A fount of information!

Oh how the best laid plans fall the quickest apart! It seems as though every time I have come to terms with a new plan for my future as a Media Specialist things become shaken again.

Now that I have started my internship officially, I am able to have more open discussions with my supervisor. We have started discussing my projects and assignments. She has assigned me several readings about the library and schools strategic plan that she would like for me to read before we discuss the project further. We have scheduled to have that discussion on Monday. As we were discussing the course requirements she asked me THE question. "What future do you want to have in a library?" I then explained many of the struggles I have been having about ALA accreditation. She asked a few more questions and then said she has someone who might be able to answer many of the questions I have about working in an academic library. A few moments later the Library Director walks in! I was honored to meet this man, he has a very strong presence so I was a bit nervous but he was kind and gave me a lot of good information. He did tell me that no academic library would consider me as an applicate but he had me thinking on another level of a solution! Currently my plan is to continue on the school library track and work in a school library for a several years to get experience under my belt. Then I am going to go back to school to get my Phd if I am still of the mind to work in an academic library. This seems to be the most economically pleasing option so far.

As for my project we have discussed several potential options. I might work with the Education department to create the equivalent of a LibGuide for easy to find resources. There is also the option of making a website for the freshmen students to use at the school since they have a very difficult transition year as "knobs". This school has a very different atmosphere and community than most schools, as a military college.

Action Project

I have been looking more into Wikis and my apprehension is growing about making a Wiki connecting the library staff at the Citadel. It will help next week when I am in my internship and feel more confident in my role in this library. I am nervous that any suggestion I make could seem as though I am thinking negative things about their library. I am nervous about making a begining impression as someone overly critical. I believe telling the library about the assignment will help me overcoming htis however.

I feel more confident after speaking in class about this topic. I still want to do something using a wiki-like format where the different faculty members can not only keep track of projects the other faculty members are overtaking but also keeping track of day to day jobs in the library. Perhaps if I approached this as a project that they would be helpin me with it could morph into a project where they become enthusiastic and decide to keep up with the webpage.

Technology Potential at DL

While my time at Daniel Library was brief, one problem which stood out very prominently in my mind was the lack of communication between staff members. This may be a common practice in an academic library but I do not see how it could possibly benefit the library. Daniel Library offers many resources which are available to students and faculty alike but there seems to be a disconnect in the areas of communication. My mentor is one of the resource librarians and yet she rarely collaborates with the faculty at the college. She also was not sure of some of the resource tools which are offered on the library webpage. In once instance I mentioned that there is a "Text a librarian" option for the students to use to receive help and she had not known of this before.

I believe it would benefit the library to have a staff/faculty website which discusses the roles and opportunities each librarian can provide to the faculty. Many of the faculty at the school have not used the resources in the library at all, much less using one of the librarians. Perhaps if the resources and opportunities from  the library were made obvious than more faculty would take advantage. That being said I am not sure I have much confidence that this would make a change for the teachers who are so often comfortable in their familiar teaching routine.

Also for the purposes of recording my progress for this blog, I will be working in the library 2-3 full days a week, 2 weeks a month. The other two weeks I will be working full time. I will return to the library again on the 23rd of September.

Interview

During my first official visit to Daniel Library, I was able to sit with my supervisor for nearly two hours to discuss my action plan as an intern in the library. She allowed me to ask any and all questions that I had, and had planned out questions for me to answer as well. It was important to figure out what I had learned in order to decide how I could best serve the library, while at the same time having the library serve my education. As I transitioned into asking questions about the technology used in their library, she jokingly settled in for the "Question and Answer" session! The information she gave me allowed me to assess the way the library is run, the users of the library, and the library's policy.

Daniel Library at the Citadel uses technology frequently when assisting patrons. The majority of the users in this library are students of the Citadel, though the library is open to the public. The library does provide wifi, which the students can access with their student usernames and passwords. A librarian must log in guests who wish to use the wifi. There are no restrictions to the types of websites or resources the patrons are allowed to access. Many students use the computers that are located on the main floor of the library, public patrons are restricted to the use of the two public computers. The public and students are encouraged to use the library and media specialists as a resource. The Citadel is a holder of Federal Documents for public use, this does not always draw in the public however. The library does use social media to draw students into the library. The library will make posts on Twitter and Facebook to remind the students of upcoming events, notices about the coffee shop, and speakers that are coming to the school. The students are offered "Daniel's Demos" which teach them how to use online resources, bibliographic instruction, and that they really can ask the librarians for help! It is rare that a student asks a media specialist a question without being approached first. Technology has encouraged students to ask for help however through the chat option on the Daniel Library homepage. While this method does not offer the same type of reference interview that a face-to-face discussion would, the librarians at Daniel Library are pleased that this option is being used. Daniel Library also has a texting feature where the students can text the library a question and have it answered in a reply message! Since many of the students hesitate to ask questions, the library has provided How-To tutorials for the students to watch in order to learn how to use the online databases and catalogs on the school's website. I thought it was sad that the students do not actively use the library as a resource. In the age of instant gratification, answers can often be found using a resource like Google and if they are not, many students give up or grow frustrated. I would prefer the first instinct of a learner to be to ask for help, and to go to experts before the internet. While the internet has made finding resources even more wide spread, it has also lessened the quality and reliability of many of the articles students use.

Having "Daniel's Demos" in my opinion, is one of Daniel Library's best ideas to connect to the users of the library. This is how the library is going to share how the technology in the library is used, so that it is not just sitting idle. While variations of this idea are frequently seen in most libraries it is especially important that the academic libraries share ways to use the technology they offer. Academic libraries are to be used as a tool for learners, therefore the learners should be taught how to use the tool so it does not go to waste!