Tuesday, February 16, 2010
GAAS Manual
There will be a number of students looking for the GAAS Manual (it's a gaas??). Anyway, it is at the Reference Desk for now.
Chat report
I did a 24/7 shift yesterday, and had some unusual experiences. First Chris transferred a chat to me, but the student disappeared. Guess they found the article they were looking for.
Then I had a question where we were doing some database searching, but just as I was about to give the patron some search terms that were working for me we got disconnected. The challenge was that the session did not close, so despite logging off and on I could not get back to her. So finally I sent an email to her and the library contact person with my follow-up suggestions. I learned later from Jaclyn that when this happens the session will eventually disconnect -- after 2 hrs. of inactivity.
Then I had a question where we were doing some database searching, but just as I was about to give the patron some search terms that were working for me we got disconnected. The challenge was that the session did not close, so despite logging off and on I could not get back to her. So finally I sent an email to her and the library contact person with my follow-up suggestions. I learned later from Jaclyn that when this happens the session will eventually disconnect -- after 2 hrs. of inactivity.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Two Sessions
Yesterday my main question was about getting ivy out of your lawn. Can't say that I did a good job with this one, but I did find some "garden expert" websites and forums that I sent along to the patron. Then Chris forwarded a chat in progress from Bryant & Stratton -- worked like a charm.
Today I had a few questions about finding journal articles and someone in Czech. who wanted to interview an African American about the 40s-60s. I referred him to the African American studies department of the university through which he was asking the question, although it was not his univ.
What I learned... I learned today that I think it is better to TELL someone you are referring their question than to ASK them if that's what they would like. I had someone looking for online copies of paper journal articles, that she thought were in the library. I found no online journal by the right title, and her course was not in reserves. I was out of ideas, but I thought the local library could help her. When asked, she did not want me to refer her question, but probably because she "didn't want to bother them". Next time I will say, "I'm going to send this to your library so they can let you know if they have any information about this .... "
Today I had a few questions about finding journal articles and someone in Czech. who wanted to interview an African American about the 40s-60s. I referred him to the African American studies department of the university through which he was asking the question, although it was not his univ.
What I learned... I learned today that I think it is better to TELL someone you are referring their question than to ASK them if that's what they would like. I had someone looking for online copies of paper journal articles, that she thought were in the library. I found no online journal by the right title, and her course was not in reserves. I was out of ideas, but I thought the local library could help her. When asked, she did not want me to refer her question, but probably because she "didn't want to bother them". Next time I will say, "I'm going to send this to your library so they can let you know if they have any information about this .... "
Monday, November 30, 2009
Chris' chat 11/30/09
Two questions today:
1. Student needed two old articles from Indian Medical Gazzett, 1926 and 1903. I could not find them in his library in print, nor could I find them online. There was a scanned copy of 1908 in Google Books, but not the others. I recommended ILL. He also wanted an english transation of a 1886 German article from Archiv fur Klin. . . Medi . . . but I couldn't find that either. I referred the latter to his library.
2. This was another librarian needing to get her system because in checking her loggs she noticed 3 weekend chats that each had 2 minute non-response times.
1. Student needed two old articles from Indian Medical Gazzett, 1926 and 1903. I could not find them in his library in print, nor could I find them online. There was a scanned copy of 1908 in Google Books, but not the others. I recommended ILL. He also wanted an english transation of a 1886 German article from Archiv fur Klin. . . Medi . . . but I couldn't find that either. I referred the latter to his library.
2. This was another librarian needing to get her system because in checking her loggs she noticed 3 weekend chats that each had 2 minute non-response times.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Chris' chat on 11/23/09
Only two questions today:
1. Information about solar and wind power. The person came through a cooperative and I find it difficult to get at sources in these cooperatives, let alone get the patron there with me so I sent him a few encyclopedia articles from Credo and then found my way into available journal databases in the cooperative he came through. He must have been satisfied with the encyclopedic articles because he disconnected before I could offer any journal articles.
2. Student wanted research articles about victums of sexual assult. This was for a 200 level critical thinking course and I found a course guide for it on the library website. It contained links to Academic Search Premier and other databases. Once I got the person to this page they disconnected.
1. Information about solar and wind power. The person came through a cooperative and I find it difficult to get at sources in these cooperatives, let alone get the patron there with me so I sent him a few encyclopedia articles from Credo and then found my way into available journal databases in the cooperative he came through. He must have been satisfied with the encyclopedic articles because he disconnected before I could offer any journal articles.
2. Student wanted research articles about victums of sexual assult. This was for a 200 level critical thinking course and I found a course guide for it on the library website. It contained links to Academic Search Premier and other databases. Once I got the person to this page they disconnected.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Session Report 11/17
A very busy hour from 10-11 today! It was all I could do to type one of my responses as all the new questions kept popping in front of me -- especially from Bryant and Stratton. Here's what I answered today:
- APA citation
- ILL book for distance learner -- never found the info and needed to refer to home library
- Bryant & Stratton career info -- and the student was really hard to satisfy. The resources suggested by B&S were not enough (first I sent their script with suggestions). I also used some sites from our career guide and actually started sending her resources on the rather extensive guide that B&S has available. I think she was perhaps too paniced to go and explore the list herself -- wanted me to hand deliver good resources.
- B&S -- when is the bookstore taking buy-backs of used textbooks? Do you have any idea how hard it is to find information about B&S on-ground services?? Very hard, in my experience... Anyway, I finally found a number for her home library in Milwaukee and referred her to them. I then contact the policy page contact and suggested that local library phone numbers be listed there.
My observations today were that it's getting a lot busier and that Bryant & Stratton is getting their money's worth!
Monday, November 16, 2009
Chris's chat from 11/16/09
Four questions today:
1. Someone wanting to know what the fine would be if he/she returned a reserve item 1 hour late. The policies pages were very clear about this so the answer was easy.
2. Someone was preparing for a presentation about the features of desktop publishing. He/she came through Maryland Askusnow which didn't have a policies page. I started using Credo to find some information and would have emailed some to him/her but there was no email address. When I asked for one the patron left.
3. A Bryant and Stratton student doing a career assignment. I sent her the three online resources recommended by Jaclyn and she started with those.
4. Someone who just seemed curious about our service and wanted to chat.
1. Someone wanting to know what the fine would be if he/she returned a reserve item 1 hour late. The policies pages were very clear about this so the answer was easy.
2. Someone was preparing for a presentation about the features of desktop publishing. He/she came through Maryland Askusnow which didn't have a policies page. I started using Credo to find some information and would have emailed some to him/her but there was no email address. When I asked for one the patron left.
3. A Bryant and Stratton student doing a career assignment. I sent her the three online resources recommended by Jaclyn and she started with those.
4. Someone who just seemed curious about our service and wanted to chat.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Chris' chat 11/9/09
Slow morning. Only 2 questions. The first for biographical information about and musical influence of Bruce Springstein. Unfortunately I only got to direct the student to his/her library's biography page and recommend a source before he/she needed to leave. The second question was a critical analysis of John Updike's Icarus. This one I took late and only had time to recommend an online literary criticism source before needing to transfer it to Shannon who follows me. Great timing literature librarian.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
11/3
Citations seem to be the hot topic. Today I had at least two citation questions, then one on locating and requesting a book and an old newspaper request that turned into an ILL request.
I really like being able to read the question before picking it up, since a few times I had a choice :-)
I really like being able to read the question before picking it up, since a few times I had a choice :-)
Monday, November 2, 2009
I had two questions today:
What is the concept of elasticity in economics and how does a market manager use the concept of elasticity in order to determine competitive and pricing strategy? The definition was easy to find using Credo but the later half of the question was more difficult. There were some brief references to the use of price elasticity in setting prices in the encyclopedic literature but it took a lot of time to find it. I emailed one to the patron and then recommended we look some in the journal literature. He signed off before we could do so.
The other person simply wanted to renew a book online but was being asked for a pin. The catalog page for renewing books only asked for an 8-digit ID number and user last name. The person got in using this information but still seem to be having trouble. She said she would rather call her library. I gave her some phone numbers.
What is the concept of elasticity in economics and how does a market manager use the concept of elasticity in order to determine competitive and pricing strategy? The definition was easy to find using Credo but the later half of the question was more difficult. There were some brief references to the use of price elasticity in setting prices in the encyclopedic literature but it took a lot of time to find it. I emailed one to the patron and then recommended we look some in the journal literature. He signed off before we could do so.
The other person simply wanted to renew a book online but was being asked for a pin. The catalog page for renewing books only asked for an 8-digit ID number and user last name. The person got in using this information but still seem to be having trouble. She said she would rather call her library. I gave her some phone numbers.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Barbara's 10/19
Very interesting chat I had today. I found the question really hard -- or else my brain just wasn't engaging. The student need basically demographics on credit card users, e.g., how many M/F, income level, age. I searched the business databases, Inet, everything I could think of...no results. Then she changed her approach a bit and we started looking for population statistics -- how many of a certain age, etc. This was much easier as I sent her to Statistical Abstracts and census stats.
What I found most interesting was that she completed a survey, which then is emailed to me. She was satisified with the service and had only positive responses, which shocked me. I guess what I learned is that our attention to the problem and evidence that we are trying may be as important to the patrons as our ability to always provide the correct answer. And the survey answer that always pleases me most is that she will use the service again!
What I found most interesting was that she completed a survey, which then is emailed to me. She was satisified with the service and had only positive responses, which shocked me. I guess what I learned is that our attention to the problem and evidence that we are trying may be as important to the patrons as our ability to always provide the correct answer. And the survey answer that always pleases me most is that she will use the service again!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Chris' chat 10-19-09
Very busy today between 9-10 a.m. I had a number of typical questions but one came from Qand ANJ.org, the New Jersey cooperative. I went to the policies page connected with the question to see what resources were available to the student and was taken to a description page for QandANJ.org and it was confusing to know where to go from there regarding resources. Very complicated. Has anyone else received questions from this cooperative?
Monday, October 12, 2009
Deale's recent chats
I did two 9-10 chats recently, and found them pretty busy
...
10/5: patron looking for his/her library #...that was relatively easy to take care of
English words with no vowels...I gave student the 'y' exception and some words (I think this was an international student), and found out that there are quite a few welsh and scottish words that have no vowels.
How to find a book on reserve. The book was not there, it was out. So, advised student to contact prof. I think.
10/12 Student wanted a journal article, date not covered in databases. Told him/her about ill.
Early morning California question...is school closed today? No not even in California
Did the library have At Issue and Opposing Viewpoints books? Yes, Opposing, no At Issue. But of course referred student to databases.
At what age can a student not pay taxes? Well, never, that I know. Referred to IRS.gov and individuals. Also, explained a bit about getting all taxes back if you don't make enough money...
Is there enough information on "convincing people not to smoke" to do a persuasive speech....of course there is! Referred to opposing viewpoints and american cancer society and bio abstracts
And, finally! How to get to JStor...an easy one.
...
10/5: patron looking for his/her library #...that was relatively easy to take care of
English words with no vowels...I gave student the 'y' exception and some words (I think this was an international student), and found out that there are quite a few welsh and scottish words that have no vowels.
How to find a book on reserve. The book was not there, it was out. So, advised student to contact prof. I think.
10/12 Student wanted a journal article, date not covered in databases. Told him/her about ill.
Early morning California question...is school closed today? No not even in California
Did the library have At Issue and Opposing Viewpoints books? Yes, Opposing, no At Issue. But of course referred student to databases.
At what age can a student not pay taxes? Well, never, that I know. Referred to IRS.gov and individuals. Also, explained a bit about getting all taxes back if you don't make enough money...
Is there enough information on "convincing people not to smoke" to do a persuasive speech....of course there is! Referred to opposing viewpoints and american cancer society and bio abstracts
And, finally! How to get to JStor...an easy one.
Chris's chat 10-12-09
I had one chatter today, a Bryant & Stratton students looking for 8 resources on how math is used in non-clinical medical occupations. I used the three website we were give earlier and found general descriptions about when one uses math in specific occupations but you did need to pick specific ones out of a list of medical careers. Also we looked at Academic Search Complete doing some searhing for medicine - vocational guidance. Looked like there was some potential out there but it was going to take some digging.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Louisa (Lou) at dillydallywisdom@aol.com
Forgive the duplication, but it might be easier to find this info in our blog. Here is Jaclyn's advice for redirecting the questions of dillydallywisdom@aol.com.
"What you can do is, if you or an Oswego librarian see her online, chat with her and ask if she's an Oswego patron. If she says no, you can tell her to go to askus247.org and click the logo to chat, NOT to select a library from the list. And then disconnect. And keep doing it if she comes back. "
"What you can do is, if you or an Oswego librarian see her online, chat with her and ask if she's an Oswego patron. If she says no, you can tell her to go to askus247.org and click the logo to chat, NOT to select a library from the list. And then disconnect. And keep doing it if she comes back. "
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Chats 9/29/09
Very busy day:
One chat about employment in the library at U of Minnesota. Found that for the student; she had looked, but it was pretty well hidden.
Second on "What is communication?" styles of communication, what styles are preferred by businesses today. This was a B&S question (Bryant and Stratton lol) and took a lot of time. Did refer student to her textbook.
Third: disrepair in Minneapolis neighborhoods. Yikes. I referred the student to news resources that were local, and then I found a # of reports in the catalog on this. yay!
Fourth: information on small businesses. Again B&S question. Referred to database sources and the SBA. Then she wanted to know if she should change her topic. Since she wants to start a small business, I told her to look first and then change if she felt there wasn't enough information.
End of a long chat day.....
One chat about employment in the library at U of Minnesota. Found that for the student; she had looked, but it was pretty well hidden.
Second on "What is communication?" styles of communication, what styles are preferred by businesses today. This was a B&S question (Bryant and Stratton lol) and took a lot of time. Did refer student to her textbook.
Third: disrepair in Minneapolis neighborhoods. Yikes. I referred the student to news resources that were local, and then I found a # of reports in the catalog on this. yay!
Fourth: information on small businesses. Again B&S question. Referred to database sources and the SBA. Then she wanted to know if she should change her topic. Since she wants to start a small business, I told her to look first and then change if she felt there wasn't enough information.
End of a long chat day.....
Monday, September 28, 2009
Chris' chat 9-28-09
I had two questions today.
One from a student trying to get a specific article but was asked for a username and password from the vendor's site. He was coming from off campus and his campus logins would not work of course. I eventually had to refer him to his campus library for help.
My second student was from Bryant and Stratton and wanted career info about paralegals. She had used Occupational Outlook Handbook and a paralegal website another librarian had sent her. I gave her the career links we got from Jackie some time ago and recommended getting into databases to find some articles. She thought that would be a good idea but didn't want to pursue that at the time. I should have tried some paralegal association websites but didn't think about it in time.
One from a student trying to get a specific article but was asked for a username and password from the vendor's site. He was coming from off campus and his campus logins would not work of course. I eventually had to refer him to his campus library for help.
My second student was from Bryant and Stratton and wanted career info about paralegals. She had used Occupational Outlook Handbook and a paralegal website another librarian had sent her. I gave her the career links we got from Jackie some time ago and recommended getting into databases to find some articles. She thought that would be a good idea but didn't want to pursue that at the time. I should have tried some paralegal association websites but didn't think about it in time.
Friday, September 25, 2009
My September chats
09/04:
Isn't simple nice? pt1
"Is 'X' book available?"
09/11:
QFD... need a dictionary
looked it up, sent a link, but call was lost.
access
looked like article access from on-campus only (files Restricted to University IP addresses), follow-up by patron librarian: email suggesting proxy changes for off campus use.
Isn't simple nice? pt2
library hours
survy submitted on this question... very interesting... totally blank
No, wait, I can get that
Student wanted virtual tour link, realized they were not in their local chat, and signed off... 1sec before I sent the link.
Full text
Easy enough, yay, step-by-step guide given
09/18:
Isn't simple nice? pt3
sadly (for students) books can't be reserved, pulled and waiting for them ahead of time.
Login problem
B&S
gave login info, library links for searching topic...google not ok at this point. ;)
missed
QP got super slow, and then went down. as it was the end of my shift anyhow, I was not overly bothered.
09/25:
Oh! So I am doing your homework!
Student: "what is dbZ?"
Me: from NOAA, the answer, with link
Student: and can i ask about "radar reflectivity" objects that mess w return signal thanks
Me: try NOAA's site, with link to topic
Student: also is there a simple explanation to explain thermal gradient on a weather map w isobars? Thanks again
Me: "try searching the NOAA site" not stated: YOURSELF!
Student: bye!
Citation
the first chat I really 'lost' due to errors. sent link to MLA guide. I wanted to make sure the student got the link (if they did not get/read transcript) So I set to 'follow up by my' and sent link via our ref email... looks like I should explore QP more... I thought the 'Answer' button in the chat transcript I have referred to changing the status of the chat, not sending an email via QP. live and learn.
Isn't simple nice? pt1
"Is 'X' book available?"
09/11:
QFD... need a dictionary
looked it up, sent a link, but call was lost.
access
looked like article access from on-campus only (files Restricted to University IP addresses), follow-up by patron librarian: email suggesting proxy changes for off campus use.
Isn't simple nice? pt2
library hours
survy submitted on this question... very interesting... totally blank
No, wait, I can get that
Student wanted virtual tour link, realized they were not in their local chat, and signed off... 1sec before I sent the link.
Full text
Easy enough, yay, step-by-step guide given
09/18:
Isn't simple nice? pt3
sadly (for students) books can't be reserved, pulled and waiting for them ahead of time.
Login problem
unfortunatly, I was unable to solve this. Great help on the Policy page, but the suggestion did not work. I settled for giving the full contact info for patron's refdesk (which was open)
B&S
gave login info, library links for searching topic...google not ok at this point. ;)
missed
QP got super slow, and then went down. as it was the end of my shift anyhow, I was not overly bothered.
09/25:
Oh! So I am doing your homework!
Student: "what is dbZ?"
Me: from NOAA, the answer, with link
Student: and can i ask about "radar reflectivity" objects that mess w return signal thanks
Me: try NOAA's site, with link to topic
Student: also is there a simple explanation to explain thermal gradient on a weather map w isobars? Thanks again
Me: "try searching the NOAA site" not stated: YOURSELF!
Student: bye!
Citation
the first chat I really 'lost' due to errors. sent link to MLA guide. I wanted to make sure the student got the link (if they did not get/read transcript) So I set to 'follow up by my' and sent link via our ref email... looks like I should explore QP more... I thought the 'Answer' button in the chat transcript I have referred to changing the status of the chat, not sending an email via QP. live and learn.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Access of others to our resources
In response to Chris' question, although we are to help 24/7 students from all over the world, each school has licensing restrictions on what they can share. We are to send articles from our databases only to SUNY Oswego email addresses -- whether they are from Potsdam or India.
I just read the transcript for this one, and the complication is that the library through which they are asking their question is Univ of North Carolina. Who knows what kinds of resources are available at the researcher's Indian library? One alternative I might suggest would be google.scholar or other authoritative websites and free databases, depending on the topic. This student really did not stay around long to get an answer, though.
Anyway, my final thought is that perhaps this would be a good question for the conference discussion on Thursday, assuming we will have an opportunity to ask Jaclyn about best practice.
I just read the transcript for this one, and the complication is that the library through which they are asking their question is Univ of North Carolina. Who knows what kinds of resources are available at the researcher's Indian library? One alternative I might suggest would be google.scholar or other authoritative websites and free databases, depending on the topic. This student really did not stay around long to get an answer, though.
Anyway, my final thought is that perhaps this would be a good question for the conference discussion on Thursday, assuming we will have an opportunity to ask Jaclyn about best practice.
I had two questions today.
The first question was a student who's professor in a class had told him/her to look up SMART on their website. The student couldn't find it. From what I could get from the student this was an ACA class which seemed to be related to scholarships and financial aid. I could only find a reference to "Smart for Life" in reference to a change status form available from their Financial Aid Office so I was about to respond with contact information to their financial aid office when the person disconnected. The person didn't sign in with a name or email address so I couldn't followup.
The second person was from J & K State in India wanting me to send them information from my library about educational psycholory. I wasn't sure what to do with this question so I stalled form some time by asking him/her to be more specific while I tried to call around to see what you all did with questions from abroad like this. The person disconnected so I didn't have to follow through. What do you do with questions from outside the states?
The first question was a student who's professor in a class had told him/her to look up SMART on their website. The student couldn't find it. From what I could get from the student this was an ACA class which seemed to be related to scholarships and financial aid. I could only find a reference to "Smart for Life" in reference to a change status form available from their Financial Aid Office so I was about to respond with contact information to their financial aid office when the person disconnected. The person didn't sign in with a name or email address so I couldn't followup.
The second person was from J & K State in India wanting me to send them information from my library about educational psycholory. I wasn't sure what to do with this question so I stalled form some time by asking him/her to be more specific while I tried to call around to see what you all did with questions from abroad like this. The person disconnected so I didn't have to follow through. What do you do with questions from outside the states?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)