I learned this week that four individuals from Access Services were nominated for the prestigious Dean's Award. The Dean's Award was created by NYU's Division of Libraries to recognize extraordinary achievements in support of service, collaboration, and/or innovation. I'm incredibly proud that our department stands out in these areas. More information on this award is posted at http://library.nyu.edu/recognition/deans_award.html. Many thanks to everyone who took the time to make nominations.
Congratulations to Circ for catching up with the return backlog despite a couple of setbacks--scarce student assistants and a couple of Aleph failures didn't make this task any easier. Everyone rolled up their sleeves and got this done! I was also thrilled to see Reserves staff lending a hand for check-in and LP staff volunteering for exit duty so student workers could be dedicated to check-in. ILL and Stacks continue to push through the return onslaught and are making good progress--both by working hard and accepting the help of other units. Offsite has been busy getting a jump on the 9th floor and has recently begun the removal of over 170,000 low-use volumes from the 8th floor. This massive Offsite effort may offer more opportunities for collaboration for Access Services staff.
The Knowledge Exchange is really all about service, collaboration and innovation. Access Services encompasses very different units, but we are all part of the same whole. I see that as people work together to get projects done. And I think it's great!
Showing posts with label service. Show all posts
Showing posts with label service. Show all posts
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
The Zombie Guide
"Even small academic libraries can be confusing for students. Miller Library developed this graphic novel guide to our library resources in an effort to connect with students in an interesting and unique way."
Thus begins The Library of the Living Dead, from the Miller Library of McPherson College in Kansas. (They also have a pretty cool blog.)
We, too, are always looking for ways to engage with our library users, and to help them learn how to use the library. Maybe we should, ahem, take a page from the folks at McPherson!
Thus begins The Library of the Living Dead, from the Miller Library of McPherson College in Kansas. (They also have a pretty cool blog.)
We, too, are always looking for ways to engage with our library users, and to help them learn how to use the library. Maybe we should, ahem, take a page from the folks at McPherson!
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/
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