I've done just about a week of interning. I've come to realize, especially after Sunday's ILL experience the different areas of the building are quite different. I've been working primarily in the children's department which encompasses YA. My first taste of the adult area was a breath of fresh air. I feel I have much more in common with the adult side of the library and enjoy working with folks who have some semblance of what they need to accomplish went coming into the library. I've never been interested in Elementary or Early - Pre-school education. I've come to realize the "grannies" of the staff are in the children's dept. These gals seem fearful of the technology and seem to seek shelter in the kids room. Cindy and the gals on the other end seem nervous but more willing to embrace the technological changes. The main desk folks I've not had much interaction with yet. I'm hoping to spend some time there as well on one of my many shifts.
It seems Debbie who I share the most "students" with splits her time between her desk / area in the YA room with the children's staff. I would assume she would rather stick to her own space. The only problem with her space is its WAY TOO CROWDED! She has so much in such a small area.
So far I've not had much free time to spend finishing the Auction project. I can easily see how many of these ladies complete things on their own time. Staff is stretched pretty thin for duties and maintenance to "things". Other than Sunday I've yet to spend any time tending to administrative type duties in children's or YA. I'm hoping to finish my Auction project and help Debbie get to her weeding project.
Monday, May 21, 2007
DAILY
I worked Sunday with Cindy in the computer room. She like Debbie was a person I was comfortable with and was familiar with from my visits to the library. After about 20 minutes of her walking me around and talking about her day to day operations I was amazed at how much we shared in common. The same types of troubleshooting the same types of issues, the same type of tending and details.
My existence today was to learn the in's and out's of Inter-Library Loan. I was inundated with details and paperwork. It didn't take long to understand the process however the hoops required each step of the way seemed an exercise in obsessive compusiveness. Thoroughness and organization are major components to being a successful ILL institution. Cindy is largely responsible for their top 20 in the State status. She's gone the extra mile in creating an Access database to track all the comings and goings. I can easily see why people, institutions, and directors decide to spend their staff efforts and time doing other tasks.
Cindy was nice enough to include me in each step of the process explaining along the way the why, what, and how each aspect was connected and what "they" over the years had discovered was the best method. Seeing this was a daily operational duty Cindy was quite the streamlined machine in processing requests and fullfilling orders. I learned how the requests come to PPL and how responses were pushed back to libraries who've requested. I helped locate requested titles on the shelf, print papers for processing, tag INCOLSA bags, update the Access database, and update the electronic manifest. Also I took part in processing books and materials for return to other libraries. When we were finished Cindy showed me the beginning stages of a request.
I wonder how much inclusion in OCLC's website costs? It seemed really slick, smooth, and cool how Worldcat allowed for networking and ILL.
The thought came to me how many people actually do ILL instead of purchasing materials. It seems the younger generation is more apt to wanting to own instead of wanting to borrow. Folks my generation seem to want things free of cost. If we are forced to pay for something we seem more apt to want ownership of an item.
My existence today was to learn the in's and out's of Inter-Library Loan. I was inundated with details and paperwork. It didn't take long to understand the process however the hoops required each step of the way seemed an exercise in obsessive compusiveness. Thoroughness and organization are major components to being a successful ILL institution. Cindy is largely responsible for their top 20 in the State status. She's gone the extra mile in creating an Access database to track all the comings and goings. I can easily see why people, institutions, and directors decide to spend their staff efforts and time doing other tasks.
Cindy was nice enough to include me in each step of the process explaining along the way the why, what, and how each aspect was connected and what "they" over the years had discovered was the best method. Seeing this was a daily operational duty Cindy was quite the streamlined machine in processing requests and fullfilling orders. I learned how the requests come to PPL and how responses were pushed back to libraries who've requested. I helped locate requested titles on the shelf, print papers for processing, tag INCOLSA bags, update the Access database, and update the electronic manifest. Also I took part in processing books and materials for return to other libraries. When we were finished Cindy showed me the beginning stages of a request.
I wonder how much inclusion in OCLC's website costs? It seemed really slick, smooth, and cool how Worldcat allowed for networking and ILL.
The thought came to me how many people actually do ILL instead of purchasing materials. It seems the younger generation is more apt to wanting to own instead of wanting to borrow. Folks my generation seem to want things free of cost. If we are forced to pay for something we seem more apt to want ownership of an item.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
DAILY
I planned to work 2.5 hours tonight and didn't. A huge line of severe thunderstorms moved through the area and knocked out power to a large section of downtown; affecting the library. I phoned and was unable to reach anyone. I drove by as I was calling and realized the place was dark as could be. After checking my home for damage and power I ran back uptown to check in. I talked to all the important people; Debbie and Susie. I think I impressed them that I thought to stop and check in. Ironic but we all commented how we lacked emergency contact info. After sharing such Debbie and I began to talk / plan further details of the web presence I was building for the auction. We met for around 30 minutes and our quick session was effective. She shared a weeding project she might use my help in. I commented I'd love to help her with it as that would give me a wider body of work while doing my intern hours.
I'm planning to work some on the auction project off-site; counting my hours doing such.
I'm uncertain as to how long (amount of time / hours) the Auction project will take me.
I'm planning to work some on the auction project off-site; counting my hours doing such.
I'm uncertain as to how long (amount of time / hours) the Auction project will take me.
DAILY
I checked in at children's tonight. The older ladies gave me the option of working on Susie's Auction project or checking / shelving. Naturally I picked the more appealing auction project.
I took a study room and made that my office. I set up my laptop and began to scheme. I borrowed a digital camera from the adult section and began snapping pictures of all the stuff in the hallway display case. I was sorta frustrated as the ladies had mingled stuff I'd worked on prior in with stuff I'd yet to start cataloging. I had to separate stuff I had pictures and links online to from things I didn't have. Getting pictures of stuff and placing things back in the case took over and hour. After getting things put back I realized some stuff in the activity room I'd yet to see; more stuff to photo. As I was snapping my last pictures the library began closing. I rushed to get pictures loaded from the SD card of the camera to my laptop where I can begin working with them.
The old ladies who work the children's department are "old school". They fit the grandma type prototype librarian. I'm definitely of a younger, newer, generation!
I took a study room and made that my office. I set up my laptop and began to scheme. I borrowed a digital camera from the adult section and began snapping pictures of all the stuff in the hallway display case. I was sorta frustrated as the ladies had mingled stuff I'd worked on prior in with stuff I'd yet to start cataloging. I had to separate stuff I had pictures and links online to from things I didn't have. Getting pictures of stuff and placing things back in the case took over and hour. After getting things put back I realized some stuff in the activity room I'd yet to see; more stuff to photo. As I was snapping my last pictures the library began closing. I rushed to get pictures loaded from the SD card of the camera to my laptop where I can begin working with them.
The old ladies who work the children's department are "old school". They fit the grandma type prototype librarian. I'm definitely of a younger, newer, generation!
Monday, May 14, 2007
DAILY
Today was my first Sunday at PPL. I enjoy the fact that my hours today count as time and a half. So for 4 hours of work I get to count 6 hours of internship time! I was able to schedule only 2 more Sunday opportunities, one more in May, and one in June; before PPL switches to summer hours. Their switch takes place Memorial Day weekend. The June session is a special all staff meeting to discuss their vision plan. It sounds like a planning session much like an in-service.
I worked with Debbie today who was in charge of the YA department. She's the one person I feel I know best prior to starting at PPL. She and I've collaborated via email and in person a couple times over the Reading Counts quizzes. This made heading into work today a bit easier due to a familiar face.
Debbie had a computer job for me. Essentially I'm creating a web page presence for her YA / Children's summer reading Auction. The kids read and read, as they do the librarians keep a running total of their books. For every 100 books a kid earns a $1 “buck” toward the end of the summer auction. Debbie has shopped for and had donations of toys, gifts, games, and lots of fun stuff. My project involves expanding the consciousness of kids who are reading. Debbie wants an interactive means for kids to see and research the prizes in the auction. Debbie’s asked me to create a page where kids can click on items that are in the auction and see detailed descriptions and cost for each. Essentially she’s hoping kids will check out the prizes online and become motivated to read to earn “bucks” towards them.
I spent my entire four hours today fighting with a computer that had minimum memory installed. To make matters worse I had to work at someone else’s desk. The ergonomics of the desk was not to my liking and I quickly got a stiff neck due to the computer setup. The lack of memory made me wish I was using my own laptop. That way I would be more at ease and could set up show wherever I needed and have plenty of space.
The prizes were located in a different room and every 20 minutes or so I had to walk from the office to the room to shuffle stuff back and forth. I wish I could have worked in the room where the prizes were located; hence my laptop would have been perfect.
Debbie’s organized list was also cumbersome as she used Word to do something Excel could best be utilized for. She had multiple tables combined on a multiple page Word document. I spent a huge amount of time trying to manipulate her beginning document on a limited means PC. Today was a test of my patience; both software and hardware wise.
A co-worker in the department is a PHS graduate. While I didn’t have her in class as a student I had her brother. She was as friendly as she had to be. I was disappointed in how cold she was towards me, I’m not sure why.
There are two main areas where summer prizes are located in the building. The newly purchased goods were all in one room. I was able to get all of those items linked with photos. Of the group there were only 3 items that will need digital camera pictures as I was unable to locate an online vendor that actually sold the item.
The remaining items will be difficult to link to online pictures and vendors as many things were donations and were from non-profit entities.
Debbie demo-ed a new computer software system the library purchased to handle the scheduling of programming and tracking of data. Much like a circulation system this system maintains their programs and allows patrons to sign-up, register, etc. As I understand it this program is also the entity that will track kids’ reading progress throughout the summer.
I’m wondering if Word isn’t the vehicle I should be using for this project. Having just finished L571 I’m wondering if a true HTML editor is something I should be using for the item list. I mentioned to Debbie we could possibly organize the items into categories much like they do at Wal-Mart; which is where several of her prizes I worked on today came from. For example Sporting Goods, Electronics, Games, etc… If we were to do this I can easily see how my organizational design plans would out grow Word’s capability.
I’m only “Debbie’s” person for a couple times. She’s wishing she had me more to herself time-wise so I could devote my time to her projects. I’m hoping to count some off-site hours working on her project towards my total. However from the looks of my summer schedule I’m not sure when those hours will be? There’s only 24 in a day and I gotta sleep sometime!
I worked with Debbie today who was in charge of the YA department. She's the one person I feel I know best prior to starting at PPL. She and I've collaborated via email and in person a couple times over the Reading Counts quizzes. This made heading into work today a bit easier due to a familiar face.
Debbie had a computer job for me. Essentially I'm creating a web page presence for her YA / Children's summer reading Auction. The kids read and read, as they do the librarians keep a running total of their books. For every 100 books a kid earns a $1 “buck” toward the end of the summer auction. Debbie has shopped for and had donations of toys, gifts, games, and lots of fun stuff. My project involves expanding the consciousness of kids who are reading. Debbie wants an interactive means for kids to see and research the prizes in the auction. Debbie’s asked me to create a page where kids can click on items that are in the auction and see detailed descriptions and cost for each. Essentially she’s hoping kids will check out the prizes online and become motivated to read to earn “bucks” towards them.
I spent my entire four hours today fighting with a computer that had minimum memory installed. To make matters worse I had to work at someone else’s desk. The ergonomics of the desk was not to my liking and I quickly got a stiff neck due to the computer setup. The lack of memory made me wish I was using my own laptop. That way I would be more at ease and could set up show wherever I needed and have plenty of space.
The prizes were located in a different room and every 20 minutes or so I had to walk from the office to the room to shuffle stuff back and forth. I wish I could have worked in the room where the prizes were located; hence my laptop would have been perfect.
Debbie’s organized list was also cumbersome as she used Word to do something Excel could best be utilized for. She had multiple tables combined on a multiple page Word document. I spent a huge amount of time trying to manipulate her beginning document on a limited means PC. Today was a test of my patience; both software and hardware wise.
A co-worker in the department is a PHS graduate. While I didn’t have her in class as a student I had her brother. She was as friendly as she had to be. I was disappointed in how cold she was towards me, I’m not sure why.
There are two main areas where summer prizes are located in the building. The newly purchased goods were all in one room. I was able to get all of those items linked with photos. Of the group there were only 3 items that will need digital camera pictures as I was unable to locate an online vendor that actually sold the item.
The remaining items will be difficult to link to online pictures and vendors as many things were donations and were from non-profit entities.
Debbie demo-ed a new computer software system the library purchased to handle the scheduling of programming and tracking of data. Much like a circulation system this system maintains their programs and allows patrons to sign-up, register, etc. As I understand it this program is also the entity that will track kids’ reading progress throughout the summer.
I’m wondering if Word isn’t the vehicle I should be using for this project. Having just finished L571 I’m wondering if a true HTML editor is something I should be using for the item list. I mentioned to Debbie we could possibly organize the items into categories much like they do at Wal-Mart; which is where several of her prizes I worked on today came from. For example Sporting Goods, Electronics, Games, etc… If we were to do this I can easily see how my organizational design plans would out grow Word’s capability.
I’m only “Debbie’s” person for a couple times. She’s wishing she had me more to herself time-wise so I could devote my time to her projects. I’m hoping to count some off-site hours working on her project towards my total. However from the looks of my summer schedule I’m not sure when those hours will be? There’s only 24 in a day and I gotta sleep sometime!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
DAILY
May 7th was my first day. I reported for work and was surprised to find the director wasn't working that night. I walked around and said hello to staff. I found it odd while at the same time comforting to find out each of them knew who I was and why I was there. Only one person really knew what I was supposed to do. I ended up working with Lois in the Children's Department. My main tasks were learning check in processes. Similar to my school situation books needed scanned in, looking for fines and charges. Next books needed magnetised and cleaned. I was provided an ammonia bottle and rags to wipe down books before placing them on temporary shelves. I was amazed that the clerks wipe down front, back, and spine of each book coming in. I understand fully why, however it seems like quite a task for each and every item. I have more appreciation for their efforts after my shift that night!
I felt like an operator running a switchboard. I had to absorb their spine labeling and sort books as I wiped them down - placing them on their appropriate hold area (shelf). I made errors, which Lois and the other clerk expected. I later shelved some of the books I cleaned which helped me get familiar with the small detailed special collections and layout of the children's room. I'd used the library and that room before but didn't realize they had so many small special collection areas.
I felt like an operator running a switchboard. I had to absorb their spine labeling and sort books as I wiped them down - placing them on their appropriate hold area (shelf). I made errors, which Lois and the other clerk expected. I later shelved some of the books I cleaned which helped me get familiar with the small detailed special collections and layout of the children's room. I'd used the library and that room before but didn't realize they had so many small special collection areas.
Initial Posting
I decided to blog for my journal. I thought this would be a cool way to implement Library 2.0 technology into my L596 requirement. I wonder how many other interns will be doing the same?
I'm doing my internship at Plymouth Public Library. I'm a resident and patron of PPL. The community serves a local patron base of 12000. Recently a consortium agreement with surrounding communities has risen circulation and patron visitors. This makes for exciting times upcoming this summer for me.
While under the direction of Susie Reinholt the long tenured director I will actually be working under two department supervisors; Young Adult and Children's Department respectively.
I'm looking forward to the challenges each department offer / brings. I'm hoping my activities spill into all aspects of the library. I'm hoping to get a feel for all positions during my internship. I feel this experience will help me decide later in life if a career in public library services is something that interests me. Who knows what I'll be interested in or want to do when I'm 55 and looking towards retirement?? Right now I'm looking forward to my 33rd birthday this month. I guess you could say I'm keeping my options open :)
My first day was actually May 7th. I'm a bit tardy getting the blog up and running. I figured I would take a few days to explore the feasibility of a blog for my journal requirement. I'm planning to keep everything virtually on the blog:
I'm doing my internship at Plymouth Public Library. I'm a resident and patron of PPL. The community serves a local patron base of 12000. Recently a consortium agreement with surrounding communities has risen circulation and patron visitors. This makes for exciting times upcoming this summer for me.
While under the direction of Susie Reinholt the long tenured director I will actually be working under two department supervisors; Young Adult and Children's Department respectively.
I'm looking forward to the challenges each department offer / brings. I'm hoping my activities spill into all aspects of the library. I'm hoping to get a feel for all positions during my internship. I feel this experience will help me decide later in life if a career in public library services is something that interests me. Who knows what I'll be interested in or want to do when I'm 55 and looking towards retirement?? Right now I'm looking forward to my 33rd birthday this month. I guess you could say I'm keeping my options open :)
My first day was actually May 7th. I'm a bit tardy getting the blog up and running. I figured I would take a few days to explore the feasibility of a blog for my journal requirement. I'm planning to keep everything virtually on the blog:
- Daily Entries
- Weekly Reflections
- Descriptive Annotations
I thought the blog would be a good venue for my work because I could update it from anywhere. If in the library I could do my posting from any PC and not have to worry about the feasibility of a flash drive or storage area. The only drawback to this method is the lack of a spell check and grammer check as I type. I rely on those so much!
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