Darci Chapman: Volunteer Work

Fun Night at Answerland

Fri, 31 Oct 2003 06:30:32 GMT

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!

Are you willing to teach?

Sat, 11 Oct 2003 05:30:35 GMT

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.

Friends of the Portland Community College Library

Fri, 10 Oct 2003 04:34:08 GMT

I'm not sure how current this info is, but there's a new Friends of the Library organization for PCC libraries forming. I've just sent off an email requesting more information. Could be interesting, especially the part about volunteer opportunities. That's what I need! :-)

Fun Times at Answerland

Tue, 07 Oct 2003 06:48:08 GMT

I had a great time on answerland.org tonight! I was sort of dreading my (2-hour) session tonight because I assumed I would have the same connection problems as last time. So, I was kind of hoping no patrons would drop by... and it looked like that was going to be the case until 10 minutes before my shift ended. Not one, not two, but three folks showed up and I was bouncing around all over the place :-) One lost their connection to the server (not under my control) before I could verify they got the info they needed (looking for reviews on the books/movies, Schindler's List) but the other two were quite happy with what I found for them (overview of Swedish history for a topic for a short paper and the history of music in Oregon during the 1850's).

I'm really looking forward to the rest of my shifts now!

Wed, 01 Oct 2003 04:35:37 GMT

I had what I would call my first successful session with a patron at answerland.org. I'm still having major connectivity issues with the hosting site but I actually helped someone tonight. And I didn't know the answer either. Thank goodness for Google's ability to do site searches. I figured out where the patron could login and what his default password was -- all for a library I've never been to! :-)

Oregonian's Article on 90th Anniversary of the Cornelius Public Library

Thu, 18 Sep 2003 21:52:53 GMT

You can read all about it here (for up to two weeks).

First Night at Answerland.org

Thu, 18 Sep 2003 04:55:36 GMT

Well, other than ongoing connectivity problems I have with the virtual reference hosting folks, it didn't go too badly at answerland.org. I had two clients: the first wanted to know how to view the available movies and CD's that the library had and the second wanted to what the status code of "problem shelf" meant. I didn't know the answer to the second and it took me far too long to answer the first (but I think I finally did if s/he managed to see the last URL I sent across the wires). Either way, they both left their email addresses for follow-up.

No, it was much more challenging to stay connected by re-logging in every 3-7 minutes. :P