I've been thinking a lot about the staff art exhibit, The Memory Salon, on display now through July 16th in the Fales Tracy/Barry Gallery. What really strikes me is the huge number of colleagues we have for whom this library thing is really just a day job. Please don't misunderstand me, I really don't think there is anything wrong with that. In Access Services alone we have athletes and actors, film makers and illustrators, musicians and music aficionados, photographers and textile artists, painters and parents, writers and scholars, all of whom feed their soul by something other than library work.
As day jobs go, it's not so bad. Despite the building's HVAC problems for the most part we work in air conditioned comfort. We get paid breaks and paid time off. We get tuition benefits and health insurance. Heck, we sometimes even get small discounts at local merchants for showing our IDs. Oh, and don't forget my former favorite benefit, those movie passes from ticket central (and, if they ever offered free babysitting perhaps I could use them again--wait, they do have that babysitter referral service...).
I wonder if other industries employ people with such a huge diversity of interests and such a huge pool of talent.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
I don’t know many people that would say ‘not me’ to that question. The harder question is what are you willing to do to get it? This past week I took a step outside my regular routine and explored my options. Specifically, I had an ‘audition’ to be on the day-time TV game show with the above name.
It was a very simple process and anyone who feels they know a decent amount of trivia ought to give it a try. I simply went online and visited the Millionaire web site, filed out a quick form, and selected my preferred days to attend an audition. The next day I was notified by email when my scheduled appointment would be and where I should go.
On the day of the audition I went to ABC’s studio on 66th street and checked in with the cheerful intern waiting out front to greet people. After standing in line for a short while we were let into what looked like a cafeteria, handed a closed envelope containing a test, and directed to take a seat along with all the other participants in the room. Then, as a group, we were given 10 minutes to answer 30 multiple choice questions. Once the time had passed tests were collected and taken to be corrected. Those who ‘passed’ would be asked to stay for an interview. Those who did not would be asked to leave.
While waiting for our tests to be corrected a number of people asked questions about how the process worked of the intern overseeing the testing. Listening to her cheerful response to every questions, a ubiquitous “that information is on the web site”, I started thinking about how we have all become so reliant on the internet. Not just using it for our own information needs but also using it as a tool to provide information to our patrons.
As I watched the eye rolling around me at the lack of knowledge displayed by using this generic answer I wondered if I rely too much on the “check web site” answer. Have I allowed myself to take a knowledge short cut because the information is easy to access online? Is my staff undertrained because the information is available online? The short answer to that is no simply because I have a very knowledgeable staff. But there is a small piece of me who sees this as a cautionary tale about how we provide information to patrons and making sure we don’t assume that because information is available online people don’t still want good answers provided in person by well trained staff.
We are Library Professionals: we know stuff. Let’s remember to share what we know in all the ways that patrons want to receive the information.
The critical question for this blog though is am I going to be on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? For now I will say maybe… someday…
It is easy enough to try out if you are interested. All the information about how is available online at:
http://www.dadt.com/millionaire/
It was a very simple process and anyone who feels they know a decent amount of trivia ought to give it a try. I simply went online and visited the Millionaire web site, filed out a quick form, and selected my preferred days to attend an audition. The next day I was notified by email when my scheduled appointment would be and where I should go.
On the day of the audition I went to ABC’s studio on 66th street and checked in with the cheerful intern waiting out front to greet people. After standing in line for a short while we were let into what looked like a cafeteria, handed a closed envelope containing a test, and directed to take a seat along with all the other participants in the room. Then, as a group, we were given 10 minutes to answer 30 multiple choice questions. Once the time had passed tests were collected and taken to be corrected. Those who ‘passed’ would be asked to stay for an interview. Those who did not would be asked to leave.
While waiting for our tests to be corrected a number of people asked questions about how the process worked of the intern overseeing the testing. Listening to her cheerful response to every questions, a ubiquitous “that information is on the web site”, I started thinking about how we have all become so reliant on the internet. Not just using it for our own information needs but also using it as a tool to provide information to our patrons.
As I watched the eye rolling around me at the lack of knowledge displayed by using this generic answer I wondered if I rely too much on the “check web site” answer. Have I allowed myself to take a knowledge short cut because the information is easy to access online? Is my staff undertrained because the information is available online? The short answer to that is no simply because I have a very knowledgeable staff. But there is a small piece of me who sees this as a cautionary tale about how we provide information to patrons and making sure we don’t assume that because information is available online people don’t still want good answers provided in person by well trained staff.
We are Library Professionals: we know stuff. Let’s remember to share what we know in all the ways that patrons want to receive the information.
The critical question for this blog though is am I going to be on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? For now I will say maybe… someday…
It is easy enough to try out if you are interested. All the information about how is available online at:
http://www.dadt.com/millionaire/
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Renovation
This interesting video, an interview with Bobst renovation architect Jake Alspector, came up on my Google alert this morning. It's an interesting commentary on the previous and current library renovations. Worth watching when you have a spare 17 minutes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)