Thursday, October 30, 2003

Fun Night at Answerland It was a most excellent night on Answerland.org. Earlier today on NEXGENLIB-L there had been a brief discussion on reader's advisory so of course, I got to practice that skill tonight ;-) Additionally, I was doubled-teamed by a mother/daughter team who started off looking for a particular book (no title and no author, of course) -- something along the lines of an "old dark woman who turns children into either objects or food." I didn't have a clue and I said as much. I kind of tried to explain that books, er, weren't my forte but that I was there to find facts and figures kind of thing. So I said she'd probably be better off calling the library first thing in the morning (they needed the book for a party tomorrow!) She was fine with that but I felt bad that I couldn't do more to help. Then before I knew it, I was chatting with the daughter (who was nine as it turns out) and she said, okay, how about a book on witches? So I headed to the online catalog, started looking for juvenile Halloween/witchy books when she lets me know that maybe she'd rather have something along the lines of fairies and sorcerers. So I start a new search, I'm skimming along, thinking that this is not anything I have a clue on how to do when I run across Spellfall -- I copy the card catalog summary to her, she reads it, and we co-browse to the catalog entry page. Then she puts a hold on it and thanked me. Yay! Right after that, I had my final patron of the evening -- a college student who wanted to know how she could find an article on electronic reserve for one of her classes. Once I knew what University she was attending, we co-browsed to school's library home page, found the link to electronic reserves and she was on her way! I love the feeling of success! 10:30:32 PM      comment []    trackback []

Saturday, October 18, 2003

High Praises for Reference Librarians Geniuses at Your Fingertips. Ron Force writes "They're geniuses, and they're at your fingertipsLong-forgotten public library reference desk stocked with answers, Doug Clark says.This is the Information Age, when fact-seekers surf the cyberwaves via powerful search engines like Google, Alta Vista or the ever-popular Yahoo. Not this yahoo.When Doug needs data, he puts down the computer mouse. He picks up the telephone and dials up Dennis, Jean or Louise.Google's cool, sure. But my search engines would kick your fanny on Jeopardy.Which is why I'm taking today to sing the praises of this oft-overlooked informational resource:The library reference desk..." [LISNews.com] 12:06:11 PM      comment []    trackback []

Wednesday, October 15, 2003

More on Learning/Teaching Reference There's a been a few follow-ups to Greg's post (somewhat prompted by my entry here) on teaching, learning, and generally sharing one's experience with reference questions (and answers). Library Girl followed up here and then posted to the LiveJournal communities: libraries and library_grrls. And here were my own thoughts and comments after reading Greg's post. 4:48:45 PM      comment []    trackback []

Tuesday, October 14, 2003

Colorado Launches Statewide Virtual Reference Service AskColorado is sponsored by the Colorado Department of Education and Colorado State Library. Here's how the launch was covered in a local paper. AskColorado uses Tutor.Com (formerly LSSI) for back up, late night service, and Spanish language research requests. Sharon Morris, AskColorado's Coordinator, provided ResourceShelf with a few additional facts. * AskColorado officially launched on 9/2 * AskColorado's virtual reference service in Spanish launched on 9/22 * 43 libraries around the state are part of the project * Numbers: +++In September, 865 questions +++So far in October, 1176 questions [ResourceShelf] 8:46:01 PM      comment []    trackback []

Friday, October 10, 2003

Are you willing to teach? Greg (of Open Stacks) brings up a great topic: "You know what I find lacking in the LIS blogosphere? I see a fair amount of writing that mentions different reference transactions (refgrunt, anyone?), but I never learn anything about how our diverse collection of information professionals goes about handling these situations. What proved the be the best source for "the history of music in Oregon during the 1850's?" What sources would you in fact recommend for a patron "researching public health policies?" Why don't we share more? Maybe we're not willing to have our techniques scrutinized by other so-called experts. That's understandable, but at the same time, I'd like to think I can be accountable for the guidance I provide. Plus, by sharing our approaches with the blogosphere, we're likely to hear alternate ideas from our brilliant cohorts. Perhaps there'll be some lively debate. Who can say for sure? All I know is that we have a lot to teach each other, the kind of insight you just can't get in a few hours of a grad school course. We have an opportunity to propagate more than our opinions about Ashcroft and OCLC (although these are clearly worthwhile pursuits that I have no intention of abandoning). Rather than saying over and over again that free-web search engines are not necessarily the best approach, let's start demonstrating it. We are not guardians of arcane knowledge, but information guides of the first order. So quit guarding your knowledge and let the guide in you shine through." Needless to say, Greg got my attention for a couple of reasons. The first being that the first reference question above is one I had from a recent session at Answerland. The second being, he's totally right. As a complete beginner, as someone who hasn't had a single reference class (yet, I can't wait for it; next term I think), I'm a little shy about sharing but what the heck. In general, I seem to have a "talent" for searching things out. And when I can't find the exact information requested, I usually get people pointed in the right direction. In this particular case, I did indeed us Google and came up with this set of results (and warned the patron that he would have to sift through those results quite a bit) and these results. I wasn't really happen with either so I strongly recommended that the patron follow up with someone at the University of Oregon, School of Music. The patron, however, seemed satisfied with what I found for him. Perhaps (as we were somewhat co-browsing), he learned enough to feel confidant about performing additional searches on his own. Or perhaps, he was just being polite. So, are you willing to share? To teach? To learn? And if so, should we create a dedicated space? Count me in on all accounts.   9:30:35 PM      comment []    trackback []

© Copyright 2003 Darci Chapman. Last update: 10/30/2003; 11:01:59 PM. This theme is based on the SoundWaves (blue) Manila theme.