Meebo Me Widget

I am proposing that we have a chat widget on our library's website. Heck I am the virtual reference librarian aren't I? I wanted to play with it first. I couldn't believe how easy it was to do this on my own blog. Try it and if I am online I will talk to you too.

T as in T and K as in Koffin?

This was the question I had over the phone: Could I have the address and phone number for TK Mechanics in town? I wanted clarification and asked T as in.....?

Patrons reply: T as in T (probably meant "tea" which was still hard to understand over the phone) and K as in Koffin.

Email us your resume?

Okay. It must be a full moon or something. Too many wierd questions and this one tops the list for today.

A patron has a friend who typed his (patron's) resume for him. Now this friend has to send this resume to our patron. I didn't want to know where this friend was. Patron calls us to ask if this friend could send this resume to us because he doesn't know how else he could receive it.

After a chit-chat, it was clear our patron didn't know about emails or discs for saving. He concluded that he was going to ask his neice (who apparently has an email id) to receive this resume from his friend and get it printed. He thanked me for explaining this process too!

Whew! I am glad that was solved and I didn't have to receive strangers' resumes.

Reference Interview

Reference interview is not just an interview to figure out the problem and/or find out the question. Quite often it is also about dealing with people’s emotions. When something doesn’t work, patrons feel helpless, frustrated and angry. They need to print their resume right now as they are off to an interview and our computers don’t cooperate. It is here that an efficient librarian steps in - not only to help with the issue at hand, but also to diffuse anger. Sometimes unfortunately it is a one way communication - I am trying to communicate and patron isn't listening.

On many occasions patrons just tell me it (computer) isn’t working and from their voice and body language it is very possible they are about to explode with anger. When I ask more questions (reference interview) they are really infuriated - don’t I think they know what they are doing? I find ways to explain to them (politely) that I need to know what the problem is. They point aggressively to the screen while talking.

With all this background yelling, and bits & pieces of information they spurt out, I figure out the problem. Next step is to actually solve the problem. It could be a flicker of a switch, checking cable connections, rebooting, a phone call to our IT department, accessing patrons’ information from my computer to print a copy for them or in worst case scenario sending them to the nearest internet café so they can print their information there. The solution of course, depends on the problem. I must add patrons are not always happy with solutions such as running to the internet café. Understandably, the internet is free at the library. If it is a book or article they need and can’t find, then the approach is different.

It doesn’t matter how many computers, databases and books are available at a library. Without librarians to take the brunt and hunt for the right information quickly and efficiently, there will be chaos.

Librarian, information specialist, computer fixer-upper, social worker, baby-sitters, psychologist, security guard, what else??

At no time in library school did I take classes on human psychology, psychiatry or being social worker. Some days I perhaps should have considered taking some of these classes outside of LIS department.

We had police come in and look for someone we didn’t know. It turns out this person called police from the library's bathroom and threatened to kill herself. They found her of course all in one piece and still breathing. But what a night! Never a dull day at a public library! that is for sure.

Reference Librarian - Me, I am!

Not too long ago I took Facebooks' What kind of Librarian are you? challenge and was labelled "reference librarian." Though I was first surprised by a machine's ability to tell me exactly what I am, when I thought about it, it wasn't that much of a surprise.

I am curious about things, can be a bit too focussed on projects/questions I get, sceptical, lifelong learner, resilient, love change, have technical aptitude and always interested in learning and trying new technology. If you haven't tried this on Facebook go for it.

Glad to know I am what I am...

Project Management 101 for librarians

Librarians are constantly working on projects. The nature of the project, depth, limitations, outcome all vary depending on the project itself and where you work. Nevertheless, project management skills are very important. But don’t despair, you already have those skills and you just don’t know it yet.

Take me for example: In a public library setting and as a fairly new librarian (3 years), my projects are simpler than what a librarian for a huge system might have to accomplish. But I still work with people system-wide: define the project, find people to assist or work with me on the project, collect data, evaluate findings and then take it to my supervisor. I am really simplifying it here of course.

Project management involves change, people management skills, multitasking, knowledge of the project and/or where to go for help, dealing with limitations such as time, money, etc. It involves initiation, planning, implementation, reporting, concluding the project by accomplishing all (or most) of the goals set during initiation and planning, then going back to planning and implementation when something fails. Yup, it is a cycle.

This is a very important skill for all librarians regardless of which type of library we work in. It also goes hand-in-hand with time management and people skills. Good luck everyone!

Down Days

We were switching to a new ISP provider and had no internet for almost two full days at the front desk. What was amazing was that we still had lots of questions and were able to find answers for those questions. This tells me, libraries are still needed and will continue to flourish with our without computers. And we got a chance to brush up on Dewey.

Mashup 101

I was recently asked about this and although I had some idea what this was about I had never used it. So I did my research.

You know those remix songs you’ve been hearing – older songs with newer tunes, a few songs blended together, etc. That is Mashup. In a library setting, you can mix things together such as databases, websites, catalogs, front covers of books, etc and call it a Library Mash up. In a one-stop shopping world, library patrons seem to want and enjoy this.

It is a technology that allows communication and information exchange between different applications. It requires API (Application Programming Interface). API comes into action when one software has to communicate with another software and request it to perform some action. So for real estate data and map to work together API is needed.

Mashup can be created by inexperienced users with little or no technical college. End users can combine things in different ways. Google Maps – blends information from maps and real estate data. In a library you can have applications on your web page that shows where from most people are logging into your databases while displaying the map of your city and library locations.

Many websites are already Mashup: They have pictures, websites, text, etc all combined on one page. www.google.ca/ig, www.housingmaps.com

Information literacy is important here as well. You need to make sure all the information in your mashed up Website is coming from trusted sources.

For more information listen to this podcast by Darlene Fichter on Mash Ups

Valuable Information

A friend of mine wanted a recipe for homemade wax for waxing herself. She went on to Google and typed homemade waxing. Of the 500,000 or so results, she clicked on the first one, got her recipe, printed it off and was content.

Google makes searches look easy. But are the searches good? This was the question on my mind. And what about my friend who performed the search? Did she not want to see what else is out there, who put this recipe up, if this recipe is safe, etc?

It reminded me that this is how most patrons are searching and finding and assuming they have got the best information. They might be educated but are unaware of such a thing as information literacy.

With the ubiquitous www, there is a lot of information out there, some of it effectively managed through proper channels, but the rest of it is just data. Data doesn’t provide accurate information. And now I am worried for all those patrons who don’t come to us, who don’t use the library, who haven’t been to school or haven’t learnt information literacy. They are missing out on valuable information that could be out there!

Conference

We have our provincial library conference coming up soon and I am busy working on my presentation for the conference. Hence all is quiet on the western front.

My paper is going to be about diversity in our province with a focus on multiculturalism. We have always had many international students coming to our University, but now there are more people coming with jobs, opening businesses, etc. While the students usually thought of this place as their temporary aboard, the newer immigrants are actually staying. And, of course, the social make up of immigrants has changed a lot since the early 1900's. As opposed to Europeans, we get more Asians, immigrants from middle east and Africa.

Once I finish the conference, I hope to have more time to write for the blog.

Demand or request?

I absolutely dislike it when patrons come in or call and tell me how I should search for their information. I have probably mentioned this before.

I had a call today from a patron who started off with: "I want you to go to the Red Book and....." I could feel my blood pressure going up. He continued, I'll narrow down to the years 2000 and 2001 for you so you know which book you need to look at.

Really! Why thank you! What would I do and where would I be without those friendly!! instructions.

Just ask a question and if I need further information I'll ask you. Deal?

Patrons in a hurry!!!

It amazes and amuses me when a patron comes in with a lengthy question that requires a lengthy answer or some considerable time to search for an answer. But while you start answering or looking for an answer, they remember that their parking meter is running out or they have a bus to catch in 2 minutes.

With computers and online information things are speedy. But not that speedy people. If you have a question and want an answer, consider spending some time finding the answer. When we say answers are at our finger tips (with online sources), don't take it literarlly!

Perhaps they (and us librarians) need iphones........mmmm....how long would I have to wait for that I wonder.

When the computers shut down......

We, the younger generation of librarians are so comfortable with the internet and especially the idea of Googling that when computers are down we have to stop and think about how to retrieve information.

Our computers have been down all morning and I had a question: The address of our Governor General’s Office. I can’t remember the last time I may have used (or was shown) a print item that would have this information. I had to put the person on phone on hold and think for a minute before I realized Scotts! The government directory in Canada! Whew! One of my colleagues was pleased that she got to use the Short Story Indexes for her reference question.

It is a different feeling while having to use just print materials. You take your time finding answers, patrons seem to wait more patiently, etc. But you also get less done in the same amount of time (simply my opinion!). Nevertheless it felt rewarding. I felt like a librarian. (Oops, can I say that out loud)

Back from my holidays......

Howdy all,

I was away holidaying in India, the hot, crowded city of Chennai and just got back over the weekend. I got back to the cold snow and zero below weather of Canada. It is a bit of a system shock actually. My plan was to visit some libraries in Chennai while I was there, the ones I visited as a student. But it was hot and I just wanted to be with family and stayed home. So no library pictures from there this time.

Work is busy, I have a paper to finish for my SLA conference in April and there is an indexing job to be completed in the next two weeks.

Hope to post something soon,

Google it Will ya?

As an internet generation librarian I love Google - no doubt about that. When there is something too foreign to me I use Google as the starting point for my search. But don't you love it (as a librarian) when you pick up the phone and a patron on the other end begins their question with: "Go to google and search for yada yada yada...."

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!!

Federated Search Vs. Metasearch Engines

A federated search engine enables the user to search through multiple databases put together by the content provider (eg: Ebsco, Proquest or Google Scholar). All information that will be searched is integrated into one repository. Federated search is complex software. All sources added to it should be available at all times and of course users expect it to be fast like Google. Any rotten link is a disappointment for the users.

In a federated search, (like Google Scholar) someone has already put together databases from which you can get a response in unified format. Does this person who puts these databases together know for sure that these are the only databases (or sources) to be searched on this subject? May be the user wants to search across many disciplines to find an answer to his/her query. In this case, the federated search is restrictive. Many have called it a dumbing down search – making it too easy for the user. But still, users would have to be creative with search terms, know their subject headings, know their databases and to a large extent have some computer literacy skills. Database vendors offer federated search that allows users to search across all their databases (subscribed ones).

WorldCat is another example of federated search. A federated search is a way to harness the larger WWW. Google Co-op is also an example of how anyone can create their own limited search with pre-prescribed search engines or websites.

With Metasearch Engine users can submit a question to many information resources simultaneously – not just the chosen ones. Information is not integrated and is processed only when the user types a query. It is also known as cross searching (of databases), integrated searching, multiple database searching, parallel searching, etc. As it contains numerous sources to search from, a broken link will not be too much of a disappointment to the user.

Also, in metasearch search, content is fresh. Sources are added and searched everyday. In a federated search, the content provider has to find sources to add so information may be delayed.

Underestimated Librarians

I don’t think people in other professions have to explain themselves or their jobs as much as librarians do. First of all I find myself explaining to commoners that I have been to library school and received a special degree to be where I am and that is why I am called a “Librarian.”

When I tell people I am a librarian, they imagine me behind a desk signing out books. Helloooo… how long has it been since you went to a library? Do you see the other things that go on around there – like the library website which usually contains a wealth of information and is kept up-to-date, computer classes that are taught for free, displays that help you find THE book about something you might love but have never heard of before, librarians answering questions that could be from anyone about anything, and so much more? Well, librarians play a big role in all that. It takes time to collect information, to arrange for classes, to teach classes, to select and buy books, to order microfilms, videos, to put up displays, answer questions, evaluate and buy databases, constantly fill in the gaps in the huge collection and all the other things that come our way. We also take care of business side of things – like bargaining for the best databases from vendors. Then there is supervison of staff, administrative duties such as work schedules, payroll, etc and most importantly Outreach and Partnerships with organizations in the community. Now that is not easy work is it?

An acquaintance was chatting with me one evening. She asked me what exactly I do as a librarian & I explained all of the above to her. She was quite shocked and actually said to me: “I thought you just sign out books.” She seemed genuinely shocked that other things happen at a library and she is a well qualified computer professional!!

Europeana

Only hours within seeing light of day European Online Library crashed due to an overwhelming number of users. Being a virtual librarian I am interested and love all things online. But this is the fear of online life. Crashes!

Apart from fears and the fact that it will be back in December, this is going to be a very popular library – not only because it is European but also because it is online and accessible.

It provides access to some 2 million digital objects selected from Europe’s Museums, libraries, archives and audio-visual collections. They have a multilingual interface and English is one of the languages available.

I am amazed at how so many different entities worked together to bring this project this far. Congratulations Europeana! Hope you come back online soon and have no further hiccups.

It's the season to be sick!

As far as I know I am not allergic to anything - dust, flowers, cats - none of them. But living in the cold weather where I do, cooped up in heated buildings all day in winter or airconditioned buildings all day in summer I think I am beginning to get some allergies. There is no fresh air unless I make the effort to go for a walk.

I had a flu shot this time and still got sick. Go figure! I had it bad last year and hence the decision to get a shot this year. Not much changed.

It also does't help when patrons with all sorts of smells come in. The other day I walked by our computers and at the end of the walk I was sniffing myself. There was a horrible BO all around. Remember I had cold which also means a stuffy nose. The odour must have been so strong!

I was glad to find out it wasn't me. The whole area was perfumed! by BO. And a few minutes later walks in a lovely lady with heavy fruity perfume. My headache and sneezing just got worse!

Ciao