Project 3

My final LIB204 project focuses on something I had the least experience with before starting the Library Technician program, subscription online databases. The only ones I really knew about before I started were ProQuest, ERIC and JStor. I would not have thought about online dictionaries and map resources being online databases as well. This presentation is designed as a basic primer for someone who has never heard of subscription online databases before.

Blog Reflection #8

Outside of my other formal library courses, I can't remember a basics of "how to use the library" since high school. This might have been part of basic freshman orientation, but since I was a half time senior high student and half time in college my senior year (in 1989-1990, when that was not a commonplace practice) I wound up bypassing a lot of the traditional freshman stuff. A lot of what I knew before starting the courses here was actually self taught by trial and error. I have definitely learned extra tips and tricks by taking the classes that I have done here.

The library classes have relied on a lot of online guides so I guess that's the only real, at least relatively recent, experience I can compare to. If written well, these can be a great help. Interactive simulations can help too but they are difficult to program and realistically a library wouldn't do that on its own. An audio only walkthrough (such as podcast) or a video tutorial that users can watch would be realistic for a local library to do and could be useful. I know that the IT department at the community college where my Dad works in Washington State did this for basic IT things. He made a video on simple ways to diagnose basic printer errors before calling the department, and other people in IT did different ones. Similar things could be done for library.

My belief is that libraries are just part of the great innudation of information available. A good library resource instruction class cannot help but discuss search engines, Wikipedia, etc if for no other reason than to show why library sources are superior. However, as we've said before, search engines and metacrawlers can have some validity if people are taught to "search smart" - and that's where library technicans and librarians can come in.

I imagine many public libraries have seen more traffic from the unemployed so I will explore that. Types of instruction a library could do is on resources for resume writing, smart job searching (especially since many companies only take online applications that could be done at library computers), training for using resources for career planning whether fresh out of school or changing fields, and similar offerings.

Blog Reflection #7

The first challenge comes from a patron level's comfort level with general computer usage. If they are not comfortable with computer or web browser basics, this instruction may be additional but is not our primary focus. An issue with our hypothetical situation is that no topic is specified. Since government websites are mentioned something that would reasonably have these types of resources as a potential reference, either statistics or things specifically about government.

I would recommend visits to sites in this order:


f ) Encyclopedia Brittanica.com subscription offered through library access
e) Encyclopedia.com
b) ProQuest or another electronic journal/newspaper index such as EBSCO
g) Subscription research databases offered through library access such as Facts on File, Gale, etc.
h) Government sponsored (.gov) data and information websites
d) LII.org

Starting with encyclopedias would help narrow the search. Then once the topic is narrowed articles can be found to help narrow the topic further. After that, research databases and statistics from government sites can support the other research (these types of materials do not make good primary research). Lii is last due to its wide variety of information, some more recent and relevant than others. Its quality seems less predictable though the sites are reputable.

I would not recommend the following since they often cannot be authenticated or verified by a reliable source:

a) Wikipedia
c) Searching via their favorite search engine

Blog Reflection #6

I have been both impressed and underwhelmed by the amount of resources available. I am impressed at all the different types of information available, but I also say underwhelmed in that the classification appears a bit haphazard. This was especially true with using some of the supersites that collect links to a variety of information like bartelby.com. Sometimes it could be challenging to locate a specific source or even data within a source. It felt like bartelby.com's mission statement is to make the most data available data with minimal effort. In contrast, encyclopedia.com is quite a bit easier to use and easier to read the results.

I don't resist the urge to Google. I just, as I have before this class, highly scrutinize any URLs returned. I look for brands and sites I know are reputable. That said I don't completely rely on it. Also, I do not (and never did) use Wikipedia.

Do my assignments in and of themselves drive me crazy? No. Being one of four classes (now 3, the winter one at another school just finished) and working 45 to 50 hour work weeks does that well enough.

Project 2

I live and work in the entertainment industry. Many people come to the Hollywood area from outside of it and need information for job searching and better understanding of the industry. The local libraries, needing to serve everyone, can only devote a percentage of funds to these resources. An interesting idea might be a specialty library (distinct from a library of acquisitions) catering to entertainment products and information. Envisioned users would not only be newcomers wanting to break in, but industry veterans, scholars of the field, and fans of entertainment. However, since the primary source would be people working in the industry, such a library could be a great compliment to an office complex that leases offices and suites for smaller productions so they can save their budget dollars. This could also serve as an incentive for people to look into using their other services.

My idea of an optimal library reference area in a situation like this would be books that cover entertainment award recipients, entertainment directories such as the Hollywood Creative Directory with information how to contact companies, or directories for renting production materials. The industry doesn't lend itself to a diverse amount of ready reference materials. Many of these are available online as well for a subscription charge, but I believe in some cases the subscription versions specifically have restrictions for shared use that would make them impractical in a library setting. Though there are less ready reference materials, they do regularly update but are more pricy than regular reference counterparts. Though there may be some general books and even films in a circulating collection, the vast amount by the nature of the library would be reference. There would also be how-to books for writing and production, but how many would be reference and how many actual circulation would depend both on the nature and cost of the texts, and to what extent a library of this nature would want to be circulating as its competitors are not.

The closest competitive libraries in type are either those hosted by the various entertainment guilds and academies, such as the Writers Guild library which is open to the public and offers some similar resources but is in Hollywood proper (“Welcome To The Writers Guild Foundation Shavelson-Webb Library”). Another example is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences whose facility is in Beverly Hills (“Margaret Herrick Library”). These are not convenient for the Burbank and nearby areas which also hosts several major studios and would be a good site for the proposed library. In short the downside is that most of these are too highly specialized based on the sponsors of the library, though each one is impressive in its own way.

A library website for this kind of setting that allows the public some research access would be a big bonus. The above listed areas have site pages about them but not service sites for the public. It would be helpful for users to have the ability to search what the collections contain before coming in to know what items may be available to reference, especially if they can’t be checked out. It’s frustrating to make a trip only to find the library you go to doesn’t have something. This is something the competition doesn’t currently offer.

Additional help and offerings a library might provide would be workshops. One example might be how to research to find funding for independent film-making. Another could be best practices for screenwriters to research getting the facts right for their scripts. The competitors do not appear to be workshop oriented in terms of their libraries, though like such in the case of the Writers Guild Foundation the sponsoring organization may offer workshops and seminars. These seminars would be very specific and tied to the library, and could be led by its reference team.

What would make reference services special at this kind of a facility would be a very focused hands-on approach that is a more wider knowledge base of the entertainment industry on a professional level but not as general as a regular reference librarian.

In short the vision statement is: “Remain Professional Yet Easily Publicly Accessible”.

Sources cited:

Anonymous. “Margaret Herrick Library.” The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. n.d. Web. 18 Mar 2011.

Anonymous. “Welcome To The Writers Guild Foundation Shavelson-Webb Library.” The Writers’ Guild Foundation. n.d. Web. 18 Mar 2011.

Blog Reflection #5

Accuracy is a subject that has come up in several of my library classes. More social interaction and sharing likes like Wikipedia are cropping up everywhere with a tendency to be more specialized in nature. It becomes hard to distinguish something authorative from a collection largely made up of people's opinions and what they think are facts (sometimes with supporting references sometimes not).

The Medical Library Association has a guide for determining credible health resources, which is important because many people may find it easier turn to the Internet to self diagnose then rely on a professional, especially when money is tight and many are uninsured. The MLA brings up a good point in that looking at the credibility of who produces the site that provides the information is a big factor to consider. In the case of health, accuracy could mean life or death if one is not careful! Other factors they stress to look for is how current the information is, clearly factual, and the proper audience for the website should be relatively apparent. I believe these factors pose equally true for any website regardless of subject.

Blog Reflection #4

I would definitely consider investing more money in electronic resources provided they met quality standards. Since many people are looking for their reference - particularly ready reference - in other areas of the Internet anyway, it makes the most sense to have the materials in a format most accessible to the patron (user).

I admit I have been highly resistant to the idea of e-books and the like for quite some time. I don't remember if I have mentioned before that I have written two animation textbooks. One is a paperback and one is ebook only. While I like the idea that an ebook disseminates easier for more people to borrow from a library or carry around with them, there's also the reality that I don't make as much per copy compared to my paperback title, not that textbooks make tons of money anyway unless you are a true and tried standard. I can't get more specific due to contractual limitations but I suspect if you do the math you can figure it out.

While not reference work, I think it is also applicable to mention that I've recently worked in the fiction department with self-publishing, mainly a little experiment for myself. I put out one of my fiction stories on Lulu in an 144 page book that can be gotten in print or as an ebook. I went through three print proofs on it, but the funny thing is what messed me up the first time is that reading my proof in a pdf I forgot the traditional rules of printed book layout! Amazing how time changes things. I haven't sold any yet and it isn't available on Amazon yet, if they accept it may have a sway on how many I can sell.

Personally I think ebooks and electronic information are definitely here to stay, and to that that end are definitely an investment a library needs to consider. Now, how to protect that investment from data loss or electronic theft, those areas are a bit beyond my knowledge scope.