Reference Questions, 3/18/2011

I just finished teaching my first Shakespeare themed classes. The first one was a little rocky, but the second one went really well. I wish I could teach only Shakespeare research. Maybe someday...but until then it's reference time!

1.  Looking for Classroom B

This was a slow shift. Well, it is Friday. Maybe people were taking early lunches or getting an early start to their weekend.

Reference Questions, 3/17/2011

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone out in Libraryland! It's 11:00 a.m. on the reference desk. Do you know what your next reference question will be?

1. Looking for a stapler
2. Looking for Classroom B
3. Wanted to know how to get articles out of bound journals. (This question cracked me up. I really take for granted how much power we wield with all this knowledge we keep. ;) I should have told him that we librarians use are magic bookmark to remove them.) However I told him that he could use the copier. He then wanted to know if it took debit cards. I told him that it didn't, and that the Front Desk handled the copier questions. He went to the Front Desk and then returned to use the scanners. I'm sure he'll have more questions for me soon. Speak of the devil.
4. Needed help scanning; he was scanning each individual page as a separate file, so I showed him how to scan the article into one file
5. Scanning help again; he wasn't placing the book in the right corner of the scanner
6. Needed help printing to the Pay for Print printer
7. Wanted to know what to do with bound journals after he was finished with them
8. Wanted to borrow an eraser
9. Wanted to know if there was a way to look up your student ID number if you had forgotten it; I didn't know the answer, but I told her if there was it was probably in the MyRU portal

It was a steady shift. As the semester begins to wind down the library seems to stay pretty full. I figure we'll see an increase in "real" reference questions in the next few weeks, as students decide it's time to begin working on those final projects.

Reference Questions, 3/16/2011

Here we are for another round of reference questions. I sat on a career panel today for English graduate and undergraduate students. I told them all about the wonders of librarianship and how the skills they learn while pursuing their English degrees are perfect for library school. I am a realist (some would say pessimist) though, and I hope I didn't scare anyone away from pursuing a library degree.

1. Looking for the copier
2. Looking for One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
3. Needed help finding a book in the stacks
4. Looking for his lost cell phone; I sent him to lost and found at the Front Desk
5. Looking for book sources on Catwoman
6. Wanted to know where her paper would print out
7. Thought something was wrong with the printer because it went to sleep
8. The printer was not printing his paper; he had no money left in his printing account
9. Professor needed to get scantrons read and she said that she has always done that here downstairs; I called the dept. that used to be downstairs (Enterprise Systems) and after several minutes we finally found someone who knew what she was talking about (after calling the Walker Tech Ctr); the name of the department is Computer Operations they are in fact in the library in room 211 and they are open 7:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

It was a steady shift with an interesting question to cap the shift off. You do learn something new everyday.

Reference Questions, 3/15/2011

Today has been a good day so far. The class that the professor said was out of control turned out to be a good class and I found out I got into Beta Phi Mu. WooHoo! The library is packed this evening, let's see what happens.

1. Looking for a bathroom
2. Looking for a stapler
3. The stapler needed more staples
4. Needed help finding a book in the stacks
5. Wanted to know where to go to check out books
6. Looking for a group study area
7. Looking for a copier and how to use it
8. Wanted to know if the 4th floor was where you went to rent DVDs

A surprising slow shift considering how many students are in the library tonight. 

Reference Questions, 3/14/2011

Spring Break is over and this is the first week of the busy instruction season. I am teaching 8 classes this week. That will be the trend for the next 5-6 weeks. It's exciting don't ya know.

1. Needed help finding articles on migratory sea turtles and on how to cite those articles in CSE
2. Having trouble printing; had her send it to another printer
3. Having trouble printing; had him send it to another printer
4. Having trouble printing; all the printers are down (wonderful)
5. Student needed clarification on how to created a CSE style citation

All of the printers went down about 25 minutes into my shift. They simply would not print. What a wonderful start to a Monday. I have one more shift today.

I'm back for another shift on this glorious Monday. The printers are printing again. Let's hope they continue to work.

1.   Wanted to know if we have a copy of her textbook in the library; no

This was a very slow shift, and the printers worked the entire time. Yay!

Reference Questions, 3/10/2011

Spring Break at the reference desk once again. Yay me.

1. Student wanted to print from the computers at the scanners, I told her the scanner computers couldn't print, then she went back and got it to print; they had changed it recently and I had forgotten about it; not really sure why she came to the desk in the first place
2. Professor came to the desk and was upset that the APA LibGuide is not exactly like the APA Manual. I explained to her that this is a simplified version for undergraduates and that it states that in the guide. She said that graduate students do not read that and do not know that.

Tomorrow is the last day of Spring Break, and I have yet another shift. I'll be glad when we stop staffing the desk during times the students are not here.

Reference Questions, 3/9/2011

I am here on the reference desk for a two hour shift during Spring Break. There's no one int he library except us librarians. Why am I at the desk again?

1. Wanted a public login

I was surprised I got one question in two hours. :)