5 Hours

Near the end of my day, a professor asked me how to turn down the volume on the VCR speakers in the classroom across from the reference desk. I didn't know and the other librarian didn't know, so I called the person who works with Blackboard – not because I think she is the tech person, but because she is in the library and I know her and had her number.

She came to look at the VCR and neither of us could figure it out. We could see the volume bar move up and down on the projector, but nothing was happening to lesson the sound blasting from the speakers. She called the tech guys, they came, looked at the wires, rubbed their chins thoughtfully, and concluded they also didn't know what to do.

The professor went to Plan B and when I walked out of the room, my ears rang and whistled with pleasure at the normal decibel level they encountered.

Where is the copier?

Do you have a stapler I can use?

Where is the catalogue computer?

I need books on Tibetan Buddhism.

I need information on harp seals and PETA.

I need to check out.

How do use the catalogue?

I need a book about Vietnam War history.

How do I check out a book?

Where do the prints go?

How do I check out?

4 Hours

This was registration day. I didn't realize until I arrived that there were no classes. I thought that people would be scrambling for last minute articles and books before the long weekend, but few students came into the library. The ones that did come in were looking for a printer. Ours is waiting on a part and all the other computer labs were closed for the day. It was so slow that I left an hour early. I did learn that it is impossible to turn down the volume on the VCR speakers. They are at full blast and that is the only way they can be. We didn't bother to theorize on why the system was set up this way. 

I did send the director this blog post from Born Librarian. When I saw her later, she talked about using the decibel reader in our library, so at least I did something productive today.

5 Hours

I took the iPad to the student center for an hour in the afternoon. I attracted notice, but no one came to ask me a question.

I need help finding an original research article for psychology class in the databases.

Can you help me with APA citations for my psychology project?

Where are the art books?

Where are the art books?

Where are the art books?

I need books on Celtic mythology and also on Nordic mythology. I also need Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

I need help with the databases to find an article for my psychology project.

Where are the art books?

Does the printer use money or the student card?

5 Hours

A representative from the databases available through the state library came and I got to attend the meeting. It was informative to hear her perspective and to talk about changes and options for the library to use the databases. Even better, I get to attend the meeting on Thursday at the public library, so I get to compare how an academic and a public library use the same resource.

I need a book on van Gogh that includes his paintings.

I need Josephus's books.*

Where are the automotive test study guides?

Where are the art books?

I need a research article for psychology class.

How do I check out books?

What is the school's federal code? How did you find the code?

It's still  not working. Is there another code?

Where can I made a copy?

Are there more computers?

Is this the call number?

*The student was in a hurry and I couldn't find anything in our catalogue, so asked him if ebooks were alright. He said yes, but I couldn't find any using the ebook search in our databases. I tried Project Gutenberg and found some titles, which satisfied the student, but I suspect they are not the titles his teacher was expecting him to find. I then checked Open Library, which is part of our database package and found Josephus, which is what I think the student truly needed. Then again, I could be injecting my own thoughts into the question and it actually doesn't matter which title the student reads.

What I want to know is, how come if I search the specific database, I find the book, but if I search the ebook category, which one would think searches all the ebook databases, the book doesn't show up? Anyway, good to know about this quirk for future reference. 

5 Hours

The morning was busy, then in the afternoon, I proctored a class. That is, I sat in the room and used the computer while the students did their work and then came up with a solution when they started asking what they were supposed to do with their assignments. I was under the impression that they were emailing their assignments, but that was silly of me because they didn't have computers in the room. The solution was simple enough - I put the papers in the professor's box and emailed her where they were.
 

I need a book on why serial killers kill.

Which library do I choose from the dropdown menu in the catalogue?

Can you help me find Of Mice and Men?

What does WLC stand for in the Gale resources?

How do I access databases from home?

I need books on McCarthyism.

I need books on anticommunism.

There is nobody at the circulation desk.

Is this book a scholarly work?

Where can I find a book on Pearl Harbor.

Can you help me find research articles for my psychology class? How do I tell that it is original research?

Can you help me find the section on autism?

How do I access JSTOR?

Can you help us find research articles on autism and learning?

I found an article with statistics, a methods section, and the title says "exploratory research." Does it sound like this is an original research article?

5 Hours

Where do I check out books?

I found an article in the databases, but the PDF won't load.

Can you look up a course number for me?

Do you have a section on nursing plans of care?

My course module won't load on Blackboard.

Do you have the assignment for Professor X? I still can't get into my Blackboard.

I need information on the Spartacus Rebellion. I also need information on social structures in high school, but not about bullying. *

* Even though "high school" and "social structures" are subject terms, the articles labeled with those subjects were less helpful than the ones found using the keyword search "popularity AND high school." 

5 Hours

I went to the Student Center from 1:00 – 2:00, taking my sign and the iPad. As I walked in, I scanned for a group to which to introduce myself and purpose. As I approached a rowdy group of students, I tried to decide whether it would be beneficial to interrupt them. I had about decide to leave them in peace when one of them called, "I like your hat!"

I stopped, thanked them, chatted a bit, and then introduced my purpose. They were politely receptive, even asking clarifying questions. I moved on, introduced myself to another group on the other side of the building, then set up at a table in the middle of the room.

I didn't get any questions this hour, but I did see people stop and read the sign or point it out to their friends. 

As I left the building, some of the same group was still around. When I walked past, one of them said to a new person, "There's the hat I was telling you about." The new person commented that she liked it. The first person told me that my hat is "bad a--." Crude language aside, those students totally made my day!  

When will you be in next week? I need help getting started on my research and feel more comfortable with you.

I need information on the famous X city lynching.

Where do I look up books?

5 Hours

Where are the art books?

I need information from the databases on educating the family of people with Alzheimer's.

Can you help me find the book "Assassination of Mckinley"? I'm not sure of the title; it's for someone else.

Can I get help finding history books?

Is the computer set up so that I can use the catalogue? It's on the college's home page.

Can you help me find this book on the shelves?

I need help finding scholarly sources of information on the Harlem Hell Fighters.

I need a research article for psychology class.

I need the name of a county school. I think it starts with "sweet." (The county school site does not have a findable list of schools. It only talks about budgets and the board and such.)

How do I find books from the information in the catalogue?

I need an article on recent changes in human resources. (The circulation staff told me this person commented on how much I had helped them. Always good to know people aren't pretending to be satisfied just to get away from my useless "help.")

5 Hours

I took my sign and iPad to the student center from 2:00 - 3:00. No questions, but people noticed the sign. 

I need help finding articles for my psychology project.

I can't connect to the wi-fi.

Do you have The Cat in the Hat?

Can you hold these books until tomorrow?

When will X be in?

I can't find the print button in Firefox.

I need help finding a book.

It's still not printing [from Firefox].

It printed, but the PDF is too big for the paper size in the printer. Suggestions?

5 Hours

How do I find books from this information in the catalogue?

Do you have books on late 19th-century American Indians and how they were treated?

Do you have a piece of paper [to write a call number on]?

How do I find a book from the information in the catalogue?

Where is the printer?

How can I tell the difference between a scholarly article talking about research and a scholarly article that is the research?

5 Hours

Spring Break started on Thursday, so students were busy finding information for their projects due when they came back.

I have my psychology project articles. Now what?

I have my psychology project articles. What do I do now?

How do I access the databases from home?

How does this MLA citation example relate to the book I'm trying to cite?

I need Gale references for Wordsworth.

I need references for "The Yellow Wallpaper."

I need references for "The Yellow Wallpaper."

I need references for Faulkner.

I need information on healthcare costs in the United States.

Where can I print?

I need the Gale resource for Gilman.

I need information on public school funding in XYZ state.

I need The Picture of Dorian Gray.

How do I use the databases?

I need the Gale reference for Frost.

5 Hours

Wednesday started slowly, but then the students came pouring in. Naturally, when two of us were at the desk, few people came. When one of us was gone, there was a line. The list of questions doesn't make us look all that busy, but several of the questions took more than a few minutes to answer. Plus, I only list the questions I work on, not all the questions received at the reference desk.

Then there was the whole timesheet problem.

Me: Print.

Computer: Save document as...

Me: Save. Print.

Computer: Save document as...

Me: Close. Print.

Computer: Save document as...

Finally, my co-worker figured out that the default printer had changed in the list. Once we chose the correct printer, the paper printed properly. Why the computer wanted me to save the document instead of giving me some kind of printer problem message like it does other times, we couldn't understand.

How do you cite a reference collection in MLA style? What about in-text citations?

Do any of your computers have Silverlight?

Is there an exit on this side of the building?

Where do prints go?

I need books on the Resurrection.

Can I check out books from the display?

I need help with my psychology project.

I need books on the Illuminati and/or conspiracy theories.

I need help with my psychology project.

Do you have any scrap paper?

5 Hours

It snowed the previous night and the school was on delay. It didn't affect me; the delayed opening was my normal coming in time. Naturally, there was little traffic and I got on campus 30 minutes before the library opened. I walked around campus, then wondered what to do for the next 20 minutes. A mockingbird sitting in a holly tree caught my eye, the sky was blue, the air pleasantly crisp, and I found my entertainment. Fifteen minutes were used to watch the bird hide from me, pop out of the bushes, peck at the ground, ignore other birds that wanted to socialize, and return to the holly tree. When I went back to the library, the doors were locked, but someone was there to let me in, except after such an invigorating morning, I didn't want to work inside. Too bad for me. I eventually got over it.

Later, I asked if I could take the iPad to the student center and offer reference assistance there. With enthusiastic permission, I printed a sign, gathered a sign stand and iPad, and off I went. Now, I enjoy public speaking, but am less comfortable walking up to people and starting a conversation. I thought about what I would like as a student, and decided I needed to do more than sit at a table with a sign; I needed to make first contact.

So I smiled, walked up to someone who was near other people, and said, "Hi! I wanted to let you know that if you need any help finding journal articles, maybe for an English paper, I'll be here for a while. I'm from the library and came here so you don't have to walk over there."

Well, I'm not sure I was that concise or clear, but they got the idea of what I was trying to say. I repeated the introduction at a few places around the student center, then sat at a table and let my sign do the talking. I had one person come ask me for help finding psychology articles and later a classmate came up and asked the student what was going on.

One question for one hour's work on a new project is more than I expected. I plan to go back next week.

I need references for my paper for English class.

I need references for my paper for English class.

Are there computers that I can print from?

I need information on this author for my English paper.

Where is a computer that I can print from?

Where do prints go?

Is there a new password for the databases?

I can't find these forms online. (I showed the student where they are.) How do I print them?

5 Hours

When I came in, there was a stack of books next the reference computer. After making sure they were checked in, I started to shelve them. I left some sitting on the desk while I shelved a different section. When I came back, I had my first question of the day.

Later in the day, I had a student that I had helped last week tell me that he wanted to try it on his own this time. Good for him! That's why I take so much time explaining the process the first time they ask – to give them an idea of how to do it on their own.

These are the books I need! (Student points to pile of books on desk.) Can I use them? Do you have an example of in-text citations?

The computer log in won't work.

Is XYZ here today? What's the best way to contact him?

Where do the prints go?

The catalog computer isn't on the right screen.

How do I use the catalog?

I need books on how death affects children.

I need books on Marilyn Monroe, especially on her death.

Can you check out books?

Can you check out books?

Can you check out books if you aren't a student?

I need information on the history of instrumentation amplifiers that use silicon and doping. I don't want datasheets or any of the results that come up in the database. I want information on how they are designed. I know this is a doctoral level topic, but I'm hoping to find an introduction.

Where can I print?

You helped me before. I need a book on the first automobile.

How do I choose three articles from all these that I selected?

The printer only printed half of my paper.

Where can I print?

I need any information on indigenous Australians. (The search returned over 2,000 results.) What about indigenous Australians and museums?

I need articles on nail biting for my psychology project.