While on my break from school I heard some disappointing news. I recommended a book to my grandmother; she asked me if she could just buy it at Barnes & Noble. I said of course she could, but I also told her that she could look for it at her library. She frowned at me and said she does not use her library. When she makes that face, I know not to ask anymore about it, though I was itching to know why she wouldn't use her library. I understand why she would refuse to try out a Nook (which she most crankily did) because of the challenging technology (my grandparents' house doesn't have wifi). However, I couldn't understand why she refused to use the library. As a senior citizen, and living in this troubling economy, I know money is tight, and yet she would keep on buying books at B&N (which aren't cheap like a second-hand store). Luckily, she has no problem with passing on books to friends and relatives when she's done with them. The last unsettling moment was when my grandmother told me that she picked up a book (not knowing what it was about) and realized that the romance novel was about a gay couple. Well then she proceeded to throw it in the trash with disgust. If she had borrowed the book from the library, she could have returned it and saved the new book from meeting its early end.
Also, my family's pursuit of the traditional Black Sunday shopping made me miss the opportunity to visit the Corning Glass Museum Research Library. One day I will go back to visit the library instead of shopping around for pricey glass.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Misc.
Lots of things have happened in the past week. One of the most startling things was a story my sister told me. Apparently when my mother heard that my boyfriend had bought me a Kindle, she panicked and told my mother that they needed to start saving up for a wedding. I was surprised to hear this because I have never discussed getting married with my mom. I also do not understand why the Kindle purchase led to a wedding. While I love my Kindle a lot and it's definitely the best gift given to me in a long time, I did not have the same thought process as my mom. It's true that books are the best way to my heart (besides food) but it was just a hilarious story. My friends seemed to find it funny to and suggested I write a story entitled "From an e-book to marriage".
Speaking of my boyfriend, I've been thinking about my career path. After graduation I plan on working in a military library or a library on an Army base. As far as internships, I have been doing some brainstorming. I think that this summer I may go back home and try to find an internship on the Marine Corps Quantico base. I'm having a difficult time trying to find internships. I have also thought about working as a community college, so I may start looking for internships in that area.
I've been working on about 4 projects this week. I've learned a lot and there's no way I can discuss all of them but I just wanted to say that having 4 projects due in one week is definitely a good representation of how Library School is definitely not easy, and yes in fact you definitely deserve a degree for the hard work that happens in this program.
Speaking of my boyfriend, I've been thinking about my career path. After graduation I plan on working in a military library or a library on an Army base. As far as internships, I have been doing some brainstorming. I think that this summer I may go back home and try to find an internship on the Marine Corps Quantico base. I'm having a difficult time trying to find internships. I have also thought about working as a community college, so I may start looking for internships in that area.
I've been working on about 4 projects this week. I've learned a lot and there's no way I can discuss all of them but I just wanted to say that having 4 projects due in one week is definitely a good representation of how Library School is definitely not easy, and yes in fact you definitely deserve a degree for the hard work that happens in this program.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Library Lock-In
Friday night I volunteered at a library lock-in/scavenger hunt at my university's library. My job was to monitor one of the floors, to provide assistance (not giving away answers of course) and to make sure people didn't walk away with books (which almost happened). First of all, it was quite difficult, as a librarian-in-the-works, to tell the groups that actually I couldn't help them find answers. I'm currently taking a reference class and so when I was asked to help find certain call numbers, I was itching to help them. The only help I was allowed to give was to explain to an international student that "correspondence" usually meant "letters". Previously, I never really had an interest in reference, but after this experience I think I could really enjoy it. I truly wanted to help these students because so many were frustrated and confused by the library. I find this really sad because these students couldn't be more than 4 years younger than me. I can now understand, however, why so many students avoid going to the library all together. Parts of the library are poorly marked, maps and signs aren't placed in obvious spots. Also, many students do not realize that the reference call numbers are in their own section on each floor. The scavenger hunt was very eye-opening for me and the library staff members. It's true that librarians view the library in one way, but sometimes the users see it in a different way and that's why many aren't able to access what's hidden right in front of them. I love that the library put together this event because at least the 40 students that participated have a better understanding of how to navigate the library.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Getting Practice
While this week, due to Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy's "appearance" in New York, I did not do much that was library related, I did experience a moment with my roommate that convinced me that I am learning how to become a top notch reference librarian. My roommate is currently taking a class in Music Research. She had an assignment in which she had to find print sources for a research paper. While I was holed up in Bird Library working on an assignment, she came to me for help. I led her over to an available computer and we explored the library website. I explained to her the purpose of the subject guides, and after looking through them, we could not find anything she needed. We then looked through the Catalog (Advanced Search of course) and she looked through her options while I merely stood there to guide her. Through trial and error, and by using appropriate keyword searches, we found some print sources. She wrote down the call numbers and I told her that if she needed help finding them, I'd be willing to help. After 5 minutes she came back with a handful of books. She smiled and said she was glad she had such a good librarian to help her. While this experience may not seem that significant, it helped me to practice my reference skills and it also gave me satisfaction that a lot of people do truly appreciate the help of a librarian.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Video!
Now I'm no expert at making videos, but I didn't want to edit actual film, so I created my video on "You Need a Degree for THAT?" by using PowerPoint. It was a lot harder than I expected due to all the timings of animation and incorporating music as well. I did have a lot of fun making the webcam pictures. The audio quality is not perfect, but I'm clueless about how to fix it. I hope you all enjoy! Also, open the video up to full screen and turn up the volume a little bit!
Monday, October 15, 2012
Library Visits
This weekend, in attempt to get started on a project, I ended up going to four different libraries. They were all different and had their own unique qualities. When browsing these libraries, I noticed different things and personally evaluated them with the consideration of space that Professor Lankes mentions in his book. Here is my breakdown of the four libraries.
Bird Library: I'm sure every SU LIS student has been to Bird before, but this weekend was the first time I've been beyond the first floor. I found myself situated at multiple spots on the 2nd floor (I went to Bird twice this weekend). One thing I noticed is that the areas labelled "QUIET" are hardly followed. I think the problem arose from the fact that the area of available computers, where people were printing (and trying to fix the printers) was noisy and unfortunately located right next to tables where people were trying to get work done. I had a hard time stopping myself from giving multiple people the "stink eye". I also ran into some confusion when I was searching through the Reference area on the 2nd floor. One small area is labelled Reference; however, many of the Reference books I was searching for were eventually found beyond the region of Reference. In fact several of my searches led me to the other floors. I'm convinced that the 3rd floor has a missing section of call numbers. Also, I was too embarrassed to actually ask for help due to the fact that I have pride as a Library student and therefore believe that my searching skills are adequate and that it's not "user error" that I can't find my book, haha. Lastly, even though I knew (and read signs) that a large chunk of the stacks had been moved to Carnegie Library, I still tried to reach the 6th floor of Bird. I almost got stuck in an elevator and eventually reread signs and found my book in the 5th floor. The moral of that story is that SU Library needs to change their online catalog so that it doesn't tell me my book's found on the (unreachable, so far) 6th floor.
Carnegie Library: I was fortunate to be invited to a tour of SU's Carnegie Library. After trying many doors, I found the entrance that was not under construction. Obviously the library looks a lot different than Bird, especially because of all the construction. However, I loved the intimacy and tight quarters of the library. There was a more serious tone to this library; Carnegie focuses on the science and math subjects (and library science, though that was a surprise to me, even after 2.5 months into the program!) and therefore the library members are those who use the library mainly as a research area, not as a social space. Though it makes the reconstruction of the building more difficult, I loved how the stacks were a part of the structure of the building. Books literally hold this place together. Touring Carnegie was like an experience through a time machine. The stairs for each level wrapped around a dumbwaiter which is used for the transportation of books. I can't wait to see Carnegie Library once the construction is done. I am certainly intrigued by the idea of specialized libraries and I believe I could get some serious work done at a place like that.
Manlius Public Library: Besides the Fayetteville Free Library, this is the first public library I have been to since I've been in Syracuse. I loved that there was a pond and park right by the library. There's nothing wrong with aesthetics at library, even if it is outside. When I entered, I noticed that the children's section was enclosed in it's own room. I liked that because it allows for noise control; I can imagine story hour and any event that the library puts together for the children not being so disruptive to the rest of the library. Like my library at home, the teen section is the area with the most work tables. I searched the library for a computer to search for some books. While there were quite a few computers, they were not easy to access, because they required a log-on username and password. I am not used to this kind of difficulty. At my local library at home, anyone can access a computer without having to enter a password or a library card number. Most of the computers were like that at Manlius; however, I searched around and found about 3 computers just for the library catalog. My last concern about this library was the issue of a book cart. I'm not sure if this is just happens at academic libraries, but usually the library posts signs asking users not to re-shelve books and to leave them on a cart. However, when I looked for a cart, there were none to be found. I felt guilty about leaving my books on the table I worked at, but come on, I'm just helping the library evaluate what books are being used, haha!
Petit Library: I went to this library with a friend so that she could check out a children's book for a project. My first observation was that the parking was tiny! I know there's been discussions about this particular issue, and now I understand. Luckily we were able to park, no problems. After entering, my second observation was about the size of the library. It's certainly the smallest library I've ever seen. However, that didn't prevent the community. I guess there was an event going on because there were so many people gathered around talking and eating from a spread of snacks. When we went to the children's section, we looked for a particular dinosaur book. We searched and searched but couldn't find it. After re-checking the online catalog we asked the friendly reference librarian in the children's area. She pointed out that sometimes they pull books for different sections and thankfully we found the book in a crate labelled dinosaurs. Later on, I noticed this same librarian chatting with a small boy. She seemed to know him by name and was asking him about school. I loved how the library and librarians at Petit really try to reach out to their community.
All in all, I saw a lot of cool (and frustrating) library practices going on. These visits helped me open my eyes to see how different each library is and to understand that handling space in the library is what you (librarians) make of it.
Bird Library: I'm sure every SU LIS student has been to Bird before, but this weekend was the first time I've been beyond the first floor. I found myself situated at multiple spots on the 2nd floor (I went to Bird twice this weekend). One thing I noticed is that the areas labelled "QUIET" are hardly followed. I think the problem arose from the fact that the area of available computers, where people were printing (and trying to fix the printers) was noisy and unfortunately located right next to tables where people were trying to get work done. I had a hard time stopping myself from giving multiple people the "stink eye". I also ran into some confusion when I was searching through the Reference area on the 2nd floor. One small area is labelled Reference; however, many of the Reference books I was searching for were eventually found beyond the region of Reference. In fact several of my searches led me to the other floors. I'm convinced that the 3rd floor has a missing section of call numbers. Also, I was too embarrassed to actually ask for help due to the fact that I have pride as a Library student and therefore believe that my searching skills are adequate and that it's not "user error" that I can't find my book, haha. Lastly, even though I knew (and read signs) that a large chunk of the stacks had been moved to Carnegie Library, I still tried to reach the 6th floor of Bird. I almost got stuck in an elevator and eventually reread signs and found my book in the 5th floor. The moral of that story is that SU Library needs to change their online catalog so that it doesn't tell me my book's found on the (unreachable, so far) 6th floor.
Carnegie Library: I was fortunate to be invited to a tour of SU's Carnegie Library. After trying many doors, I found the entrance that was not under construction. Obviously the library looks a lot different than Bird, especially because of all the construction. However, I loved the intimacy and tight quarters of the library. There was a more serious tone to this library; Carnegie focuses on the science and math subjects (and library science, though that was a surprise to me, even after 2.5 months into the program!) and therefore the library members are those who use the library mainly as a research area, not as a social space. Though it makes the reconstruction of the building more difficult, I loved how the stacks were a part of the structure of the building. Books literally hold this place together. Touring Carnegie was like an experience through a time machine. The stairs for each level wrapped around a dumbwaiter which is used for the transportation of books. I can't wait to see Carnegie Library once the construction is done. I am certainly intrigued by the idea of specialized libraries and I believe I could get some serious work done at a place like that.
Manlius Public Library: Besides the Fayetteville Free Library, this is the first public library I have been to since I've been in Syracuse. I loved that there was a pond and park right by the library. There's nothing wrong with aesthetics at library, even if it is outside. When I entered, I noticed that the children's section was enclosed in it's own room. I liked that because it allows for noise control; I can imagine story hour and any event that the library puts together for the children not being so disruptive to the rest of the library. Like my library at home, the teen section is the area with the most work tables. I searched the library for a computer to search for some books. While there were quite a few computers, they were not easy to access, because they required a log-on username and password. I am not used to this kind of difficulty. At my local library at home, anyone can access a computer without having to enter a password or a library card number. Most of the computers were like that at Manlius; however, I searched around and found about 3 computers just for the library catalog. My last concern about this library was the issue of a book cart. I'm not sure if this is just happens at academic libraries, but usually the library posts signs asking users not to re-shelve books and to leave them on a cart. However, when I looked for a cart, there were none to be found. I felt guilty about leaving my books on the table I worked at, but come on, I'm just helping the library evaluate what books are being used, haha!
Petit Library: I went to this library with a friend so that she could check out a children's book for a project. My first observation was that the parking was tiny! I know there's been discussions about this particular issue, and now I understand. Luckily we were able to park, no problems. After entering, my second observation was about the size of the library. It's certainly the smallest library I've ever seen. However, that didn't prevent the community. I guess there was an event going on because there were so many people gathered around talking and eating from a spread of snacks. When we went to the children's section, we looked for a particular dinosaur book. We searched and searched but couldn't find it. After re-checking the online catalog we asked the friendly reference librarian in the children's area. She pointed out that sometimes they pull books for different sections and thankfully we found the book in a crate labelled dinosaurs. Later on, I noticed this same librarian chatting with a small boy. She seemed to know him by name and was asking him about school. I loved how the library and librarians at Petit really try to reach out to their community.
All in all, I saw a lot of cool (and frustrating) library practices going on. These visits helped me open my eyes to see how different each library is and to understand that handling space in the library is what you (librarians) make of it.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Relate and Debate
This past weekend I went to my home state of Virginia to visit my boyfriend and his family. During those three days I spent my time (besides relaxing and simultaneously stressing about my homework) talking to people about grad school and the program of Library Science. It made me laugh that even during this mini-break, I can't seem to get out of my library persona. Here are the multiple situations I found myself in, through the format of a list.
1. I was gifted a Kindle and had an internal debate about how I was giving up my stubborn stance for the protection and continuation of books in print. While the English major in me still loves a good book that I can write in and bend the pages, the New Librarian in me had some convincing points. When I was traveling from Syracuse to Virginia, and then back again, I found how convenient it would've been to have just brought my Kindle instead of lugging my thick 800 page Anna Karenina with me on the plane. Not just that, but I discovered today that my public library back at home (of which I am still a member) allows members to check out copies of e-books that can be transferred to my Kindle. They're free and when I'm done reading, I can just return it back to the library; that will take up less space and use less data. I'm slowly embracing this new technology and as my boyfriend told me "it's the advancement of the world, Erin. It's ok. We don't still watch tv in black and white either". Haha.
2. Over a few drinks I had a debate with my boyfriend's twin about the Dewey Decimal system and the Library of Congress Classification. He was convinced that his school used Dewey and that it the call number had letters. I aggressively responded and told him that there's no way the classification was Dewey (since Dewey only uses numerals) and that it was actually the Library of Congress Classification system. I literally gave the line "You should listen to me; I'm the librarian here!"
3. Throughout the weekend I tried my best to relate how librarians are useful in the world. I talked with a few law students and told them that librarians work just as hard as they do. I received a few nods. The hardest person I had to deal with was my own boyfriend. He didn't understand what I was studying in Library school. After pulling my massive binder out and letting him browse, I told him about the interview assignment that we had to do for IST 511. When I told him that a fellow classmate of mine had interviewed WWE's one and only librarian, he was shocked. I think that at that point I reached out to him. He is a huge MMA fan (so much that he could be an asset to the MMA/UFC library, if there was one) and when he heard from me that even professional wrestling companies needed a library, I think he understood that libraries and the need for an organization of information, as well as the need for a librarian, was necessary for "the advancement of the world", to quote him directly again. I think this agrees with Lankes point that librarians need to reach out to their members to find their interests and provide them with the information they want.
Libraries, you can't escape them.
1. I was gifted a Kindle and had an internal debate about how I was giving up my stubborn stance for the protection and continuation of books in print. While the English major in me still loves a good book that I can write in and bend the pages, the New Librarian in me had some convincing points. When I was traveling from Syracuse to Virginia, and then back again, I found how convenient it would've been to have just brought my Kindle instead of lugging my thick 800 page Anna Karenina with me on the plane. Not just that, but I discovered today that my public library back at home (of which I am still a member) allows members to check out copies of e-books that can be transferred to my Kindle. They're free and when I'm done reading, I can just return it back to the library; that will take up less space and use less data. I'm slowly embracing this new technology and as my boyfriend told me "it's the advancement of the world, Erin. It's ok. We don't still watch tv in black and white either". Haha.
2. Over a few drinks I had a debate with my boyfriend's twin about the Dewey Decimal system and the Library of Congress Classification. He was convinced that his school used Dewey and that it the call number had letters. I aggressively responded and told him that there's no way the classification was Dewey (since Dewey only uses numerals) and that it was actually the Library of Congress Classification system. I literally gave the line "You should listen to me; I'm the librarian here!"
3. Throughout the weekend I tried my best to relate how librarians are useful in the world. I talked with a few law students and told them that librarians work just as hard as they do. I received a few nods. The hardest person I had to deal with was my own boyfriend. He didn't understand what I was studying in Library school. After pulling my massive binder out and letting him browse, I told him about the interview assignment that we had to do for IST 511. When I told him that a fellow classmate of mine had interviewed WWE's one and only librarian, he was shocked. I think that at that point I reached out to him. He is a huge MMA fan (so much that he could be an asset to the MMA/UFC library, if there was one) and when he heard from me that even professional wrestling companies needed a library, I think he understood that libraries and the need for an organization of information, as well as the need for a librarian, was necessary for "the advancement of the world", to quote him directly again. I think this agrees with Lankes point that librarians need to reach out to their members to find their interests and provide them with the information they want.
Libraries, you can't escape them.
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