Library at night*

Here's where I work. This is a shot of the modern addition on the library.

Here is the where the old and new parts of the library meet:


Another view of the same area:


They've turned this space into a cafe and meeting spot for the campus. People on the upper floors can take a break from their studies and look over the railing at people's heads below, maybe drop things on them. Just kidding.

*The inspiration for this title comes from Alberto Manguel's book The Library at Night.

Fourscore and seven years ago

Most of the time when you help someone with their research, you have no idea how much you've helped them. Sure, there's the smiles and "thank yous", bobs of the head and hand-shaking, but then the person you've helped (or so you hope) turns and walks away, and you never see them again.

But sometimes you gain a glimpse of your contribution to someone's research, however small or monumental (I'll never forget how I helped a visibly distraught person dealing with their cancer diagnosis--the mere act of showing this person where concrete information could be found soothed their trembling limbs and wiped the tears from their eyes).

I got this brilliant glimpse the other day when I saw this New York Times book review of Charles Bracelyn Flood's new book 1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History. I actually helped do a miniscule bit of research for this man, the library's resident historian, a year or two ago. It was something to do with searching for primary sources from Lincoln's times. I didn't think much of it at the time, just thought it was so cool to read articles written while Lincoln was alive. I make no claims here other than the astonishment of my proximity, however negligible, to this book.

If you're curious to see these articles, just go to the New York Times archives, which go all the way back to 1851.

Design paradigm

Sometimes you can do everything you can possibly do, and it still isn't enough.

A student had a problem locating an online article at the library. It was in the 2004 issue of some random journal. A search of our online journal list pulls up this random journal...so it looks like we have it. But, there is a indication of the years we have access to, clearly delineated when the user clicks on random journal title. 2004 is not included in those years. Yet said student does not register this.

This is something that I have noticed while helping people, both at the public library and at the university. People do not seem to read what is on the screen in front of them. At first, I assumed this was just laziness on their part (students today tend to give up at the first obstacle they encounter in their searches). Then I started wondering whether there is something wrong with the design of the websites they are looking at: is the layout confusing, the text too weird, the colors off-putting? Does our online journal list fall into any of those categories?

Something to think about next year. I'm supposed to be on break.

One day

A few things I did today, on the last day of work for the year:

• Looked at Orlando, thinking about its usefulness to the library

• Ruthlessly cleaned out my email and organized to-do's

• Gathered signatures for a Christmas card

• Made faces at a co-worker's baby

• Ate tons of food at the annual Christmas party

• Worked on a library resources webpage

• Surfed flickr for interesting photos to include in above webpage

• Read some blogposts about libraries

• Ate a tangerine

Working anywhere

I worked from home today. It was rather boring, though I was able to watch TLC's What Not to Wear while eating lunch, and pick up around the house when I needed a break. Pope slept at my feet most of the time (now I can see why he goes on wild romps about the house when we're ready for bed).

I hate my car with the passion of a thousand fiery suns. It is becoming unpredictable at the worst possible time.

The Book

If anyone at work doubts how much I love the Harry Potter books, they doubt no more starting today. The head of our department came by, holding The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and I gasped, clasping my hands in front of my chest.

Completely involuntary, somewhat embarrassing.

I'm cold

Deep autumn is here. The air is snappy and biting, no longer lazy with heat. This means sweaters and blankets, thick socks and soft scarves.

It also means that "cold as death" is around the corner. I use this term for that cold that gets into your bones, that you can't seem to shake unless you are standing in front of a bonfire. It's not necessarily limited to the dark winter months of the far north, where the wind howls for miles over the plains.

I freely admit that it's entirely subjective (to me). Jon finds this hilarious, he who can go outside in 50 degree weather with nothing on but a shirt and pants and be "on the cool side of comfortable".

I write this we're entering an uncertain period at the office--the span of time between when it first gets cold outside and when they turn the heat on inside--and it's "cold as death" in here.

KLA observations

I went to the Kentucky Library Association annual conference last week in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. It was for professional development, so just about everything was paid for--a perk that I am still getting used to.

The funny thing was--I didn't get as much out of it as I thought I would. Apparently, I'm not alone in thinking this. My colleagues told me and a fellow newbie to get used to that feeling.

The two sessions I enjoyed (out of a two day event) were "Next generation catalog landscape" and "Copyright in the library: painless solutions for the moderately squeamish." Absolutely fascinating for those of you outside the library world, I know; nonetheless, very enlightening for those of us that need to know.

I felt very much a "Generation-Y" person there, a youngish person in a sea of mostly grey-haired professional folk (I was wearing jeans alongside other folks smartly dressed in blazers and shiny loafers). My library is remarkably forward-thinking, especially as regards technology and the evolving paradigm embodied in "Web 2.0," so it was interesting to encounter folks who were reluctant to acknowledge the place that technology has in libraries, especially as our patron group is shifting as younger generations grow up. I understand this reluctance, even as I am impatient with it.

On the web

I've contributed a page to LibGuides@EKU.

It's the Faculty page under English & Literary Research.

More than you wanted to know

For those of you dying to know, my official title is "Electronic Resources Access Librarian." I have business cards, too, if you want one. My supply will probably last until I die.

So what exactly do I do at work?

I tell people who ask that I deal with all the "online stuff," such as

databases

online journals

I also deal with access issues (as my job title suggests), which involves anything from checking links to communicating with publishers and/or our middleman at Ebsco (which handles most of our subscriptions) to updating SFX, our linking system and all other sorts of things.

Are you even more confused? See why I just said "online stuff"?

I also spend some time on the reference desk, am working my way into serving on some committees, and am a liaison to some departments on campus.

It's necessary

I'm doing some mandatory online workshops on "Office Safety." A sample question, and its possible answers:

The better your _______, the better prepared you are to handle stress factors.

a. psychic abilities
b. SAT scores
c. physical condition
d. golf handicap

A new beginning, and wi-fi

I'm a couple days into my new job. My brain feels like a box of puzzle pieces, with some pieces missing.

One perk of this job is the laptop, which has wireless. Because of this, I found out that there is a wireless signal in the area called "bigdaddy."

Moving on

I got a job at a university library, where I worked as an intern. We are absolutely thrilled, and I am looking forward to the challenge of working with "online stuff", as well as working with a cool bunch of people.

On the downside, this means I have to leave my current public library job (obviously).

What I will miss:
--Updates on the price of milk and orange juice from a certain curmudgeon lady patron
--Children so antsy for the books they are checking out, no sooner do they lay them on the counter, they snatch them away again, before I can check them out
--Showing folks how to use a mouse
--Books
--Learning some odd tidbit of local history
--Calming a nervous patron down as we work through the process of figuring out some medical terminology for a scary disease
--Books
--Working with a crazy, lovable group of folks
--Seeing shy teenagers peruse the stacks and come out with a towering stack of books to read
--Books

Waiting time

One day at work, the big guy was helping a patron with his studies. Fannie came in and took a seat at the reference desk. She waited twenty seconds, then said very loudly, "Well! I can't wait!"

He just ignored her.

Connections

I was checking out books for a guy this weekend and realized that the cover of a book looked familiar. It was Rhododendron Gap, of the Grayson Highlands (see my post below).

It gave me an opportunity to wax poetic about the beauties of southwestern Virginia. He looked very impressed, and I was, consequently, very impressed with myself. How much we esteem the opinion of our fellow man...

Talk about being able to recommend a book!

What's in a name

I came across this name while working on a Kentucky DAR scrapbook today:

Beach Jett

How appropriate for summer.

Another day as always

Fannie called the library and asked for two other people. Since they were not there, I said, "Sorry, you've got me."

"Wellll...that's allright. It's just you know nuthin'."

I did not take offense, as she has been thrilled by my help many times in the past.

All she wanted to do was tell us that she had had a half-hour nap and was going to eat dinner.

"Hamburger!" she cried

I was helping someone at the reference desk who was asking about researching the history of a property when I heard, "Hamburger!"

I looked up to see Fannie, about 20 feet away, saying again (quite loudly), "Hamburger!"

When she got to the desk, she said, "Don't forget hamburger! ... Hamburger at Kroger's has e. coli--don't you eat it! Don't forget hamburger!"

Then she turned to one of the women I was helping and poked her, "Don't forget about the hamburger at Kroger's!" She walked away muttering to herself, her duty accomplished.

Thankfully there were no small children in her way, otherwise they too would have received a poke.

Libguides at EKU

This is so cool! I wish we had these "LibGuides" when I was still in school, particularly as an undergrad. When I think about how I did research back then (and I'm still not quite sure exactly how I researched things before library school), I cringe.

The folks over at EKU have started making guides to various subjects, ranging from geology to theater to social work to homeland security. Depending on who made the guides, you can find news feeds, databases of interest, tips on how to do effective searches, websites to check out, etc. For an example, see LibGuides@EKU: Geology, created by Cindi Trainor, or LibGuides@EKU: Social Work, done by my former supervisor Kelly Smith.

What was going to be a simple click-through from Trainor's blog turned out to be an in-depth exploration as I mentally filed away tips and ideas for use at the reference desk (while we don't get serious researchers everyday, enough students come in for help to keep me on my toes--particularly as a small public library doesn't exactly have a lot to offer on topics like sociology or small child counseling).

Oh, the horror!

I helped a boy with his homework. He came in asking for stuff on 19th century U.S. history. I asked what it was for, and he showed me the questions he had to answer at the back of a chapter in his textbook.

Everything he needed to answer the questions was there in the chapter--he could have copied his answers verbatim. His problem? He didn't want to read.

I forced him to scan the chapter with me. I even pointed out the sections that contained the answers to some of the questions, and asked him what he thought the answer was, but he still resisted the notion of reading.

It's a good thing I don't work all day with children, because such resistance to reading is foreign to me, and I would become highly impatient.