Reference Questions, 11/30/10

It's Tuesday which means I am working until 10:oo p.m. tonight. I've been on campus since 10:00 a.m. this morning because I had to attend Conduct Board training. So yay! I'm now a member of the University Conduct Board. Anyway, I'm here in my office monitoring chat until my shift on the desk starts at 8:00 p.m. My office mate has the 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. shift this week.

1. (Chat) Needed to know which database would be best for searching for journals on pet therapy
2. Wanted to know where to return a reference book
3. (Phone) Wanted to know how to format a title page and a running header in APA
4. Wanted to borrow a pencil
5. Wanted to know how to present a quotation in a paper using APA style; If the quote is less than 40 words it can remain in text, if it's more you need to separate it out by indenting it
   

The last shift of the day was slow. The library was pretty full, but I guess no one needed help. Oh well. :)

Reference Questions, 11/29/10

Here we are again.

1. Needed to know how to find a book here in the library, specifically The Afterlife of Poe by Scott Peebles.
2. Having problems with the scanner; had her move to the other scanner
   
3. (Chat) Asked a question about APA then disappeared for 13 minutes, then returned; wanted to know about citing a paraphrase
   
4. Having problems with the scanner; same one as before; had her restart the computer since the other scanner was taken; hopefully that will work
   

Slow shift. It will probably amp back up later in the week.

Reference Questions, 11/28/10

Regular hours resume today at the library. It's a Sunday, my first Sunday on the reference desk, and I am on for 7 hours. A 7 hour desk shift; this should be fun.

1. Question about printing in color; was having trouble printing a brochure
2. Question about formatting footnotes in Word
3. Wanted to know how to use the scanner
4. Another scanner question
5. Need a guest login
   
6. (Chat) APA style question, in-text citations
7. Looking for a pair of headphones
8. Looking for a pair of headphones
9. Printing question; wanted to put RU Express money into his printing account
   
10. APA question; needed help formatting his bibliography
11. Having trouble printing a brochure in color
    
12. (Chat) Wanted to know how to cite a textbook in APA; this chat took a lot longer than it should have
13. (Chat) Wanted to know how to do an in-text citation for a book
14. Looking for 3 different books; we had one of them
15. (Chat) Needed to know how to create an in-text citation for a scholarly article with multiple authors; lost the chat before I could answer her
    
16. Having trouble printing; the print window would not finish calculating; had her move to another computer
17. Looking for marketing data on a local chain restaurant
    
18. Needed to know how to switch to RU Express in the print assist window
19. Looking for 2 movies she had to watch for a nursing class: A Beautiful Mind and Rain Man
20. Wanted to know where to check out
21. Student had opened a file out of his email and was working on it. He closed it, then realized he didn't know where it saved. Wanted me to help him find it. I wish students would designate where to save their files instead of just clicking save and then not know where it is. We need to make some signage for this.
22. Question about citing a paraphrase using APA style; wanted to know if it was different from a direct quote

Not too busy tonight, just steady. The library was a little over half full throughout my shift. The final run tot he end of the semester has begun.

Reference Questions, 11/24/2010

It's the day before Thanksgiving and I am on the reference desk yet again. There is not a single student in the library. This is going to be a slow 2 hours. At least I get to leave at noon.

1. (Email) A professor's electronic access had been suspended. He needed it to be reactivated. The problem was (probably) that each faculty member/student is allowed 75 MB of downloading per hour and he probably reached his, so if that happens the account gets suspended for 60 minutes.
2. A staff member wanted to know how to print an email
3. Looking for scholarly articles on the origins of the theories of inequality
   
4. Looking for 2 occupational therapy journals

Of course those last 2 questions came with 10 minutes on the desk, and made me extend my shift by 5 minutes. That's how it always is though. No one wants to talk to you until you are ready to leave. I hope all my fellow librarians have a great Thanksgiving! :)

Reference Questions, 11/23/2010

Here at the reference desk, it's Thanksgiving break and I see 4 students on this floor. Whoa.

1. Looking for books on cassette to take with him on a road trip; all we had were children's books and a few other things that he was not interested in
2. Looking for the over-sized books
3. (Phone) Wanted to know how to create a reference and an in-text citation for the USCourts.gov website; also needed to know how to cite a Supreme Court case; I had to use the Bluebook :(
   

OK I thought this ref shift was going to be dull, well I was wrong. While sitting at the ref desk I overheard a conversation between a student and a faculty member. When the faculty member came up she said she was in the process of applying to grad schools. First she said "I didn't apply to any grad schools in FL because I didn't want to die from a hurricane." She went on to say that was the same reason she didn't apply at any Gulf Coast schools. Also she didn't apply to any grad schools in FL because of the snakes and gators, they freak her out. She also added that she didn't apply to any grad schools in CA because she was afraid that the state was going to fall in the ocean. (He told her that those were all interesting concerns to have.) After that she said that she just applied to grad schools she thought she could get into. Oh brother, after that first line I almost busted out laughing, so I had to act like I was coughing since she was sitting 8 feet away from me.

Reference Questions, 11/22/2010

It's Thanksgiving week, and I'm here on the reference desk for 2 hours today. I expect it to be a slow couple of hours. I believe there are only 3 students on this entire floor.

1. Looking for a DVD Theories in Social Work Practice
   
2. Looking for the book Modern Social Work Theory

Yep, 2 questions in 2 hours. :)

Reference Questions, 11/19/2010

Last reference shift of the week. Next week should be slow. Classes are not in session and we are only open 2 and a half days. The library looks pretty empty right now. Most people probably got a jump start on the Thanksgiving holiday.

1. (Chat) Looking for articles on Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and dystopia (this was one of those wonderful 30+ min chats)
   
2. Looking for DVDs in French

It was slow, however that chat took up half of my shift. To make it worse this student was in one of the ENGL 300 classes I taught with another librarian earlier in the semester, and it was obvious they were not paying attention in that class. [Virtual smack up side the head]