My next post was going to be about LBSC 690 but since I posted a library-related post in my other journal, I figured I'd cross-post it here as well.
Last Friday was my first day volunteering for the Society of the Cincinnati. I was supposed to have volunteered there at the beginning of February but then Snowmaggedon happened and it was postponed. For those who don't remember my last post, the Society of the Cincinnati was a group founded by Washington and several of his lieutenants, generals and other army compatriots at the end of the Revolutionary War. It seems to have become somewhat obscure after the deaths of Washington, Hamilton and other founders who were connected with it, but the Society survived and still exists to this day. The building in which it's headquartered is quite impressive. Anderson House is located on Embassy Row and was owned by one of the members who was an ambassador (to Japan if I remember correctly). He later bequeathed it to the Society after his death and they've been there ever since. I highly recommend visiting this place if you're ever in DC, if only for the architecture.
My first assignment was very light. As the library collects materials related to the Revolutionary War period, they receive catalogues of materials that might be of interest. My duty was to go through their online and their card catalogue (yes, they still have a physical card catalogue, especially for older materials) to see which items the library possess and to look through the catalogue to see which items they may want to purchase in the future. I hadn't used a card catalogue since I was a little girl...until Friday. Mostly, I liked to find books by browsing through the shelves (and still do). The library already has an extensive collection so there weren't too many gaps in their holdings. I did come across a letter in the catalogue written by the Marquis de Lafayette to du Pont (of du Pont family fame), written in 1828.
Aside from that, I was able to attend a lecture about George Washington's letters which was given on the same day. I found it very interesting; it made me wonder how (and if) future archivists will be able to preserve any materials from this time period as a lot of texts and such are being digitized. I'm a little ambivalent about digitization (which is probably sacrilegious in the information science and information technology profession). It's useful, but on the other hand, technology fails or it becomes obsolete. You'd have to find ways to prevent the files from becoming corrupt, convert the files to a different format, and you would likely need to have someone with knowledge of how older technology works (I'm thinking 100 years from now). Books and other printed materials fall apart, but if you handle them carefully (and print it on acid-free paper or another type of paper that takes a long time to degrade), you're likely to have them around for hundreds of years. However, this is an issue in which I would have to put my personal feelings aside in order to be an effective librarian. Be that as it may, if I ever get my own house/condo/apartment in which I live for the rest of my life, I'm going to have books EVERYWHERE!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
LBSC 650
Instead of reading an article for my LBSC 650 class (which isn't due until Thursday), I'm going to write about class instead. As mentioned in the last entry, this course is an introduction to reference which is meant to prepare the student for the 700-level reference courses. I will probably end up taking a few of those as my goal is to be an academic librarian specializing in eighteenth century literature and history. Reference courses will be useful as part of the job will undoubtedly involve helping patrons search for materials, narrowing down paper/research topics, and assisting them with bibliographic citations, among other things. Plus, it appears that reference librarianship is an entry-level position in a lot of libraries and I want to be marketable after I complete my MLIS.
Much of what I'm learning for this course involves a process called the reference interview. It's a way for the librarian (or staff member) to determine the needs of the patron. The patron question is not always what it seems so it's the librarian's duty to discover the question that lies behind the question. For example, a patron approaches the reference desk and asks for a book about kites. The patron may want to know the history of kites, how to make a kite, the popularity of kites, or a book that has the word "kite" in the title (e.g., "The Kite Runner"). The librarian would have to figure out the nature of the request.
Other information that librarians find useful during the reference interview includes purpose of the search (e.g., is the patron using it for a class project, for a paper, or for the patron's knowledge), the format he or she wants it in (book, journal article, etc.), and whether it's time-sensitive. Does the patron need the materials by a certain day and time? Once the librarian understand the request, the librarian searches for the information, ensuring that the patron is involved in the search. The patron can be part of the process by suggesting keywords or by being told of the steps that the librarian is taking to retrieve the information.
According to one of the articles I read, librarians are only about 55% successful in fulfilling a patron's request (I'll post the citation once I find it). Even though they're not always successful in finding information, building a good relationship with the patron seems to me to be just as important as locating the information that the patron needs. Another article also stated that patrons are likely to return to librarians who have been, to put it simply, friendly and attentive (I'll also include a citation for this once I find it). The literature stresses that patrons are often nervous when approaching the librarian. Conducting a positive reference interview can only ease the patron's anxiety and prove beneficial to the library as a whole.
Coming up next: a post about my LBSC 690 course (but sadly, not as quickly as this post appeared).
Much of what I'm learning for this course involves a process called the reference interview. It's a way for the librarian (or staff member) to determine the needs of the patron. The patron question is not always what it seems so it's the librarian's duty to discover the question that lies behind the question. For example, a patron approaches the reference desk and asks for a book about kites. The patron may want to know the history of kites, how to make a kite, the popularity of kites, or a book that has the word "kite" in the title (e.g., "The Kite Runner"). The librarian would have to figure out the nature of the request.
Other information that librarians find useful during the reference interview includes purpose of the search (e.g., is the patron using it for a class project, for a paper, or for the patron's knowledge), the format he or she wants it in (book, journal article, etc.), and whether it's time-sensitive. Does the patron need the materials by a certain day and time? Once the librarian understand the request, the librarian searches for the information, ensuring that the patron is involved in the search. The patron can be part of the process by suggesting keywords or by being told of the steps that the librarian is taking to retrieve the information.
According to one of the articles I read, librarians are only about 55% successful in fulfilling a patron's request (I'll post the citation once I find it). Even though they're not always successful in finding information, building a good relationship with the patron seems to me to be just as important as locating the information that the patron needs. Another article also stated that patrons are likely to return to librarians who have been, to put it simply, friendly and attentive (I'll also include a citation for this once I find it). The literature stresses that patrons are often nervous when approaching the librarian. Conducting a positive reference interview can only ease the patron's anxiety and prove beneficial to the library as a whole.
Coming up next: a post about my LBSC 690 course (but sadly, not as quickly as this post appeared).
Bonjour
I created this blog with the idea that I would post my thoughts about the classes that I'm taking while in library school and that I would chart my progress towards earning my MLIS degree and getting a position as an academic/research librarian. However, life (and library school) intervened and an entire semester passed without a single entry. Currently, I'm in the fourth week of the Spring semester. The third week never happened due to the massive snowstorm that hit the DC area on February 5th. I am taking three courses this semester, which is going to be more difficult (in terms of course load) as I only took two courses during the fall. The courses I'm taking are:
LBSC650--Reference (I forgot the formal title, but it's an introductory reference course)
LBSC690--Information Technology
LBSC734--Seminar in the Academic Library.
I am enjoying my classes--I'd better since I'm going to be so far in debt once I'm finished with library school that it'll take a couple of lifetimes to pay my loans. I'm investing in myself, so it's not too big of a deal.
My next post will go into further details about the topic and structure of my courses
LBSC650--Reference (I forgot the formal title, but it's an introductory reference course)
LBSC690--Information Technology
LBSC734--Seminar in the Academic Library.
I am enjoying my classes--I'd better since I'm going to be so far in debt once I'm finished with library school that it'll take a couple of lifetimes to pay my loans. I'm investing in myself, so it's not too big of a deal.
My next post will go into further details about the topic and structure of my courses
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