Reference in an obligate no print environment trimmed (2)
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This document discusses the experience of a digital reference librarian working through an online question and answer service. It notes that the librarian may be working from home to assist patrons from other libraries when their library is closed. The librarian has to be prepared to help patrons with a variety of technical issues as well as research questions since they are relying entirely on digital resources and systems instead of physical materials. It also considers some of the limitations of digital information and how certain types of assignments, like those requiring local primary sources or full-length biographies, may still be difficult for patrons without access to print collections.
Reference in an obligate no print environment trimmed (2)
- 1. Nicolette Warisse Sosulski, MLIS Business Librarian, Portage District Library QuestionPoint Staff Librarian, Public, Academic, Business, and Spanish Queues Image from http://domesticicingblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/day-23-steampunk-robot-librarian.htmlkmage
- 2. “WE HAVE MET THE FUTURE AND SHE IS US” The Sunday night or early morning Questionpoint Backup Librarian exists in a uniquely obligate digital environment. • The librarian is usually at home. • She is working with a patron from a different library. • The patron’s library building is closed. • The paper is due tomorrow. Or in an hour • The patron may or may not know where their library card is, if s/he has one. If s/he does, it may be expired. Or a student registration problem. NOT A PRINT BOOK TO BE HAD
- 3. “…my mom has this job that is like she is a research librarian and the library is like facebook and everybody in the world is her friend and they ask her questions.“ --my kid
- 5. HOW DOES NON-DIGITAL IMPACT THE TRANSACTION? Bricks and Mortar/Print • Library must be open to acquire information. • Patron can take info home if s/he has card or ID corresponding to a person who has card. • Patron can use info in-house if s/he does not have card or has fees outstanding. • Patron can correct or update registration or pay fines in-house. • Information artifact is operational regardless of power or data connection.
- 6. HOW DOES OBLIGATE DIGITAL IMPACT THE TRANSACTION? • Physical library can be closed. • Obligate digital opens the door for collaborative 24/7 reference. Are some questions really local? Is all reference? Image from http://thelifeguardlibrarian.tumblr.com/post/11639210435/theyre-taking-our-jobs
- 7. HOW DOES OBLIGATE DIGITAL IMPACT THE TRANSACTION? Patron • must have current card/student registration • cannot correct/update registration/pay fines • must have a computer that is relatively recent • should be able to understand an explanation of her security settings/browsers/firewalls • should be on a computer where she is allowed to change settings—own computer, rather than a work computer or friend’s computer
- 8. HOW DOES OBLIGATE DIGITAL, ESPECIALLY COLLABORATIVE, REFERENCE IMPACT THE TRANSACTION? Librarian • must be quick to assess library site, library sources • Must be prepared to teach a database she has never seen • Must be prepared to troubleshoot a patron technical setup, library technical setup and database connection that she has never seen • Must be prepared to explain this to a patron who does not understand it and is freaking out • Must expect even broader variety of questions nonrelated to central scope of work because she is the only thing open at 3:00 a.m. • Must be ready clarify to patron if she has obstacles because the patron cannot see them.
- 9. HOW DOES OBLIGATE DIGITAL IMPACT THE TRANSACTION? • Proxy or VPN must work • Catalog must work • Database connections must work • Patron-side connections must work • Overdrive must work
- 10. WE ARE EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES…
- 12. SOME TASKS JUST MAY NOT WORK YET IN A PURELY DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT: QUOTE VERIFICATION
- 13. SOME ASSIGNMENTS JUST MAY NOT WORK YET IN A PURELY DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT: THE GRADE SCHOOL OR MIDDLE SCHOOL BIOGRAPHY REPORT. Print If they need the childhood years they need a book length biography. Their library has to have it. Non-Print If they need the childhood years they need a book length biography that is public domain or has been published by an e-book vendor and their library has to subscribe to that service and have bought that title and the patron has to have the ability to download the software if necessary by having a relatively recent operating system. The patron needs a more recent operating system to get the source than to start the chat transaction. Databases and online encyclopedias and most websites cover the adult years only.
- 14. SOME ASSIGNMENTS JUST MAY NOT WORK YET IN A PURELY DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT: LOTS OF PRIMARY SOURCES FOR OFFBEAT TOPICS Print Letters, maps, and graphics of flyers and broadsides may be in print parts of the history collection with which your e-collection has not caught up. Non-Print In the public library, non-fiction may not be as well-represented as fiction in the choices for e-book acquisition, or insufficient funds may not have occurred for retrospective collection building to occur.
- 15. MONIES MAY NOT BE SUFFICIENT YET IN A PURELY DIGITAL ENVIRONMENT: What is your ratio of cost, print to digital? In Overdrive the e-book can be up to 5 times as much. In ereference, one company told me to expect at least a 10 percent increase over print. Many are higher.
- 16. TO THINK ABOUT—FOR YOUR PATRONS AND THOSE SERVING PEOPLE WHO ARE YOUR REGULAR PATRONS OR WHO MIGHT BE USING YOUR LIBRARY AUTHENTICATION/LOGGING IN • Do you know which browsers work best with your site and your resources? • Safari sometimes hates Flash when it comes to authentication, or authentication hates Safari. • Everything sometimes hates Chrome when it comes to authentication. • Do half of your resources work best with VPN and half with proxy? • Explorer and Firefox vary by which week which works better with which site.
- 17. TO THINK ABOUT—FOR YOUR PATRONS AND THOSE SERVING PEOPLE WHO ARE YOUR REGULAR PATRONS OR WHO MIGHT BE USING YOUR LIBRARY AUTHENTICATION/LOGGING IN • Can you post what your PIN convention is, last 4 of phone, day and month of birth, year of birth, whatever? People forget their PINs. A LOT. • Is your MY ACCOUNT page only accessible through the catalog and not the main page? Does it also say Place Holds/Renew? • What hour of the day or week do you do system refreshes? Can you please post that?
- 18. TO THINK ABOUT—FOR YOUR PATRONS AND THOSE SERVING PEOPLE WHO ARE YOUR REGULAR PATRONS OR WHO MIGHT BE USING YOUR LIBRARY FINDING STUFF • In the attempt to give patrons information on how to find things at other libraries, is your first catalog result from WorldCat not your own holdings, so that they spend 45 minutes trying to open an e-book from another library to which they do not have access? • Where are the e-books? Where is the homework help?
- 19. TO THINK ABOUT—FOR YOUR PATRONS AND THOSE SERVING PEOPLE WHO ARE YOUR REGULAR PATRONS OR WHO MIGHT BE USING YOUR LIBRARY FINDING STUFF • Do you have a journal finder page listed, even if you do have authentication set up through Google Scholar? Sometimes that link goes down. • In the attempt to make patrons only have to log in once, have you set up universal authentication and in doing so hidden all your holdings and lists of databases and journals behind a firewall so that people who might want to visit your library for research purposes cannot see what you have, both print and electronic? I see this with both public and academic libraries.
- 20. TO THINK ABOUT—FOR YOUR PATRONS AND THOSE SERVING PEOPLE WHO ARE YOUR REGULAR PATRONS OR WHO MIGHT BE USING YOUR LIBRARY DEVICES: Are those providing reference service in the digital environment aware of how the downloading of items on the same device the person may be communicating through may or may not work well? Have the people providing reference seen the e-reference and e-download processes on a number of devices from the patron side? Can you make that possible?
- 21. TO THINK ABOUT—FOR YOUR PATRONS AND THOSE SERVING PEOPLE WHO ARE YOUR REGULAR PATRONS OR WHO MIGHT BE USING YOUR LIBRARY Can the cooperative librarians have a login if we promise not to tell anybody? Please, please, please?
Editor's Notes
- #3: For the last 10 years I have worked Sunday 7-10 Eastern Standard Time, and often later shifts that night on the QuestionPoint service. I also work 5-8 am Tuesday morning and 5-7 Friday morning, as well as 4-6 Wednesday morning on another service. This is a snapshot of what can happen when there is NO print available
- #13: The internet has messed up the process in a way that makes our lives harder. There are more quotes, many of which are fabricated, and few attributed to specific verifiable sources. If you cannot get Gutenberg or Google Books to help you out, subscription sources still sometimes fall behind quotations books and concordances.