This week one of the teen programs I was scheduled to assist with was cancelled due to no one signing up for it. Instead I got acquainted with the library book blog. Sarah, my supervisor, told me they could use a teen book review and set me up with a library blog account. To start, I took a look at what had already been reviewed for teens and read a few to familiarize myself with the style of the reviews. I saw we didn't have many staff picks form general teen fiction, so I chose a book I had recently reread, The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty. Sarah gave me a brief tutorial on how to use the library blog account and reviewed my draft. She asked me to include some additional books that were similar, so I spent some time on NoveList accumulating some similar books that I had also read and could recommend. Then I was able to post my review, which can be seen here.
Otherwise, this was a pretty average week spent helping patrons with computer trouble, printing, finding books, and looking up phone numbers. There was one specific patron, with a more complicated reference question, whom I helped. He needed to find books about crucifixion in the ancient world, but not focusing on Jesus Christ. We didn't have any books on just crucifixion that didn't also focus on Jesus, so I pulled some books that had chapters about crucifixion, and also found some related books in the IU library catalog for him. The reference interview took place over the phone, and he kept losing service and calling back, so I don't know how helpful the books ended up being for him, but I enjoyed the challenge of finding them anyway.
Tip of the Week: You need to be flexible and able to adapt quickly in a library. Things can change without much notice, so you should have other activities planned or duties to fulfill. Creating content for the library's online space, and perusing the content already there are good ways to spend this unexpected free time.
Article Annotation and Abstract Area
Farkas, Meredith. "The Bloggers Among Us." Library Journal 132.20 (2007): 40-43. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 July 2012.
This article discusses the demographics of the library blogging world. Farkas surveyed more than 800 librarian bloggers over the course of three years and detailed her findings in this article. Among other interesting findings, she found that more librarian bloggers work in public service areas than in any other section of the library. She comments on the increasing popularity of blogging, and its growing acceptance as a scholarly form of communication in library circles.
Tip of the Week: You need to be flexible and able to adapt quickly in a library. Things can change without much notice, so you should have other activities planned or duties to fulfill. Creating content for the library's online space, and perusing the content already there are good ways to spend this unexpected free time.
Article Annotation and Abstract Area
Farkas, Meredith. "The Bloggers Among Us." Library Journal 132.20 (2007): 40-43. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 July 2012.
This article discusses the demographics of the library blogging world. Farkas surveyed more than 800 librarian bloggers over the course of three years and detailed her findings in this article. Among other interesting findings, she found that more librarian bloggers work in public service areas than in any other section of the library. She comments on the increasing popularity of blogging, and its growing acceptance as a scholarly form of communication in library circles.
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