Finally, a busy afternoon in the library. I have stopped by and "used the computer" a few times to try and find a day where there were people there and utilizing the reference desk. I chose to do this one "silently" because I didn't want to let them know I was waiting on an actual busy day for them, in case this would somehow offend them (since most days just didn't seem busy.)
A group of 4th grade kids working on their presidents. They were tenative on approaching the desk, but after one student asked where the presidential biographies were, they all started to stroll up asking questions as they worked. I wrote down a few.
How do you spell Gerald Ford?
Is Bill Clinton still alive?
Who was the 19th president?
What is polio?
What decade is the 19th century in?
She was very polite in helping them find the books and navigate websites through NCLive finding the information they were looking for for their class...as well as all the random questions that popped into their heads. They bombarded her for a solid 40 minutes of my observation, but she never seemed to get frustrated with their questions.
After the students left an older couple come in with a dispute on how long a cubit and a span is. It came from the Bible story of David and Goliath, where it said Goliath was six cubits and a span. The wife said it meant that he was over 10 feet tall, but the husband held firm that he had heard it mean he was just over 7 feet. The librarian on duty first took them to a bible reference book, but ended up just searching for it online. Google said that it translated to 9.75 feet, so the wife thanked the desk and they left.
A guy came in looking for old yearbooks after that. Almost every time I have been in the library someone seems to ask about those, so I guess that is a big demand there.
As my time and I discretely walked out the door, there was a guy coming in looking deep in thought and heading directly toward the front desk. I'm not sure what his question ended up being, but I'm almost certain he had it answered in a polite and helpful manner!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Friday, March 26, 2010
Article #2
Buckland, M. (2008). Reference library service in the digital environment. Library & Information Science Research (07408188), 30(2), 81-85. doi:10.1016/j.lisr.2008.03.002.
Buckland's article focused on the premise that a reference library's goal should ultimately be to empower the user to find information on their own (as opposed to empowering the library staff to find the answers). It went back through history to discuss how reference service has almost always been defined with the librarian as the mediator between the patron and the answer.
I think the biggest problem we face in moving to an atmosphere where users are capable of using the resources on their own, is the fact that librarians are still having a hard time using the continually changing reference tools. However, the current generation of librarians entering the field are digital natives and will find it much easier to teach the tools that they grew up using.
Therefore we may be moving toward a time where we are capable of changing the meaning of "reference service." The tools are much simpler now than they were 20 years ago, so the required skill/experience/intelligence level to have a self efficient patron is much lower.
This is a core belief that I held long before the article brought it up, however, because I want people to be comfortable looking for their own answers and have worked to teach this for a long time. A movement to change the views of our field is great, but my views were pretty much there all along.
Buckland's article focused on the premise that a reference library's goal should ultimately be to empower the user to find information on their own (as opposed to empowering the library staff to find the answers). It went back through history to discuss how reference service has almost always been defined with the librarian as the mediator between the patron and the answer.
I think the biggest problem we face in moving to an atmosphere where users are capable of using the resources on their own, is the fact that librarians are still having a hard time using the continually changing reference tools. However, the current generation of librarians entering the field are digital natives and will find it much easier to teach the tools that they grew up using.
Therefore we may be moving toward a time where we are capable of changing the meaning of "reference service." The tools are much simpler now than they were 20 years ago, so the required skill/experience/intelligence level to have a self efficient patron is much lower.
This is a core belief that I held long before the article brought it up, however, because I want people to be comfortable looking for their own answers and have worked to teach this for a long time. A movement to change the views of our field is great, but my views were pretty much there all along.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Article #1
Schaffhauser D. Make It Work. T.H.E. Journal [serial online]. August 1, 2008;35(8):34-37. Available from: ERIC, Ipswich, MA. Accessed April 5, 2010.
This article was essentially a look into a few different situations where budget constraints were directly holding back the implementation of technology for schools and media centers. It was a collection of ideas on how to "make it work."
It really seemed to line up with my frugal philosophy with electronics. I would prefer not to spend $500 on an ebook reader if my netbook (that I already own) can serve the same purpose. Some of the situations were solved through book fairs and grant writing, but I don't think you can expect to depend on unexpected funds coming in. I was more partial to where they hooked up with other libraries to split the fees to access a database, or decided to set up a Google Custom Search Engine to help their patrons.
Speaking of a Google Custom Search Engine, as I was reading it I knew that I had seen that option in the Google Apps listings, but I didn't realize how useful it could be to restrict access for students to sites and content that you want them to search. It would be pretty useful to create alongside of a pathfinder to allow students to search the sites on the pathfinder collectively!
I'm not sure if frugality is learned or innate, but this article showed me that I am already well suited for facing the budget constraints in my field. It just takes a bit of creativity to "Make It Work."
This article was essentially a look into a few different situations where budget constraints were directly holding back the implementation of technology for schools and media centers. It was a collection of ideas on how to "make it work."
It really seemed to line up with my frugal philosophy with electronics. I would prefer not to spend $500 on an ebook reader if my netbook (that I already own) can serve the same purpose. Some of the situations were solved through book fairs and grant writing, but I don't think you can expect to depend on unexpected funds coming in. I was more partial to where they hooked up with other libraries to split the fees to access a database, or decided to set up a Google Custom Search Engine to help their patrons.
Speaking of a Google Custom Search Engine, as I was reading it I knew that I had seen that option in the Google Apps listings, but I didn't realize how useful it could be to restrict access for students to sites and content that you want them to search. It would be pretty useful to create alongside of a pathfinder to allow students to search the sites on the pathfinder collectively!
I'm not sure if frugality is learned or innate, but this article showed me that I am already well suited for facing the budget constraints in my field. It just takes a bit of creativity to "Make It Work."
Friday, March 12, 2010
So much for a "liveblog"
UNC-G's guest wifi wasn't equipped to handle such a heavy load as a room full of laptops, it seems. There wasn't too much new territory covered (for me) but I did find an interesting site that hosts wiki pages: PBworks.com. It's a neat example to show people how they could set up their own personal wikis.
They also covered delicious, but I still only like to use that as another means of searching for useful sites...I don't really have a use to "share bookmarks" at this point. They spent a large amount of time describing all the interesting and exciting activities we WOULD be doing if the internet were working, but it wasn't, so the excitement was certainly not there for this workshop
They also covered delicious, but I still only like to use that as another means of searching for useful sites...I don't really have a use to "share bookmarks" at this point. They spent a large amount of time describing all the interesting and exciting activities we WOULD be doing if the internet were working, but it wasn't, so the excitement was certainly not there for this workshop
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Another great little nugget!
If you are using wordle to make a work cloud...it connects any phrases that are linked by a '~'
Meaning, social~networking, would show up as one term, instead of social and networking appearing separately.
That would allow you to set up any surveys that you want to copy/paste your results into Worldle in a manner that would let you keep key terms together!
Meaning, social~networking, would show up as one term, instead of social and networking appearing separately.
That would allow you to set up any surveys that you want to copy/paste your results into Worldle in a manner that would let you keep key terms together!
Web 2.0 PTEC Workshop
I'm spending the day in a Web 2.0 workshop in Greensboro, and 30 minutes in, I already know I could ace the "final" on the day's information. I'm now shifting to observer mode. I want to see how teachers are accepting and responding to these new tools for my future reference in teaching them to my staff. I'm going to attempt a live-blog to try and not lose my mind to boredom. We've watched two videos about people talking about technology so far with nothing being taught about the actual technology.
I did gleam a new tip on Google Docs through their initial survey they had everyone fill out. There is apparently a Forms option that allows you to create a quick and easy survey that you could send out to the staff as a weblink. I have used surveymonkey in the past, but this seems much more feasible and connected to my other tools I use!
I did gleam a new tip on Google Docs through their initial survey they had everyone fill out. There is apparently a Forms option that allows you to create a quick and easy survey that you could send out to the staff as a weblink. I have used surveymonkey in the past, but this seems much more feasible and connected to my other tools I use!
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