trying to think of a good question

Today marks the final day for submitting my first assignment. I uploaded my 500 word reflection to Blackboard yesterday. Having been on the other side of the educator/student fence for such a long time, submitting anything for assessment feels very strange indeed. I am used to marking, assessing, grading etc. I am no longer used to being marked, assessed and graded. It’s a little disconcerting and I feel like I might be trying too hard. Some things seem suspiciously easy. Am I doing them wrong? Am I not reading the question correctly? Do I have any idea about anything at all? These are some of the comforting thoughts that have been going through my mind of late. Anyway, Assignment Two beckons. It is due on Friday May 6. This is also the week of the music eisteddfod so it’s particularly bad timing and means that once again I need to get it done a week or so early. It may not surprise you to read that I have already started. This time we work through a reference training program, practising finding online sources, and using various search engines, subject directories etc to locate different types of information and respond to queries. I have completed the first two parts – shadow a librarian, undertake two of a number of training modules on particular reference types. I chose biographies and then almanacs/yearbooks/handbooks. Never having had the need to consult an almanac before in my life I decided I would choose something with which I was unfamiliar. Next step is to ask a question through a library chat service and then compare it with asking the same question at my local library. At the moment I’m trying to think of a good question. And then I have to reflect on all these things and submit that – again through Blackboard. So I move forward…on to bigger and more referencey type things.

the "good stapler"?

Today I continued working towards my second assignment. Part of it involves doing a shadowing session in a library at the reference/information desk. This required me to walk over to our library building on campus and take a seat behind the desk with the librarians. Usually I stand on the “client” side and ask questions. The hour that I sat observing confirmed a lot of what we have been learning during the first five weeks of the term. Librarians in the 21st century have to be experts in technology. And by that I mean, they don’t just have to know how to use technology to help library users find good and relevant information. They have to know how to troubleshoot the technology in the library for the users. There were questions about the photocopier, the printer, the self checkout machine, the coffee machine and the vending machine. There was even a question about where the “good stapler” was. As it is a regional campus, resources in terms of staff are limited. With five regional campuses CQUni works with a floating collection. That means every day there are requests from staff and students at other campuses for books in our library. They are sent overnight by courier (as long as the request has been made by 12pm). And then there are books received from other campuses that have been requested here. They stay at this campus until someone decides they want to borrow them. None of this completed by administration staff. It is all done by the librarians themselves. I also observed the very beginnings of the system whereby university alumni have access to the library for free for the rest of their lives. I was impressed when I saw QUT offered this service and it is in the initial stages of being rolled out at our institution. I found out as well that members of the community can join the library for 100 dollars a year (which is pretty good I think) giving them access to the hard copy collections and some of the digital material as well. Interestingly, the one question about a book (the student knew the title but not the other) but solved by a fellow student before the librarian had the chance to even sit down at her computer. It’s a whole new view sitting behind the desk that’s for sure. What was slightly scary was that as soon as you sit there people approach you to ask questions. I didn’t know the answer to any of them. That’s right…not even how to refill the water in the coffee machine or which one was the “good stapler”. Clearly, I have a lot to learn.

trying to save a quarter

I deliberated for some time about the title of this blog. Of course my first thoughts went to television. Not being a fan of The Librarians (ABC TV) I tried thinking of other series that had episodes based in libraries. There was David Tennant and Catherine Tate’s fabulous turns in the library of the 50th century in the two part Doctor Who “Silence in the Library”/”Forest of the Dead”. I was keen on “Silence in the Library” but didn’t want to steal the excellent thunder of Catriona at Circulating Library. And then, both titles weren’t available as blogger addresses. So, my thoughts, as they so often do turned to Seinfeld. The classic episode where Jerry is vigorously pursued by library detective Mr Bookman is memorable for me because of Kramer’s classic line where he poo-poos those newspaper readers who choose to go to the library every day, instead of shelling out for their own quarter. They are, in his words “trying to save a quarter”.

So now I have a title, what exactly is my purpose here. Well, I have somewhat impulsively started studying a Masters degree in Library and Information Sciences. I’m enrolled at the same institution where I was accepted into a Grad Dip in Library Studies (note: exact name of degree may be inaccurate) many years ago after I finished a degree in music. For reasons that I cannot remember, I chose not to take up the place, instead choosing to do another undergrad degree in English and Cultural Studies. Yes indeed, that was guaranteed to find me a job.

Enough sarcasm. Some 16 years later I have returned to library studies. Times have certainly changed. Back then it was a big big deal to have a computer at home, internet was dial-up and highly dodgy. Now, there is technology and more technology which has impacted immensely on the sector. I’m not IT expert (understatement) but am looking forward to increasing my knowledge in this area. Exactly where I want to end up I’m not quite sure, but life is short, so (cliche alert) there’s no time like the present. I am enrolled in one full subject for the first term, Information Retrieval. So far I have managed to keep up with the first two weeks of reading and audio lectures. It is time to start my first assignment this weekend. Four years after vowing that I would never EVER study again (post-PhD syndrome it might be called) I am sort of looking forward to it.