am assuming the English Department.)

6. Student wanted to know if we had headphones at the reference desk. No, they are kept at the Circulation Desk.

7. Student looking for the Peking Review from 1967 on microfilm.

Considering my shift was cut by 2 hours this was a pretty steady night. Tomorrow I leave for Staunton, VA and lots of ASC fun. :)

LISSA President-Elect

As of this afternoon I am officially the president-elect of the Library and Information Studies Student Association. I must be crazy for wanting this position, but I'll worry about that next semester when I'm actually president. Right now I'm happy about it and my resume is as well. :) As my grandmother likes to say, "Life is good." :) (for now...)

Reference Questions 4/6/09

It's Irma Minerva time. It's Monday on the Reference Desk. :) I ate nothing out of the ordinary today so hopefully I will have a boring calm evening on the desk.

1. Patron wanted to know if it was free to park on College Ave. after 5. (Don't know)
2. Student wanted to know where the art books are. (It amazes me how everyone thinks this is the Barnes & Nobles where each subject has a section. Let's do it the hard way.)
3. Student needed primary and secondary sources on US and Venezuela relations.
4. (Chat) Student needed articles on swing dancing. (On this chat for over 30 minutes. It is so hard to explain things over chat sometimes.)
5. Student wanted to know where the elevator was.
6. Student needed monologue books. (Those are popular.)
7. Monologue girl needed to find the monologue she wanted.
8. Student (who beyond reeked of cigarette smoke) needed to find the microfilm for a journal that he swears we have. I could not find it.
9. A patron needed a guest log in.
10. Student needed help with Excel.
11. (Chat) Patron needed help finding info on the prison system, judicial system and deviance in Russia. I asked if they were looking for books or articles and they never answered back.
12. Student had reserved some microfilm and was there to view it.
13. Patron was looking for Communication and persuasion : central and peripheral routes to attitude change by Richard E. Petty. (Funny, I know.)
14. Patron needed a guest log in.
15. Student wanted to know where they could get notebook paper.
16. Student wanted to know where to go to look up books.
17. Student was looking for 5 sources on the infrastructure of Sao Paulo, Brazil and Shanghai, China.
18. Student needed to know where to find a book.
19. Student was looking for some very old magazines, and wanted to browse the Stacks. (That sounds like a new form of torture.)

We had a fairly busy night. There were several people who came up while I was helping others and they had to be referred to Gerald or Mark. Fun times as always.

Reference Desk 4/2/09

This should be a fun night. I tried a new restaurant just off campus before coming to the library today and guess what...it made me sick. :( I will NEVER eat at Jack's again! Anyway on to more important things...Irma Minerva to the rescue. On this episode of Reference Desk...

1. Student was searching (alloparenting of primates) the Web of Science and needed to know how to access the actual articles. All Web of Science lists are abstracts. Journal Finder to the rescue.
2. Students were looking for books by Eric Jerome Dickey. They were all checked out. He's either popular, or some class is studying his novels.

Jenny just came on the desk with me...if anything I'm feeling worse. She's going to go eat her dinner then when she comes back I'm going to go home. :(

3. Student was looking for books on global and American fashion for a debate. A strange topic for a debate indeed.
4. Student (same one from #1) needed help with Word 2007. Doesn't everybody?
5. Student looking for books on reserve. They always come here first. The reserves are at the Circulation desk though.
6. Patron wanted to know if you could print on the express computers...no you cannot.

Ok, I'm going home now. Hopefully I'll feel better soon. :(