Blog post #5

In class last week we met in the Hatcher library and had a class taught by Shevon! I always like it when we have guest lecturers in any class because its a fun way to switch it up. Shevon took us on a tour of Hatcher and Shaprio libraries, to the reference room, the back stacks and the artifacts room (that’s definitely not the correct title of it… the place where people study artifacts and articles on a much deeper level). Shevon's main goal for class was to show us all of the reasons for reference as well as teaching us where the reference spots are on campus. 
I really enjoyed the point in class when we went looking for a reference item and had to decide where exactly in a library the reference item could possibly go. It was really interesting to think about, in depth, the reasoning behind why something goes where. Cataloging is not my forte but I do like learning about it. Another interesting aspect is all of the different topics that there are (which is a no brainer) but there are so many different types of books that as a cataloger you have to think of what preferences and categories they should go in to and that is a crazy amount of brain power.
The final thing that we looked at in class were pictures of the school library throughout the ages, which was interesting. It was cool to see how the reference desk and card catalogs have changed over the years and it gave me a perspective on how the library still can change in the upcoming years. 

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Hirsch Chapters 10-12: In chapter 10, digital libraries, we learn about metadata and the demands facing digital libraries. There are three types of digital information, license contact, self-created content, and content donated by others and the chapter also described the different types of jobs or roles that the digital librarian must enforce such as describer, collector, educator, ect. I never thought of a digital librarian as being a job let alone all of these different roles that they take on. Chapter 11 is talking more about how information and reference librarians are helping out students and getting them information. We also learned about how information librarians are helping out the world other than students, such as helping universities more broadly, helping the local community as well as teaching more about literacy with information. 
Finally, it chapter 13 we learn about metadata and cataloging. Ironically, we are learning about the exact same thing in my 666 class so all of this was mostly a repeat from my class last week. Metadata is data that help people find information (because they are more specified words/ways to find information). Learning about the reasoning behind cataloging as well as the functions is something that is a little bit difficult for me because it doesn't all make sense but like I said, I do like to learn about cataloging because it is a very important function. 

In the Kuhlthau reading I learned that I like being questioned about what is easy for the user or patron to use. It's something I as a student do not often think about which is very silly because the assumption that everyone knows how to research is 100% not valid. Ironically, in the reading the initial study was done with how students research in a library and at the library today we had a teacher call in and have her entire class listen as to how the librarians at the library can help you find the information that you need. The different tools that the students had to use were interesting, especially the search logs. I think it is always pretty helpful to remember which articles and books you have utilized and that's why I am thankful for the bookmark tool! I thought it was very interesting the different ways that all of these high schoolers were asked to research this information. Very intensive research was done and the ways that they did it I would not have thought to do just for research, like the conceptual maps. Those I have done for the organization of a paper or a storyline for a book, but not for research, although it does make sense. 

In the Janes piece, I really liked how he talked about serving the population with a new way of reference. People are constantly asking me if libraries are going out of style and every time I say no... how else would they get their information and who would update google if we weren't around? His explanation of why reference librarians came around in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is an interesting one. When we learned about the 30s - 50s, the telephone came into play and librarians needing to distinguish between important and less important calls is something I wouldn't have thought would have been a crazy big problem, however, that makes sense because at the library I work at we get a lot of nonsense calls about what the weather is or travel patterns to get to Colorado. Finally, he says (and I must agree) that everyone uses Google and awful lot. He says that Google will only get better and easier to use for reference, which is something that people I don't think like to think about (because change is a crazy concept that people don't like to think about). 

Course Reserve: At first when I went looking for the course reserves I didn't know where to go. It was pretty confusing because the words Askwith were on the wall but I thought that that was the big space where the lounge area was. When I went inside, the desk clerks were very nice and helped me understand how their checkout process worked (needing your name and my mcard, that was all). All in all, it was a very simple process. I think one reason why students complain about textbook costs is because course reserves can be a hit or miss. We had course reserves in my undergrad too but you weren't allowed to take them out of the library. Same with at U of M if somebody has the book checked out then you can't do your work, especially if you are in a time crunch. I think another thing is that certain people want a book that is their own so they can highlight and dog ear the book, that way it is really their own and they cannot do that with a book that is not theirs. If all professors took advantage of course reserves and if it was the norm then more people might get used to the idea and be interested in using the CR's, but until it is in the majority I don't think many people will use it. Within the book on the course reserve we learned about reference interviews. Chapter one was interesting in that it taught us about what the point of a reference interview is. Talking with your reference librarian is basically the interview point in your day but what I thought was interesting was the myths it gave us and myth number two that it gave us caught my eye: 'face value'. If there are signs and such rather than a librarian then it cuts the need for the reference librarian job all together. 

Chapter 2 was explaining HOW to give a reference interview. For me I didn't think this chapter was helpful at all because it seemed like it was giving job interview tips, such as keep eye contact and explain precisely what is needed... isn't that just common curtsey and normal professionalism? 

chapter 3, finally, is explaining about the interviews once again as a whole. Example 3.1.3 I thought was interesting because it is talking about system-based perspectives. This whole chapter discusses real life reasonings with people rather than using google or the computer exclusively but this section is reminding us as librarians that even though knowing the library system and the catalog are important, we have to remember that the patrons we are working with do not know what we know (because they didn't go to library school!).