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Sssshhhh! II: The Return of Sssshhhh!

  
 
black mask
07:59 / 22.06.06
Thanks very much for your responses to Sssshhhh! So helpful were they that they've prompted me to ask these subsidiary questions. So... you've only got yourselves to blame.

When you visit a library with an enquiry does it matter to you whether your enquiry is dealt with by a qualified librarian or by any other member of the library staff?

How able are you to conduct information and book searches on your own?

Do you prefer your enquiry to be handled by a member of library staff?

What type of enquiry would you require a librarian to assist you with?

Briefly, what do you consider the job of a librarian to be?

What advice would you give to librarians wanting to do a good job?

What effect, if any, do you think the internet has had on libraries or the job of librarians?
 
 
Happy Dave Has Left
09:40 / 22.06.06
1. Nope, as long as they know what they're doing

2. Pretty able, most libraries are laid out logically and have computer records these days

3. Not really, only if I'm having no joy finding something

4. Deep queries, inter-branch orders

5. Well, my pa is a trained librarian, and my perception has been a cataloguer and maintainer of large stores of books, co-ordinator of new buying activity, research source for libabry patrons, finder of books and in the UK at least, manager of access to the Web. Quite a lot of things really.

6. Keep smiling, find the smart kids that hang out in your library all day and up their borrowing allowance

7. As above, I think it's had a direct impact in that a proportion of time is spent by librarians in managing queues of people waiting to use free internet access (access without which, by the way, I couldn't have got my current job - just about the only thing I think T. Blair's done right). I think without appropriate training and hiring of additional staff, it's an unfair burden for librarians, though one that can't be avoided given the increasing importance of the Web in the accessing and retrieval of information and the status of libraries as portals to information of all varieties. The trick is manning and training appropriately
 
 
Jake, Colossus of Clout
16:42 / 23.06.06
1) Makes no difference as long as they're competent.

2) Very. I even know the Dewey Decimal System.

3) No, I usually find what I want on my own.

4) I usually only ask for help if I actually cannot do something myself, like ordering a book on interlibrary loan.

5) To facilitate the distribution of information freely to local taxpayers (and others, but they have to pay).

6) Be patient. Libraries can be a little intimidating for casual readers.

7) I think the net helps greatly. It's easier (for the librarian and the patron) to research books. Libraries have also turned into internet destinations for those without net access, which is an invaluable community service. My fantasy baseball team would have sucked last year if I didn't have the library's internet to manage with.
 
 
black mask
09:47 / 25.06.06
I must say I'm disappointed at the quantity... but I can't fault the quality of those excellent responses. Thanks, they've been genuinely helpful.
 
 
Jack Vincennes
10:42 / 25.06.06
Only just seen this topic black mask, so here is a post that favours quantity over quality!

When you visit a library with an enquiry does it matter to you whether your enquiry is dealt with by a qualified librarian or by any other member of the library staff?

For most of what I've needed to ask in the past, I wouldn't mind either way -as everyone else has said, as long as they know what they're doing. It's possible that a qualified librarian might meet that criterion better (being, as they are, qualified) but it wouldn't really trouble me.

How able are you to conduct information and book searches on your own?

For what I look for in the library I usually go to, very -I know how it's laid out, what they have is well documented and I know where to look if something isn't where it should be. That library has total mental block about some authors, there seems to be this accepted knowledge there that a fellow called Herzog wrote the classic work of fiction Saul Bellow. It helps to know that when you are looking for a book of the form Author Name / Character Name. But I'm usually only looking for fiction there, I don't know how good I'd be if I was looking for reference books.

Do you prefer your enquiry to be handled by a member of library staff?

As opposed to using the computer catalogue to see if something is really not there? I only tend to ask for help if I know for certain something should be there and isn't.

What type of enquiry would you require a librarian to assist you with?

What Dave & Jake said, really -getting stuff from other libraries in the county, reserving books, extending current loans. Maybe finding out how much the fines are, or how much it costs to rent DVDs or CDs.

Briefly, what do you consider the job of a librarian to be?

Umn. I'd always thought it was pretty much cataloging books, putting things back on shelves, helping the slightly lost members of the public (incl. with questions on how to use a computer), researching what the library would need to buy or sell off.

What advice would you give to librarians wanting to do a good job?

Make eye contact with people when they have a question, smile, don't assume they know (or that they should know) how the library is laid out, or any other kind of knowledge you have as a result of your job there.

What effect, if any, do you think the internet has had on libraries or the job of librarians?

Well, as a reader I like it because it means that I can see before I go there what books are in stock or out on loan -it helps me plan my reading a bit better and cuts down on aimless wandering when I don't want to do that. I would imagine from the point of view of the librarian, that would be helpful as well -to have people asking questions when they've already done a bit of research, it would probably mean you could give better answers and be more helpful, rather than having to do the whole 20 Questions thing to find out exactly what it is this customer wants to know.
 
  
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