Music
The Music Librarian, Bob, from the Central Library was substituting at Ballard today and I learned a lot of great tips for searching for music. A patron overheard him talking about how the only sheet music store in Seattle had closed. She was a member of the Music Teacher's Association and she wanted to know where the nearest music store was. It's in Tacoma - the Ted Brown Music Store.
Finding a Musical Recording
Tips: Using General Keyword search, put in performer or song title or Opus #. Limit to All Music Recordings (then you will get CDs, cassettes, and LPs). If a song has a common word in the title like "love", make sure you ask for a modifier like "squid" :)
Mozart recordings have a "K" number. The "K" stands for Kochel (with an umlot over the "o"). Kochel cataloged all of Mozarts works in chronological order. There have been some works discovered after Kochel's cataloging but that's more than I need to know...
Similarly,
Bach's works have a "BWV" #
Hayden's works have a "HOB" #
These numbers are another way to look up recordings.
One challenge when looking up music is that there are various spellings of common words in other languages like Italian or German, especially when looking up operas or symphonies. Examples of common words would be "concerto" or "symphony". In these cases, try to enter words that would be similar in both languages like "Figaro- Mozart" Sometimes, you'll just have to do the search twice in two different languages.
You can always call the Arts, Recreation, and Literature (ARL) Department at the Central Library for help. In fact, if someone is looking for sheet music, they have a entire collection that is not in the catalog. From the 1930s to the 1950s, KOMO radio had an orchestra. When they disbanded in the 1950s they donated all of their sheet music to the library. So Seattle Public Library has a rich collection of sheet music that may not be found in the common collections of music from the 1920s to the 1950s. BUT, it's not cataloged. The patron would have to come to the Central Library to browse.
Allmusic.com
Allmusic.com is like IMDb for music. It gives descriptions of classical pieces, reviews of popular music, lists of performances, discographies, biographies, and more. If you go into the Jazz section it will list all the genres of jazz. If you put in Johann Sebastian Bach it will list all of his works, all the recordings of his works, and whether or not they are in print!
Historical Sheet Music: Online Resources
1. Music for the Nation; Library of Congress - from 1875
2. Historic American Sheet Music; Duke University - from 1920
3. Lester S. Levy Collection - from 1923 to 1960s
Sheet music from 1923 and earlier is free of copyright. The first two sites you can download the sheet music. The Lester Levy collection will only give citations.
Encyclopedias
A patron came up and said she would like to know how gasoline is made. All of the computers were in use and I was waiting for one to be freed up. The patron asked if the Encyclopedia would have an answer! Of course! Before the internet I would have instinctively gone to the encyclopedia! So we went over to World Book Encyclopedia and started with "O" for oil refinery. That referred us to "P" for petroleum which had an entry on how gasoline is made. She was OK with that, but if she had wanted more we could have taken key words out of the encyclopedia entry to find books on the same subject. Or, if a computer had been available I could have used the online databases to find an online encyclopedia :)
Spanish? or French?
A patron had just watched the movie "Around the World in 80 Days" and wanted to know the translation of the character named "Passepartout". She thought it was a Spanish word. Bob went to the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) and looked up the movie. Then he went to the cast of characters. Passepartout looked like a french word, so he went to the French/English dictionary and found the meaning: "For all occasions" The twist with this search is that if we had gone with the patron's guess that it was a Spanish word, we would never have found it!
Reluctant Reader's Advisory
A mother came up with her two sons and asked if we had any of R.L. Stine's Rotten School series. She said that they had really got her one son reading the previous summer. It turned out that he had read all of the ones we had in the collection. Other titles that were popular with her son were the Baseball Card Adventure series by Dan Gutman(Babe and Me, etc.); Sideways Stories from Wayside School series by Louis Sachar; Travis & Freddy's Adventures in Vegas by Henry Johnson; and non-fiction books about Dragons. This boy liked to listen to books on tape.
American Girls
Another mother came up to the desk with her daughter. She was looking for Addy's Surprise by Connie Porter in the American Girls Collection. This girl was hard to recommend books for because she had read everything we suggested and one that she hadn't read, her mother had deemed inappropriate for her daughter. The book the mother objected to was The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich, but she wasn't clear why she objected to it. Other books the girl had read were: Little House on the Prairie, Gail Carson Levine's Princess books, and Maud Hart Lovelace's Betsy and Tacy books. The mother and daughter finally were happy with Because of Winn Dixie.
Another reader's advisory: Greek gods - fiction for kids.
Roman Mysteries series by Caroline Lawrence
The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan
This was hard to look for. I kept on coming up with books in the 398s instead of just fiction.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Children's Services Meeting
I attended a Children's Services Meeting at the Douglas-Truth branch on Thursday. The first part was an author panel. Panelists included:
Nina Laden - author and illustrator, "Romeow & Drooliet"
Cathy Spagnoli - author and storyteller, "Nine-in-One", "Simple Wonders", "Priya's Day"
Bonny Becker - author, "An Ant's Day Off"
Anjali Banerjee - author, "Maya Running"
Kirby Larson- author, "Hattie Big Sky"
A facilitator asked questions including:
Q:What advice would you give kids who want to be writers?
A:Keep a journal! Tell stories as well as writing them. Know that this is a possible dream for you. Learn from imitation. Read! Keep a secret journal where nobody can judge your writing. Be forgiving if you don't journal. Finish what you begin. Write stories from your life - no one else can tell your story. Don't give up!
Q:What do you wish you had known about the business before you got into it?
A:You have to do a lot of self promotion. You have to speak in public. There is a steep technology curve. It's a big/global business. It takes a long time to get published. Not a lot of money in it. Can't work in isolation. The importance of the book cover. It's OK to make mistakes and ask for help. It's really hard, but if you keep at it you'll get where you want to go.
Q:What does your editor do to help/hinder?
A:Editors can be frustrating when they don't answer your calls but you have to keep writing and not wait for them. Sometimes you work with lots of publishers/editors. Sometimes they help by seeing a different version of the book that you want to do, other times they don't help because they want to do a different book entirely. They help you see what you could never see yourself, like asking, "what does this character add to the story?"
Q:Where do your ideas come from?
A:From life - they're all around you! Unlikely heroes. Asking, "What if somebody wanted to do this and it was considered taboo or unlikely that they could do it?" Creating stories is like putting together puzzles.
Game Night
Erica Sternin, the new Youth Services manager at SPL, asked if anybody was interested in game nights at their branches. They had DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) and Wii video games. Some suggestion were to have snacks and board games for the kids who weren't playing the games. Even though DDR is fun too watch, it's a good idea to have something for other kids to do. Discussed strategies for crowd control - perhaps pairing up with another branch to get more librarians per kid.
New Book Presentation
About a dozen librarians were assigned books to review - some a longer chapter book and others a mixed bag of picture books and a chapter book. It was good to see the different styles of booktalking. The general format of the booktalks included a rating of what the librarian thought of the book, what professional journals thought of the book, and a plot summary. Some of the book titles reviewed were:
Comets, Stars, the Moon and Mars (poetry)
How Do Dinosaurs Go To School
Grumpy Bird
Into the Woods
Bow Wow Bugs a Bug (wordless picture book)
Fred Stays with Me (sorting out things in Divorce - highly recommended)
Skinny Brown Dog
Wet Dog
Shield Stars (chapter book - recommended)
Summer Beat
The Traitor's Gate (Avi)
Lissy's Friends (origami book/story)
Ginger and Petunia
Kami and the Yaks (longer picture book)
Badger's Fancy Meal
Please Write in This Book
Nina Laden - author and illustrator, "Romeow & Drooliet"
Cathy Spagnoli - author and storyteller, "Nine-in-One", "Simple Wonders", "Priya's Day"
Bonny Becker - author, "An Ant's Day Off"
Anjali Banerjee - author, "Maya Running"
Kirby Larson- author, "Hattie Big Sky"
A facilitator asked questions including:
Q:What advice would you give kids who want to be writers?
A:Keep a journal! Tell stories as well as writing them. Know that this is a possible dream for you. Learn from imitation. Read! Keep a secret journal where nobody can judge your writing. Be forgiving if you don't journal. Finish what you begin. Write stories from your life - no one else can tell your story. Don't give up!
Q:What do you wish you had known about the business before you got into it?
A:You have to do a lot of self promotion. You have to speak in public. There is a steep technology curve. It's a big/global business. It takes a long time to get published. Not a lot of money in it. Can't work in isolation. The importance of the book cover. It's OK to make mistakes and ask for help. It's really hard, but if you keep at it you'll get where you want to go.
Q:What does your editor do to help/hinder?
A:Editors can be frustrating when they don't answer your calls but you have to keep writing and not wait for them. Sometimes you work with lots of publishers/editors. Sometimes they help by seeing a different version of the book that you want to do, other times they don't help because they want to do a different book entirely. They help you see what you could never see yourself, like asking, "what does this character add to the story?"
Q:Where do your ideas come from?
A:From life - they're all around you! Unlikely heroes. Asking, "What if somebody wanted to do this and it was considered taboo or unlikely that they could do it?" Creating stories is like putting together puzzles.
Game Night
Erica Sternin, the new Youth Services manager at SPL, asked if anybody was interested in game nights at their branches. They had DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) and Wii video games. Some suggestion were to have snacks and board games for the kids who weren't playing the games. Even though DDR is fun too watch, it's a good idea to have something for other kids to do. Discussed strategies for crowd control - perhaps pairing up with another branch to get more librarians per kid.
New Book Presentation
About a dozen librarians were assigned books to review - some a longer chapter book and others a mixed bag of picture books and a chapter book. It was good to see the different styles of booktalking. The general format of the booktalks included a rating of what the librarian thought of the book, what professional journals thought of the book, and a plot summary. Some of the book titles reviewed were:
Comets, Stars, the Moon and Mars (poetry)
How Do Dinosaurs Go To School
Grumpy Bird
Into the Woods
Bow Wow Bugs a Bug (wordless picture book)
Fred Stays with Me (sorting out things in Divorce - highly recommended)
Skinny Brown Dog
Wet Dog
Shield Stars (chapter book - recommended)
Summer Beat
The Traitor's Gate (Avi)
Lissy's Friends (origami book/story)
Ginger and Petunia
Kami and the Yaks (longer picture book)
Badger's Fancy Meal
Please Write in This Book
Saturday, July 21, 2007
July 18th
Monkey Storytime!
This was the first really big turnout I'd seen. There were over 80 kids there - plus parents! Pamela had to do a little bit of crowd control but overall the kids (and parents) were good listeners. When the kids were standing up in front she said,"Everybody should be sitting really flat on the ground." When a child would stand up and get closer she would turn the book away and remind the child to sit down. After a while they learn even though it's hard to do at first. She said the the worst case scenario is when parents talk on the sidelines because they're supposed to be modeling good listening and it also adds to the din of noise. It's nice to hang out for a little while after storytime. A lot of good socializing happens between kids and between parents!
Introduction: Fingerplay - I've got 10 fingers...
Song & Sign Language - The more we get together the happier we'll be
1st Story - Big book: Caps For Sale
2nd Story - What Time Mr. Crocodile? She pointed out the monkeys in each picture and asked what are they doing? The narrative doesn't mention the monkeys!
Song #1- Rum Sum Sum: She sang it three times. First normal, then extra loud, then extra soft
Song #2- Hammer All Day Long. All the kids stood up for this one. She asked for a name and then added it to the song. All together she asked 5 names.
3rd Story- 10 Naughty Little Monkeys
Flannel Board Storytelling- Counting Crocodiles: the story of the monkey and the deer who are friends on two different islands. The clever monkey gets the crocodiles to line up and he walks across them to get to his friend's island!
Summer Reading Program Announcement
Last song/story- If You're Happy and You Know It pop-up book :)
Bibliography:
Caps For Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
What Time Mr. Crocodile? by Judy Sierra
Ten Naughty Little Monkeys by Suzanne Williams
If You're Happy and You Know It(pop-up book) by David A. Carter
Extras:
So Say the Little Monkeys by Nancy VanLaan
Yummy Yummy Food For My Tummy by Sam Lloyd
Mo's Stinky Sweater by David Bedford
Tall by Jez Alborough
Storytime Stretchers: Tongue Twisters, Choruses, Games, and Charades by Naomi Baltuck (includes audience age range, tips and time)
Baltuck is a local author and her books have different songs than other books. Her ideas may not be for pre-school storytime but they are good for older kids (K-6) They're good for school visits or programs where you don't know the specific age range you'll be talking to.
Storytellers Sourcebook by Margaret Read MacDonald
Although there is a steep learning curve to use it, it is a good resource for inspiration.
Database of the Day
King County Jail Register for looking up inmates. On the SPL website go to Databases/Government/Crime & Safety
Reader's Advisory
A parent of a second grader came in looking for reading material. His son was reading Henry & Mudge and Mr. Putter & Tabby. We recommended Commander Toad and Nate the Great.
A teen came in and said she liked fiction stories with tornadoes and volcanoes in them. I looked up tornados - fiction as well as tornadoes - fiction and volcanoes - fiction. We found "Night of the Twisters", "Death Wind", "Sasquatch" (about Mt. St. Helens), and "Storms". I also recommended "Isaac's Storm" which is narrative non-fiction. I chose titles that were in the teen section and the J section that were longer. The challenge with this sort of request is that not all fiction has comprehensive subject headings. There may be tornado fiction out there that does not have a tornado subject heading!
Behavior Problem
A patron was lying down on the floor in the stacks. Another patron complained he wasn't being cooperative about moving. He was asked to find a place to sit. If he hadn't moved he could have been asked to leave the library.
This was the first really big turnout I'd seen. There were over 80 kids there - plus parents! Pamela had to do a little bit of crowd control but overall the kids (and parents) were good listeners. When the kids were standing up in front she said,"Everybody should be sitting really flat on the ground." When a child would stand up and get closer she would turn the book away and remind the child to sit down. After a while they learn even though it's hard to do at first. She said the the worst case scenario is when parents talk on the sidelines because they're supposed to be modeling good listening and it also adds to the din of noise. It's nice to hang out for a little while after storytime. A lot of good socializing happens between kids and between parents!
Introduction: Fingerplay - I've got 10 fingers...
Song & Sign Language - The more we get together the happier we'll be
1st Story - Big book: Caps For Sale
2nd Story - What Time Mr. Crocodile? She pointed out the monkeys in each picture and asked what are they doing? The narrative doesn't mention the monkeys!
Song #1- Rum Sum Sum: She sang it three times. First normal, then extra loud, then extra soft
Song #2- Hammer All Day Long. All the kids stood up for this one. She asked for a name and then added it to the song. All together she asked 5 names.
3rd Story- 10 Naughty Little Monkeys
Flannel Board Storytelling- Counting Crocodiles: the story of the monkey and the deer who are friends on two different islands. The clever monkey gets the crocodiles to line up and he walks across them to get to his friend's island!
Summer Reading Program Announcement
Last song/story- If You're Happy and You Know It pop-up book :)
Bibliography:
Caps For Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
What Time Mr. Crocodile? by Judy Sierra
Ten Naughty Little Monkeys by Suzanne Williams
If You're Happy and You Know It(pop-up book) by David A. Carter
Extras:
So Say the Little Monkeys by Nancy VanLaan
Yummy Yummy Food For My Tummy by Sam Lloyd
Mo's Stinky Sweater by David Bedford
Tall by Jez Alborough
Storytime Stretchers: Tongue Twisters, Choruses, Games, and Charades by Naomi Baltuck (includes audience age range, tips and time)
Baltuck is a local author and her books have different songs than other books. Her ideas may not be for pre-school storytime but they are good for older kids (K-6) They're good for school visits or programs where you don't know the specific age range you'll be talking to.
Storytellers Sourcebook by Margaret Read MacDonald
Although there is a steep learning curve to use it, it is a good resource for inspiration.
Database of the Day
King County Jail Register for looking up inmates. On the SPL website go to Databases/Government/Crime & Safety
Reader's Advisory
A parent of a second grader came in looking for reading material. His son was reading Henry & Mudge and Mr. Putter & Tabby. We recommended Commander Toad and Nate the Great.
A teen came in and said she liked fiction stories with tornadoes and volcanoes in them. I looked up tornados - fiction as well as tornadoes - fiction and volcanoes - fiction. We found "Night of the Twisters", "Death Wind", "Sasquatch" (about Mt. St. Helens), and "Storms". I also recommended "Isaac's Storm" which is narrative non-fiction. I chose titles that were in the teen section and the J section that were longer. The challenge with this sort of request is that not all fiction has comprehensive subject headings. There may be tornado fiction out there that does not have a tornado subject heading!
Behavior Problem
A patron was lying down on the floor in the stacks. Another patron complained he wasn't being cooperative about moving. He was asked to find a place to sit. If he hadn't moved he could have been asked to leave the library.
Friday, July 13, 2007
July 11th
Controversy - Cataloged vs. Uncataloged
Seattle Public Library has a collection of uncataloged paperbacks for children, teens and adults which the public can check out on a trust basis. The library trusts that the patron will bring it back. Board books for children are also uncataloged. There are pros and cons to this choice.
The morning story time is a different experience from one held in the evening. First of all there is a greater child to adult ratio because daycares, daycamps, and preschools come in. There were a lot of strollers. The kids are a little more energetic too. I give credit to the parents who left story time if their child couldn't stop running around or if they were having a fit.
Introduction: Fingerplay - I've got 10 fingers...
Song & Sign Language - The more we get together the happier we'll be
1st Story - "If a Chicken Stayed for Supper" This story includes counting to 5
2nd Story - "Fox Makes Friends" The kids liked this one because they knew fox couldn't "make" friends from twigs and vegetables. He made friends while playing!
Song & Flannel Board - "A Hunting We Will Go"
Fingerplay & Song- "5 Brown Buns"
3rd Story - "My Lucky Day"
Storytelling & Flannel Board - "Stone Soup"
4th Story & Song - "If You're Happy and You Know It" This was a fun way to jazz up an old standard.
Bibliography:
If a Chicken Stayed For Dinner by Carrie Weston
Fox Makes Friends by Adam Relf
My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza
Stone Soup
If You're Happy and You Know It by Jane Cabrera
Extras:
Dinnertime by Sue Williams
Do Like Duck Does by Judy Hindley
Nosy Rosie by Holly Keller
The Fox and the Stork by Aesop, Karl Ruhmann
Fox by Kate Banks
Red Fox at McCloskey's Farm by Brian Heinz
Hungry Hen by Richard Waring
Little Chicken and Little Fox by Brigette Sidjanski
The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst
Book Displays
Ballard has three units for books displays in the front of the library: one for children, teens, and adults. Remember to stock the displays with non-fiction titles as well as fiction :)
Cataloging Curious George
A curious thing has happened to Curious George; the titles have been re-issued as "Margret & H.A. Rey's Curious George's First Day of School" (etc.) The old books are "Curious George Goes to School" (etc.) The old books are cataloged by author. The new ones are cataloged by title. Because the new ones are "illustrated in the style of" H.A. Rey by Anna Grossnickle Hines. So weird! So confusing! Especially when you're trying to find what's checked in. Where do you look?
Series Sequence
A patron came in looking for the sequence of the Chronicles of Narnia books by C.S. Lewis. The thing is, their are multiple editions of the series and not all of them are in the same sequential order! The patron wanted to know the sequence of the edition that was published in the 70s. She wanted to know what #5 was because that was the title she was missing from her series. We went to Novelist where you can search by series. We didn't find her edition exactly but it was a great question! (#5 is Voyage of the Dawn Trader...)
Seattle Public Library has a collection of uncataloged paperbacks for children, teens and adults which the public can check out on a trust basis. The library trusts that the patron will bring it back. Board books for children are also uncataloged. There are pros and cons to this choice.
- Pros: It's cheaper, i.e. the cost of cataloging exceeds replacement
- Sometimes there will be a popular title that you can find for a patron on the shelf because you can't place holds on uncataloged items
- Cons: Circulation statistics are less accurate
- People don't return the books
- Board books are exclusively uncataloged, so if a patron comes in looking for a specific board book title, there is no way to find it for the patron.
The morning story time is a different experience from one held in the evening. First of all there is a greater child to adult ratio because daycares, daycamps, and preschools come in. There were a lot of strollers. The kids are a little more energetic too. I give credit to the parents who left story time if their child couldn't stop running around or if they were having a fit.
Introduction: Fingerplay - I've got 10 fingers...
Song & Sign Language - The more we get together the happier we'll be
1st Story - "If a Chicken Stayed for Supper" This story includes counting to 5
2nd Story - "Fox Makes Friends" The kids liked this one because they knew fox couldn't "make" friends from twigs and vegetables. He made friends while playing!
Song & Flannel Board - "A Hunting We Will Go"
Fingerplay & Song- "5 Brown Buns"
3rd Story - "My Lucky Day"
Storytelling & Flannel Board - "Stone Soup"
4th Story & Song - "If You're Happy and You Know It" This was a fun way to jazz up an old standard.
Bibliography:
If a Chicken Stayed For Dinner by Carrie Weston
Fox Makes Friends by Adam Relf
My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza
Stone Soup
If You're Happy and You Know It by Jane Cabrera
Extras:
Dinnertime by Sue Williams
Do Like Duck Does by Judy Hindley
Nosy Rosie by Holly Keller
The Fox and the Stork by Aesop, Karl Ruhmann
Fox by Kate Banks
Red Fox at McCloskey's Farm by Brian Heinz
Hungry Hen by Richard Waring
Little Chicken and Little Fox by Brigette Sidjanski
The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst
Book Displays
Ballard has three units for books displays in the front of the library: one for children, teens, and adults. Remember to stock the displays with non-fiction titles as well as fiction :)
Cataloging Curious George
A curious thing has happened to Curious George; the titles have been re-issued as "Margret & H.A. Rey's Curious George's First Day of School" (etc.) The old books are "Curious George Goes to School" (etc.) The old books are cataloged by author. The new ones are cataloged by title. Because the new ones are "illustrated in the style of" H.A. Rey by Anna Grossnickle Hines. So weird! So confusing! Especially when you're trying to find what's checked in. Where do you look?
Series Sequence
A patron came in looking for the sequence of the Chronicles of Narnia books by C.S. Lewis. The thing is, their are multiple editions of the series and not all of them are in the same sequential order! The patron wanted to know the sequence of the edition that was published in the 70s. She wanted to know what #5 was because that was the title she was missing from her series. We went to Novelist where you can search by series. We didn't find her edition exactly but it was a great question! (#5 is Voyage of the Dawn Trader...)
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
July 10th
Pajama Storytime!
I observed my first storytime today. It was a Pajama Storytime. Pamela started Pajama Storytime for families who couldn't make the storytimes earlier in the day. It is offered once a month at 6:45pm on Wednesday. It tends to be more intimate and casual. She said the turn-out was relatively low - she expected 50 kids and about 30-40 showed up!
Theme-Frogs
I explored catalog subject headings in the picture book reference book "A to Zoo". Using the example of the theme Up & Down I found:
Activities - balooning
Activities - flying
Activities - jumping
Animals - frogs
Animals - rabbits
Concepts - opposites
Concepts - up & down
Emotions - happiness
Emotions - sadness
Oceans see Sea & Seashore
Space & space ships
The challenge with the titles listed for each subject heading is that it only lists author and title - there is no publication date.
General Key Word search is a powerful tool because it will search the title, summary, and subject fields. It's a better net for an amorphous subject like "up & down".
Question Point
There was a particularly detailed and difficult reference question at the desk. After exhausting his options, the librarian decided the question was beyond his expertise. So he composed the question, showed it to the patron to review and verify that was what he was asking, and submitted the question to Question Point. The strategy was that when a question is beyond your expertise you can submit it to a larger brain pool. "You do the best you can and your colleagues take it further".
One caveat - when you show the composed question for the patron to review, make sure they don't nod and say yes, that's what they meant just because they are too timid or polite to correct you. Once it is sent to Question Point, the more chances there are for misinterpretations and not getting the person the information they're looking for.
Here was the translation of the patrons question by Mike:
Patron is interested in buying a piece of property in Lewis County. The parcel has a small stream running through part of it. Before making an offer, he needs to determine what regulations, county, state or federal, will have an impact on any improvements or development he may make. He is specifically interested in any stream or wetlands regulations that may apply. He has been to the Lewis County website, but was unable to find such regulations. How should he proceed? Are there specific agencies where he might make inquiries? Are there on-line information resources that he can consult?
The only thing the patron added was the parcel # of the property.
First Search
First Search is a password protected OCLC database that the librarians use to make Inter Library Loan requests. After you search the catalog and find that the library does not have the title the patron needs, you can go to First Search to request it. For example, a patron requested a Math Teaching textbook for grades K-8. SPL generally doesn't carry textbooks so we requested through First Search. Patrons can also request ILL books but they fill out a form - they don't search OCLC. This tool is also great for music CDs.
Reference Interview
Another stumper today: A patron came in asking for a book of classic Buddhist poetry he had read about. The librarian asked where he had heard about it. He read about it in the Seattle Times religion section but he couldn't remember when.
Strategies: Searched Seattle Times archives and ProQuest. Finally we found one religion column but not the right one. But it was the right columnist. So we searched for everything written by that columnist. The book "The Dhammapada" was found in the March issue of the Seattle Times!
Donations
A patron wanted to know how to donate books and if she could donate to a specific library branch. We found her a pamphlet on Book Donations and a pamphlet for donating to the Library Foundation.
I observed my first storytime today. It was a Pajama Storytime. Pamela started Pajama Storytime for families who couldn't make the storytimes earlier in the day. It is offered once a month at 6:45pm on Wednesday. It tends to be more intimate and casual. She said the turn-out was relatively low - she expected 50 kids and about 30-40 showed up!
Theme-Frogs
- Introduction: "Hi Everybody! Are you ready? Let's sing a song!"
- Activity #1: Song & Sign Language "The more we get together the happier we'll be"
- Story #1: "Too Many Frogs" Encouragement to the crowd - "If you can't see you can come closer." She emphasized the repetitive part of the story - "Toodaloo!"
- Story#2: "An Extraordinary Egg" The crowd was well mannered so she chose another story. She introduced it by saying it was one of her very favorite books. She asked if they knew what the word "extraordinary" meant - it means very special.
- Activity#2: Flannel Board & Song "5 Green and Speckled Frogs"
- Story #3: "Frog in the Bog" This was a shorter story and it rhymed and counted.
- Story #4: "Wide Mouthed Frog" This was a short story with pop-ups. One child said, "I want to see it again!" and she read it a second time, faster.
- Craft: Frog Puppet - Cut outs of body, 2 frog hands, 2 frog feet, 2 pieces of green yarn, 1 popsicle stick, markers, glue stick. All the kids and parents really enjoyed the craft. There was lots of smiling and singing of "5 Green and Speckled Frogs" while they were creating their frog puppets.
- Too Many Frogs; Sandy Asher
- An Extraordinary Egg; Leo Lionni
- A Frog in the Bog; Karma Wilson
- The Wide Mouthed Frog; Keith Faulkner
- One Frog Sang; Shirley Parenteau
- Hey Frog; Piet Grobler
- Froggy books by Jonathan London
- Stick; Steve Breen
- Little Quacks New Friend; Lauren Thompson
- Excuse Me; Lisa Kopelke
- Fish is Fish; Leo Lionni
- Hoptoad; Jane Yolen
I explored catalog subject headings in the picture book reference book "A to Zoo". Using the example of the theme Up & Down I found:
Activities - balooning
Activities - flying
Activities - jumping
Animals - frogs
Animals - rabbits
Concepts - opposites
Concepts - up & down
Emotions - happiness
Emotions - sadness
Oceans see Sea & Seashore
Space & space ships
The challenge with the titles listed for each subject heading is that it only lists author and title - there is no publication date.
General Key Word search is a powerful tool because it will search the title, summary, and subject fields. It's a better net for an amorphous subject like "up & down".
Question Point
There was a particularly detailed and difficult reference question at the desk. After exhausting his options, the librarian decided the question was beyond his expertise. So he composed the question, showed it to the patron to review and verify that was what he was asking, and submitted the question to Question Point. The strategy was that when a question is beyond your expertise you can submit it to a larger brain pool. "You do the best you can and your colleagues take it further".
One caveat - when you show the composed question for the patron to review, make sure they don't nod and say yes, that's what they meant just because they are too timid or polite to correct you. Once it is sent to Question Point, the more chances there are for misinterpretations and not getting the person the information they're looking for.
Here was the translation of the patrons question by Mike:
Patron is interested in buying a piece of property in Lewis County. The parcel has a small stream running through part of it. Before making an offer, he needs to determine what regulations, county, state or federal, will have an impact on any improvements or development he may make. He is specifically interested in any stream or wetlands regulations that may apply. He has been to the Lewis County website, but was unable to find such regulations. How should he proceed? Are there specific agencies where he might make inquiries? Are there on-line information resources that he can consult?
The only thing the patron added was the parcel # of the property.
First Search
First Search is a password protected OCLC database that the librarians use to make Inter Library Loan requests. After you search the catalog and find that the library does not have the title the patron needs, you can go to First Search to request it. For example, a patron requested a Math Teaching textbook for grades K-8. SPL generally doesn't carry textbooks so we requested through First Search. Patrons can also request ILL books but they fill out a form - they don't search OCLC. This tool is also great for music CDs.
Reference Interview
Another stumper today: A patron came in asking for a book of classic Buddhist poetry he had read about. The librarian asked where he had heard about it. He read about it in the Seattle Times religion section but he couldn't remember when.
Strategies: Searched Seattle Times archives and ProQuest. Finally we found one religion column but not the right one. But it was the right columnist. So we searched for everything written by that columnist. The book "The Dhammapada" was found in the March issue of the Seattle Times!
Donations
A patron wanted to know how to donate books and if she could donate to a specific library branch. We found her a pamphlet on Book Donations and a pamphlet for donating to the Library Foundation.
Friday, July 6, 2007
July 5th
Planning Pre-School Storytime
Picking a theme.
I'm going to use the theme of "Up and Down" for my storytime. It's a little abstract as opposed to choosing an animal theme or season theme. The trick is to brainstorm ideas for the theme. What are other ways to convey "up and downess"? Flying? Jumping? Falling? Bouncing? Under the sea? Over the mountain? Down in the hole? Then you can do subject searches for those words in the catalog.
Finding books on a theme
Start with a general key word search. For example "Jumping". Then play with the catalog. Limit the search to "fiction"(i.e. jumping-fiction). Most of the hits will come up with children's books. Then you can further limit it to "picture books". When you get the requested books, put them in unavailable status. That way no one can place a hold on them but patron will be able to check them out after storytime is over.
Titles for Up and Down theme:
Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
Silly Sally by Audrey Wood
The Napping House by Audrey Wood
My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow
Chicken Little by Steven Kellogg
Storytime Resources
Dewey Numbers-
027 - Preschool storytime books. Fingerplays.
Example: I'm a Little Teapot: Presenting Preschool Storytime, compiled by Jane Cobb
372 - Educational resources. Classroom activities.
Example: The Giant Encyclopedia of Preschool Activities, edited by Charner and Murphy
780 - Goofball songs
793 - Games
Online
PlanetEsme.com - Former elementary school teacher, librarian and children's books author Esme Codell. Recommended book: How to Get Your Child to Love Reading by Esme Codell.
A to Zoo
Reference book: subject listing for picture books. Great for librarians and patrons.
Books to Grow On
The KCLS catalog lists the items in the Books to Grow On kits. Of course, each kit is based on a theme. A good resource for ideas! Go to the "Kids Page" and then choose "Preschool".
Advice
Make it simple for yourself. Although themes are fun, the kids don't really care about the theme. They just enjoy a good storytime. You don't have to be original every time. In fact repetition is good for preschoolers. Prepare to be flexible. Request more books than you need. If the kids are getting antsy choose a shorter book over a longer one. Or stop and do a finger play or song. If the group is just not listening that day you can say, "And they lived happily ever after" and end the story and go to your craft or something more kinetic. Group discipline is referred to as "managing the kids". Also, request more books than you need so that there is enough for the kids to check out after storytime. When you include a craft make it compatible with the theme, and make it easy and do-able.
To list or not to list
One thing I really enjoy in my directed field work is seeing different styles of different librarians. For example, on the subject of making lists of the books used for storytime. One librarian said she makes a list of the books she used on a theme so that she doesn't have to start from scratch every time. It's also a way for her to remember books that she thought worked really well. Another librarian said she does make lists of her storytime themes but not the specific books. By the time she does the storytime theme again next year there will be new titles in the catalog and sometimes titles becomes unavailable. You don't want to use titles that have very few copies because you want the books to be available for the kids to check out.
Idea
Brainstorm 52 ideas for storytime themes. Print out a blank calendar and fill in the themes for each week. This is a method for inventory control - if you have more than one storytime in a week you can make sure that you have enough books available on the theme for the kids to check out.
General Outline of a Storytime
Start with an opening activity: a song or a game
First story - the longer story because they're fresh and ready to sit and listen
Kinetic break: fingerplay, or Simon Says, etc.
Second story - Shorter story
Kinetic break
You need to judge whether they can sit for one more book. Sometimes they can, sometimes they need to get up and move around. Be flexible.
The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge was J.K. Rowling's favorite book as a kid.
Roberto Ascalon: poet. Very popular after he came and did a reading at SPL.
Picking a theme.
I'm going to use the theme of "Up and Down" for my storytime. It's a little abstract as opposed to choosing an animal theme or season theme. The trick is to brainstorm ideas for the theme. What are other ways to convey "up and downess"? Flying? Jumping? Falling? Bouncing? Under the sea? Over the mountain? Down in the hole? Then you can do subject searches for those words in the catalog.
Finding books on a theme
Start with a general key word search. For example "Jumping". Then play with the catalog. Limit the search to "fiction"(i.e. jumping-fiction). Most of the hits will come up with children's books. Then you can further limit it to "picture books". When you get the requested books, put them in unavailable status. That way no one can place a hold on them but patron will be able to check them out after storytime is over.
Titles for Up and Down theme:
Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen
Silly Sally by Audrey Wood
The Napping House by Audrey Wood
My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow
Chicken Little by Steven Kellogg
Storytime Resources
Dewey Numbers-
027 - Preschool storytime books. Fingerplays.
Example: I'm a Little Teapot: Presenting Preschool Storytime, compiled by Jane Cobb
372 - Educational resources. Classroom activities.
Example: The Giant Encyclopedia of Preschool Activities, edited by Charner and Murphy
780 - Goofball songs
793 - Games
Online
PlanetEsme.com - Former elementary school teacher, librarian and children's books author Esme Codell. Recommended book: How to Get Your Child to Love Reading by Esme Codell.
A to Zoo
Reference book: subject listing for picture books. Great for librarians and patrons.
Books to Grow On
The KCLS catalog lists the items in the Books to Grow On kits. Of course, each kit is based on a theme. A good resource for ideas! Go to the "Kids Page" and then choose "Preschool".
Advice
Make it simple for yourself. Although themes are fun, the kids don't really care about the theme. They just enjoy a good storytime. You don't have to be original every time. In fact repetition is good for preschoolers. Prepare to be flexible. Request more books than you need. If the kids are getting antsy choose a shorter book over a longer one. Or stop and do a finger play or song. If the group is just not listening that day you can say, "And they lived happily ever after" and end the story and go to your craft or something more kinetic. Group discipline is referred to as "managing the kids". Also, request more books than you need so that there is enough for the kids to check out after storytime. When you include a craft make it compatible with the theme, and make it easy and do-able.
To list or not to list
One thing I really enjoy in my directed field work is seeing different styles of different librarians. For example, on the subject of making lists of the books used for storytime. One librarian said she makes a list of the books she used on a theme so that she doesn't have to start from scratch every time. It's also a way for her to remember books that she thought worked really well. Another librarian said she does make lists of her storytime themes but not the specific books. By the time she does the storytime theme again next year there will be new titles in the catalog and sometimes titles becomes unavailable. You don't want to use titles that have very few copies because you want the books to be available for the kids to check out.
Idea
Brainstorm 52 ideas for storytime themes. Print out a blank calendar and fill in the themes for each week. This is a method for inventory control - if you have more than one storytime in a week you can make sure that you have enough books available on the theme for the kids to check out.
General Outline of a Storytime
Start with an opening activity: a song or a game
First story - the longer story because they're fresh and ready to sit and listen
Kinetic break: fingerplay, or Simon Says, etc.
Second story - Shorter story
Kinetic break
You need to judge whether they can sit for one more book. Sometimes they can, sometimes they need to get up and move around. Be flexible.
The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge was J.K. Rowling's favorite book as a kid.
Roberto Ascalon: poet. Very popular after he came and did a reading at SPL.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
July 3rd
Children vs. Teen
How do you determine the age of a kid that comes up to the desk? One rough determination is to ask what grade they're in and then add 5. Kids start kindergarten when they're around 5 years old, so by first grade they're 6, second grade 7, and so on. When a kid finishes 5th grade they are considered a teen. So, children's services are birth to eleven and teen services are twelve to seventeen. It depends on the local school system really. Teens are middle school and high school so if middle school starts in sixth grade then they're a teen after 5th grade, and if middle school starts in 7th grade then they're a teen after 6th grade.
But really it's a fluid state. There's a lot of cross over between the children and teens collections and kids may read from both collections. Ultimately it's the kid that determines what reading level they're at.
You may be a children's librarian or a teen librarian but you are available to everyone, young and old. What distinguishes librarians is the programming that they organize (children vs. teen) and the collection that you maintain and specialize in.
Reference Search Tips
Example: Kitchen remodeling
If you don't know the subject heading in the catalog you can do two things. You can search for a title "Kitchen Remodeling" and then click on the subject heading within that title to find more like it. OR you can search for a subject by putting an * after the word. "Kitchen* Remodeling". Once you've found a list of titles, browse them to see if the titles are cataloged in multiple areas. For example, kitchens-remodeling is cataloged in the 643s and the 747s.
Sometimes it easiest to just find a general call number and go to the stacks to browse!
Behavior Problems
I didn't witness this one but a mother called to report that her son had been accosted by an old woman at the library. Her 12 yr old son was standing in the lobby and the woman said she was from the FBI and had seen him in the women's restroom groping someone. Apparently the woman in question had been banned from the library. She is schizophrenic and has had violent outbursts throughout Ballard. The boy was very upset and Pamela assured him that we believe he wouldn't do what the woman had accused him of. Fortunately the mother works with mentally ill people and was able to understand the woman's bizarre behavior.
Professional Awareness
How does a librarian stay up on all the new books that are published? Not to mention getting up to speed on the classics? You don't have to read every word of every book. You can read the beginning, middle and end. Just read every word of the books you really want to read. School Library Journal is a good way to stay up on titles.
Pamela explained how children's librarians used to select the books for their own library's collection. Now the selection is done centrally for all of the libraries. In the former model, librarians would review a stack of books and then share their reviews with the other children's librarians at group meetings. Then they would select their books. The reviews are still done, but it's just for professional awareness - not to select books. Pamela said the change was a very emotional decision for the children's librarians. It felt like they were losing their autonomy. Librarians make very few decisions about the collection now. Although there are ways that they do choose. (she explained but I forgot how...)
If I ever have a chance to hear Jim Trelease speak I need to see him.
Reader's Advisory
A young girl came up and said she loved the Warriors series but there weren't any on the shelf so could I recommend something to her? She said she liked stuff with Greek Gods in it. She was also looking for Gilda Joyce: Ladies of the Lake and Titans Curse. Pamela recommended the Tamara Pierce books and a book called Aria of the Sea. The girl found Cornelia Funke's Inkspell and Gregor the Overlander, and took those too.
How do you determine the age of a kid that comes up to the desk? One rough determination is to ask what grade they're in and then add 5. Kids start kindergarten when they're around 5 years old, so by first grade they're 6, second grade 7, and so on. When a kid finishes 5th grade they are considered a teen. So, children's services are birth to eleven and teen services are twelve to seventeen. It depends on the local school system really. Teens are middle school and high school so if middle school starts in sixth grade then they're a teen after 5th grade, and if middle school starts in 7th grade then they're a teen after 6th grade.
But really it's a fluid state. There's a lot of cross over between the children and teens collections and kids may read from both collections. Ultimately it's the kid that determines what reading level they're at.
You may be a children's librarian or a teen librarian but you are available to everyone, young and old. What distinguishes librarians is the programming that they organize (children vs. teen) and the collection that you maintain and specialize in.
Reference Search Tips
Example: Kitchen remodeling
If you don't know the subject heading in the catalog you can do two things. You can search for a title "Kitchen Remodeling" and then click on the subject heading within that title to find more like it. OR you can search for a subject by putting an * after the word. "Kitchen* Remodeling". Once you've found a list of titles, browse them to see if the titles are cataloged in multiple areas. For example, kitchens-remodeling is cataloged in the 643s and the 747s.
Sometimes it easiest to just find a general call number and go to the stacks to browse!
Behavior Problems
I didn't witness this one but a mother called to report that her son had been accosted by an old woman at the library. Her 12 yr old son was standing in the lobby and the woman said she was from the FBI and had seen him in the women's restroom groping someone. Apparently the woman in question had been banned from the library. She is schizophrenic and has had violent outbursts throughout Ballard. The boy was very upset and Pamela assured him that we believe he wouldn't do what the woman had accused him of. Fortunately the mother works with mentally ill people and was able to understand the woman's bizarre behavior.
Professional Awareness
How does a librarian stay up on all the new books that are published? Not to mention getting up to speed on the classics? You don't have to read every word of every book. You can read the beginning, middle and end. Just read every word of the books you really want to read. School Library Journal is a good way to stay up on titles.
Pamela explained how children's librarians used to select the books for their own library's collection. Now the selection is done centrally for all of the libraries. In the former model, librarians would review a stack of books and then share their reviews with the other children's librarians at group meetings. Then they would select their books. The reviews are still done, but it's just for professional awareness - not to select books. Pamela said the change was a very emotional decision for the children's librarians. It felt like they were losing their autonomy. Librarians make very few decisions about the collection now. Although there are ways that they do choose. (she explained but I forgot how...)
If I ever have a chance to hear Jim Trelease speak I need to see him.
Reader's Advisory
A young girl came up and said she loved the Warriors series but there weren't any on the shelf so could I recommend something to her? She said she liked stuff with Greek Gods in it. She was also looking for Gilda Joyce: Ladies of the Lake and Titans Curse. Pamela recommended the Tamara Pierce books and a book called Aria of the Sea. The girl found Cornelia Funke's Inkspell and Gregor the Overlander, and took those too.
Monday, July 2, 2007
June 27
Summer Reading Programs
My second day was just as exciting as the first. It's summer at the public library so, of course, there's the Summer Reading Program! This year there are summer reading programs for children, teens, and adults. The kids bring in their certificate with the ten books they've read written on the back. One parent said she really likes the certificates because then her and her child can look back and see how her taste in books and her reading levels have changed over the years. The librarian signs the certificate, then the child puts their name on a slip of paper to have posted on the children's area wall. They also fill out an entry for a drawing for the "Breakfast of Champions" which is a fancy breakfast for four at a hotel. And then they get to pick one book from the book prize box to take home for their very own. If they would like, they can take a slip of paper that says, "I read 10 more books" which is a way to encourage them to continue reading for the summer, but they don't get another book prize.
The teen and adult summer reading program are similar to each other. They read three books and write a short, thoughtful review of each. The teen turns in their reviews and they get a choice from the teen book prize box or a Literary Latte card from Starbucks. When the adults hand in their three thoughtful reviews they get entered into a raffle for a canvas book bag full of literary goodies and they get a Literary Latte card from Starbucks. It's all very exciting.
The New Book Section
When it's slow at the reference desk (which is almost never) the librarians process new books. The criteria for designating books for the "New" section are:
No books with their own audience or limited audience, for example cookbooks or physics books.
Fiction is considered new for a year after it's published. Non fiction has a shorter "new" life; once a year is up it's considered old.
RSS
I want to learn more about the RSS feed on the SPL website. A patron came up and had questions about subscribing to the RSS feed for the children's programming calendar. There is also an RSS feed you can subscribe to for your library account. I need to play around with it to see exactly how it works. (Note to self: Bloglines is an example of an RSS Reader.)
Mature Content
Interesting teen interaction: A girl brought up a manga book called "Basilisk" by Futaro Yamada. The girl's mom saw the "Mature Content" label on the book and said she couldn't check it out. "Basilisk" had been cataloged in the adult section so the teen librarian showed the girl the young adult section where other manga is cataloged. Jessica, the teen librarian, said that labels like "Mature Content" are helpful, kind of like movie ratings. They often say what the mature content is, whether it's language, violence, or sex.
Information Literacy
A ten or eleven year old boy came up to the desk and asked how to use the catalog to look up books. Pamela took him over to a catalog computer terminal and showed him how to browse the catalog. She used "Calvin and Hobbes" as her example :) She also showed him how to look up his own account.
Reference
An older woman, maybe in her 70s or 80s said she needed a basic math book. This was a classic reference question where we (the librarian Paula and I) asked clarification questions. What kind of math? (fractions and percentages) What will you be using the math for? (learning about finances and business) Is this for you or for someone else (it's for my grandson) What level of math is your grandson at? (3rd or 4th grade). We found a couple of books for her on the shelf and also ordered one from another library.
One thing I've noticed at Ballard is that the librarians try to find what's available in the library first and then if the patron wants more they'll look at placing holds at other libraries. It makes sense but it was a surprise to me.
Tech Questions
I know more about tech than I thought I did. For example, a patron needed to send a file as text only. She had it saved as a Word document. I was able to walk her through how to "save as" a text file and she was able to send her document! I was also able to trouble shoot when a patron said she couldn't connect to the wi-fi in the library. I walked her through how to choose the library's wireless connection on her network options. Then she was able to connect! Both of these experiences made me feel alot more self-confidant that I do have a certain level of tech savvy. I didn't cower at the suggestion of tech - I did what I could with what I have.
My second day was just as exciting as the first. It's summer at the public library so, of course, there's the Summer Reading Program! This year there are summer reading programs for children, teens, and adults. The kids bring in their certificate with the ten books they've read written on the back. One parent said she really likes the certificates because then her and her child can look back and see how her taste in books and her reading levels have changed over the years. The librarian signs the certificate, then the child puts their name on a slip of paper to have posted on the children's area wall. They also fill out an entry for a drawing for the "Breakfast of Champions" which is a fancy breakfast for four at a hotel. And then they get to pick one book from the book prize box to take home for their very own. If they would like, they can take a slip of paper that says, "I read 10 more books" which is a way to encourage them to continue reading for the summer, but they don't get another book prize.
The teen and adult summer reading program are similar to each other. They read three books and write a short, thoughtful review of each. The teen turns in their reviews and they get a choice from the teen book prize box or a Literary Latte card from Starbucks. When the adults hand in their three thoughtful reviews they get entered into a raffle for a canvas book bag full of literary goodies and they get a Literary Latte card from Starbucks. It's all very exciting.
The New Book Section
When it's slow at the reference desk (which is almost never) the librarians process new books. The criteria for designating books for the "New" section are:
No books with their own audience or limited audience, for example cookbooks or physics books.
Fiction is considered new for a year after it's published. Non fiction has a shorter "new" life; once a year is up it's considered old.
RSS
I want to learn more about the RSS feed on the SPL website. A patron came up and had questions about subscribing to the RSS feed for the children's programming calendar. There is also an RSS feed you can subscribe to for your library account. I need to play around with it to see exactly how it works. (Note to self: Bloglines is an example of an RSS Reader.)
Mature Content
Interesting teen interaction: A girl brought up a manga book called "Basilisk" by Futaro Yamada. The girl's mom saw the "Mature Content" label on the book and said she couldn't check it out. "Basilisk" had been cataloged in the adult section so the teen librarian showed the girl the young adult section where other manga is cataloged. Jessica, the teen librarian, said that labels like "Mature Content" are helpful, kind of like movie ratings. They often say what the mature content is, whether it's language, violence, or sex.
Information Literacy
A ten or eleven year old boy came up to the desk and asked how to use the catalog to look up books. Pamela took him over to a catalog computer terminal and showed him how to browse the catalog. She used "Calvin and Hobbes" as her example :) She also showed him how to look up his own account.
Reference
An older woman, maybe in her 70s or 80s said she needed a basic math book. This was a classic reference question where we (the librarian Paula and I) asked clarification questions. What kind of math? (fractions and percentages) What will you be using the math for? (learning about finances and business) Is this for you or for someone else (it's for my grandson) What level of math is your grandson at? (3rd or 4th grade). We found a couple of books for her on the shelf and also ordered one from another library.
One thing I've noticed at Ballard is that the librarians try to find what's available in the library first and then if the patron wants more they'll look at placing holds at other libraries. It makes sense but it was a surprise to me.
Tech Questions
I know more about tech than I thought I did. For example, a patron needed to send a file as text only. She had it saved as a Word document. I was able to walk her through how to "save as" a text file and she was able to send her document! I was also able to trouble shoot when a patron said she couldn't connect to the wi-fi in the library. I walked her through how to choose the library's wireless connection on her network options. Then she was able to connect! Both of these experiences made me feel alot more self-confidant that I do have a certain level of tech savvy. I didn't cower at the suggestion of tech - I did what I could with what I have.
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