For the past two months or so, the Shatford Library has been testing an IM(Instant Message) Reference Service with our students. It has not been advertised heavily, but students are finding the service and I have had the opportunity to answer several questions. As time passes and more librarians come on board with this, we may be able to advertise and use this much more as an avenue of serving students in a way that is useful and easy for them.
I have also been asked to examine a customer satisfaction and performance assessment service called Counting Opinions. This service has already been evaluated by two other librarians and we will most likely be acquiring this computer based service. I am now the head in contacting and setting up Counting Opinions. I have scheduled a meeting and demonstration with them on November 12 and will more forward from there as I learn more.
I have completed evaluation my Student Assistants and will now move to evaluate my supervisors. The evaluation form worked well, and the students were happy to have long missing feedback on their job performance.
Unfortuneately, I have been so involved in my teaching and management of the Circulation Desk, that I have yet to schedule meetings with the Languages and PE departments. This is still a high priority. I hope to have more on this in my next post.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Circulation Mgmt. Time
Having been here for a year, I must now evaluate the student workers at the circulation desk. Over the past two weeks, I have gathered different evaluation forms, read throught them, selected relevant points, and revised the evaluation form I will use. It is important at this time for me to let the students know how well they are doing or if they need to improve. This may also qualify some students for a pay raise. I would like use these evaluations also as a guide for our new student workers to work towards the "Outstanding" classification.
I am also beginning to schedule my liason duties once again. I will try to meet with both the Languages and Physical Education divisions over the next month to remind them of the services available to them through the library.
I am also beginning to schedule my liason duties once again. I will try to meet with both the Languages and Physical Education divisions over the next month to remind them of the services available to them through the library.
Monday, September 29, 2008
4 weeks into the semester
We are now four weeks into the Fall semester. I have passed my one year anniversary here. Things are calming down at the circulation desk now that students are familiar with the library system and have found or bought most of their textbooks. I am now forced to change focus and pay more attention to committe work and other librarian duties. Over the last two weeks, I have met with the Faculty Technology Committee and the Student Learning Outcomes Committee as they begin their work this year.
I have also gotten through my first three lessons for LIB 103-Circulation. I have a great class, and my lectures and timing have improved each week. I look forward to the rest of the semester as I have more time to devote to this class.
I have also gotten through my first three lessons for LIB 103-Circulation. I have a great class, and my lectures and timing have improved each week. I look forward to the rest of the semester as I have more time to devote to this class.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
New Year, still a new librarian?
As I reach my one year anniversary at PCC, the new school year starts. This is my first experience with the beginning of Fall semester, which is crazy. This week has been overwhelmingly busy. We were also short one person through the first half of the week, and you could feel the loss. I do think that many of the changes we made to the circulation desk throughout the summer were beneficial. Many of the circulation assistants are new and still learning, which slows things down a bit, but they are working hard and learning fast. I will now have to follow up with them, as I see many re-shelving mistakes. I think I will give them a short shelving test or quiz to make them aware of the mistakes that they are making.
Tomorrow I will begin teaching my first full credit semester long course. I think I have most of my lessons prepared and as with Library 10A, I expect to make some errors and improve as I go. I do look forward to the student contact. My roster show that many of my students are students I have had in the past in Lib 10A.
Well, I guess Im still a new librarian, just one with a year's experience.
Tomorrow I will begin teaching my first full credit semester long course. I think I have most of my lessons prepared and as with Library 10A, I expect to make some errors and improve as I go. I do look forward to the student contact. My roster show that many of my students are students I have had in the past in Lib 10A.
Well, I guess Im still a new librarian, just one with a year's experience.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
End of the year
Well, I am now nearing the end of my first year as a librarian at PCC.
We are now ready for the Fall semester to begin as well. I have hired 6 new people and started their training. The Reserve Textbook collection is clean and up to date. With the help of Jared and Diana, I have also cleaned and re-organized the entire circulation desk to get rid of all the clutter and make it easier to find the things you need when you need them.
Other than that, I have been preparing to teach my first full credit, semester long class. I will be teaching Library 103- Circulation Services in the Fall and have completed my syllabus and web page. I am now preparing my lectures and completing all of the readings that I will ask of my students to ensure that they are relevant. I have also scheduled our field trip to the San Marino Public Library to allow students to compare circulation services in different libraries.
I must also prepare to meet with the Languages and Physical Education departments again to make them aware of how the library can be of service.
Other projects for the near future are to delve back into Facebook and Myspace as well as work with Leslie to begin offering live Web-chat reference.
Finally I wanted to include the Circulation Policies and Procedures Wiki that was recently completed by Diana and Jared. This is a living document and will change with time, but here is the link for those who have access http://shatfordcirculation.pbwiki.com/FrontPage
We are now ready for the Fall semester to begin as well. I have hired 6 new people and started their training. The Reserve Textbook collection is clean and up to date. With the help of Jared and Diana, I have also cleaned and re-organized the entire circulation desk to get rid of all the clutter and make it easier to find the things you need when you need them.
Other than that, I have been preparing to teach my first full credit, semester long class. I will be teaching Library 103- Circulation Services in the Fall and have completed my syllabus and web page. I am now preparing my lectures and completing all of the readings that I will ask of my students to ensure that they are relevant. I have also scheduled our field trip to the San Marino Public Library to allow students to compare circulation services in different libraries.
I must also prepare to meet with the Languages and Physical Education departments again to make them aware of how the library can be of service.
Other projects for the near future are to delve back into Facebook and Myspace as well as work with Leslie to begin offering live Web-chat reference.
Finally I wanted to include the Circulation Policies and Procedures Wiki that was recently completed by Diana and Jared. This is a living document and will change with time, but here is the link for those who have access http://shatfordcirculation.pbwiki.com/FrontPage
Monday, July 14, 2008
Summer moves on.
Well, my excuse for not writing it that summer is here, I've been very busy at work, but have also been busy when off.
So far, I am very happy with the progress that has been made on projects that I had set up for the circulation department. We have nearly completed our weeding of the Textbook Reserves, which was badly needed. We found books that had not been checked out in 5 years, but were still being held on Reserve. This should expedite our service in the Fall with fewer unnecessary items to search through to get to the books students need. It will also portray the textbooks currently being used more accurately.
Jared and Diana have made great progress on the Circulation Wiki, which will include all policies and procedures and make them available online. I am currently conducting interviews in order to hire 5-6 new student assistants to work at the circulation desk in the Fall and then will have to train them rather quickly to be prepared for the beginning of the '08-'09 school year.
All in all, we should be ready for the large number of students we will be serving.
I have also recently completed my move into my new office. This helped me organize all of my circulation documents and my teaching materials for the upcoming year. It also gives me a beautiful view of the local mountains and Colorado Boulevard.
Since I last wrote, I ahve also attended the ALA National Conference for the first time. I was able to meet some of the vendors of our databases, as well as talk with them about functions I would like to see in their products. I was able to suggest to ProQuest that they work on creating an application for use with Facebook being that many other databases are doing this. I have been informed that they are now looking into this and hope to create such an applicaiton. I also was able to see many newer technologies, especially focussing on the different presentations of, and uses of Electronic Books.
So far, I am very happy with the progress that has been made on projects that I had set up for the circulation department. We have nearly completed our weeding of the Textbook Reserves, which was badly needed. We found books that had not been checked out in 5 years, but were still being held on Reserve. This should expedite our service in the Fall with fewer unnecessary items to search through to get to the books students need. It will also portray the textbooks currently being used more accurately.
Jared and Diana have made great progress on the Circulation Wiki, which will include all policies and procedures and make them available online. I am currently conducting interviews in order to hire 5-6 new student assistants to work at the circulation desk in the Fall and then will have to train them rather quickly to be prepared for the beginning of the '08-'09 school year.
All in all, we should be ready for the large number of students we will be serving.
I have also recently completed my move into my new office. This helped me organize all of my circulation documents and my teaching materials for the upcoming year. It also gives me a beautiful view of the local mountains and Colorado Boulevard.
Since I last wrote, I ahve also attended the ALA National Conference for the first time. I was able to meet some of the vendors of our databases, as well as talk with them about functions I would like to see in their products. I was able to suggest to ProQuest that they work on creating an application for use with Facebook being that many other databases are doing this. I have been informed that they are now looking into this and hope to create such an applicaiton. I also was able to see many newer technologies, especially focussing on the different presentations of, and uses of Electronic Books.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Last Week
This is the final week of the semester. The library is preparing to have our entire phone system replaced, so we have had training on using the new phones and such.
I am happy to say that PCC now has a link resolver that allows students to use Google Scholar and link to the resources in our databases and catalogs, as well as any other scholarly materials available for free on the web.
I demonstrated the use of Google Scholar during my interview for my job here, and pushed for its integration. After some initial research, another librarian, Leslie, went through the proper channels to acquire a link resolver service so that our library could participate using Google Scholar. Now it is partially my job to make certain that students are aware of this service, what it does, how it might help them, and its limitations so that it does not go unused.
I am happy to say that PCC now has a link resolver that allows students to use Google Scholar and link to the resources in our databases and catalogs, as well as any other scholarly materials available for free on the web.
I demonstrated the use of Google Scholar during my interview for my job here, and pushed for its integration. After some initial research, another librarian, Leslie, went through the proper channels to acquire a link resolver service so that our library could participate using Google Scholar. Now it is partially my job to make certain that students are aware of this service, what it does, how it might help them, and its limitations so that it does not go unused.
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