Internship: Weeks 9 and 10

This has been an exciting two weeks because I finished the Nursing LibGuide! I was very excited to complete it and launch it. I'm still toying with the idea of conducting a usability test for it and will be bringing that up at the next status meeting next week.

I'm still enjoying my work at the reference desk, especially with my extended hours. I've had several really good question and spent a good deal of time last week on the phone with a biology professor about the availability of a certain journal. I found it difficult to articulate just how contracts work with databases and the journals (and their availability) to a non-librarian; and now that I've had some time to think about it, I think that I could more satisfactorily explain the situation to the patron. I was able to suggest he ILL the particular article, but he didn't care for that idea since he needed the article "yesterday". Why he waited so long to try to access it is beyond me. This is just another example of how people need to realize that the internet, as wonderful and advanced as it is, doesn't always have all the answers.

In other news, UA Libraries have brought in Kindles and they will be available for check-out starting next week. I'm really excited about this; it's a pilot program and we aren't really sure what to expect, but I'm hoping that it will bring more interest to the library and students will take advantage of something new and different. The Rodgers staff met this week to discuss the policies and procedures relating to the use of of the Kindle. We have six regular Kindles and six Kindle DXs available. I'm curious to see which one is going to be more popular or if it even matters. I really like the idea of using e-readers in libraries, but I haven't given much thought as far as academic libraries are concerned. Coming at it from a student prospective, I'm not sure if this is going to be well suited for research purposes; it may be better used as pleasure reading and simply as something cool to do some book browsing through. Look for more information about our success with the Kindle as it happens!

Rethinking the Reference Collection...On a Budget

Budgets are tight. Nothing can be done about it. Funding sources are being cut off; grant committees are being stingy with their money; trustees want each and every thing itemized; money from the state/university/federal government/city/whatever is decreasing; donors are limited; endowments cut completely. Less money is coming into the library no matter your funding source(s). Yet the price of books and e-resources continues to increase. How is a librarian supposed to create a fabulous reference collection on such a limited budget?

Points of Reference, Booklist's reference blog, posted this same question yesterday. But how are we supposed to handle the problem? I'm not a librarian yet, but I do have some idea of how to keep up collection development in such poor economic times. Something we are doing at Rogers is looking through our print reference sources (big encyclopedias, directories, indexes, etc) and comparing them to what is available in the databases. Sometimes there is overlap without us really noticing it. So now we are going through it way more carefully.

A lot of libraries are concerned with whether or not they are going to be able to afford new databases or ebook packages. A good solution might be to participate in a consortium with other libraries so you can share the cost and the use of the resources. Contact colleagues and try to work out a solution and budget that works for everyone. This is also an excellent time to reevaluate what is really being used. Cancel subscriptions to databases that aren't getting used enough to justify the costs. Stop ordering that print source that no one really uses. Work with your staff/students/volunteers to improve usage of available resources. Maybe no one uses a certain database because they don't know how to use it. Educate your staff and your patrons on the available resources (especially the ones you pay for!!) of your library.

Lastly, utilize the free resources. Advertise via Twitter, Facebook, and blogs; all free advertising. This could cut down on paper advertising, thus increasing your budget in other areas. Discover what free databases are out there (I find new ones everyday!) with excellent information. Teach staff and patrons how to use Google and all its free services (books, images, scholar, etc) to improve the quality of your reference service without spending any money.

What are you doing to rethink the reference collection on a budget? Did I miss anything? What else could librarians be doing to save money?

Do We Still Need a Separate, Physical Reference Space?

My favorite classes so far in library school have been my two reference classes. Part of that is that I adore the professor and the other part is that I really enjoy reference. I like answering questions and steering people in the right direction. I especially enjoy academic reference because the questions are more complex (usually) and often involve helping student with their research and paper writing. Because I find teaching very appealing, instruction, both in a set, classroom-type environment and spontaneous while-answering-a-question, is an important reference duty for me as well. However, in the age of Google and fabulous online databases, it's becoming more important to talk about the other aspect of reference, the books and their physical space in the library.

A separate reference space originated in the late nineteenth, early twentieth centuries, about the same time librarianship became more involved than simply keeping up with the books. More classic reference texts (subject encyclopedias, books of biography, etc) were being published and students began to refer to these to answer questions or start their research. However, do students still use these books? Do we need to have a separate space to house non-circulating reference texts?

I attended a session called "Rethinking the Reference Collection" at the ALA Conference where a panel of reference librarians offered up opinions on the state of the collection and the department. One of the more important things discussed was what do to with the reference books that no one uses. Most libraries, including ours here at UA, are slowly merging the little used books in with the circulating books. This doesn't seem to be a problem; they are in the catalog and students can still find them if needed. What really seems to be the issue are the books that are still in the reference room. Who is using them? A quick glance through the main library on campus and noticing what goes on in my own library, the answer is no one. In fact the only times I ever use the physical books in the reference department are for reference classes. I never used them as an undergrad; I knew they were there, but I preferred to use online sources or just Google the answer. Now that I'm more familiar with the books available, I have been using them more for my own research, but I still don't use them very often.

So what do we do with our reference books? Do we leave them where they are in hopes of someone using them? Do we merge them all into the regular collection? Should we simply weed them out to make more room for computers and study space? How are you rethinking the reference collection?

For a great article on this topic check out "Where are the Reference Books" by Lisa Blankenship and Jennifer Leffler in Colorado Libraries, volume 32, no. 2 (Spring 2006). While the article is three years old, its interesting to note just how long this discussion has been going on and how much has already changed.