WWPL DFW – Week 10

Ugh! I blew it again! KOHA and those darn series books. I received a phone query from a man wanting to know if the WWPL has “The Sisters Grimm – Book 2.” Unsure of how to spell Grimm, I pulled up Amazon.com to find out. I searched the Walnet catalog for “The Sisters Grimm”. The title was not in the hit list. I then searched by author. Again, the title was not in the hit list. To make matters worse, the system was running very slowly and I felt like I was keeping the patron on hold for an eternity. I informed the patron that we have several books by Michael Buckley (one of the two authors), but none by the title “The Sisters Grimm”. He sounded a bit surprised, but thanked me and then hung up. It wasn’t until after he hung up that I noticed that the books on the hit list said “Series: Sisters Grimm” in fine print several lines below the titles. Grrr! I hate giving out misinformation. I desperately wanted to be able to call back that gentleman. Unfortunately, I did not have a name or a phone number. NOTE TO SELF: IF SOMEONE ASKS FOR BOOK 2, IT IS PROBABLY PART OF A SERIES; FOR SERIES BOOKS, LOOK AT THE FINE PRINT. I truly wish that KOHA would display the series name in bold print right below the title. If I have problems identifying series books, I am pretty sure that there are patrons who do as well.

Once again, I was also frustrated trying to help patrons who were having problems with the public computers. One lady was trying to temporarily save a photo to either the desktop or the My Documents folder so that she could email it to herself. The computer would not allow it. Unfortunately, she forgot her USB drive at home, and had no other way to save the file. Right next her, a young boy was trying to watch a YouTube video, but had lost the sound. He thought it was a problem with the headset. There happened to be a personal headset sitting on the desk next to him that some patron apparently left behind, and so I temporarily borrowed it to see if I was dealing with a headset problem or if it was a system sound problem. The sound was still silent. This is where my frustration kicked in. Because of the locked down functionality, I was unable to access the control panel to check the sound settings. My only other choice was to reboot the computer and give the kid a new login. At first, he wanted me to do that for him, but then he realized the time and that he needed to leave. As a former Information Systems and Technology Manager, these kinds of limitations frustrate me to no end. I have to say, I would not stand for this if it were MY IS&T shop. As a librarian, I consider it unacceptable to provide patrons with computers of such limited capacities. Granted, I do not know the decision-making and politics behind the configuration choices, but I am quite certain there are better ways to deliver computer services.

Tuesday was not my busiest day at the information desk, but there were a couple of moments where I had multiple requests for help at the same time. I think I am getting better at managing that sort of situation, but I still have room for improvement. I had been helping one patron find a specific book, which we did not find on the shelf. I returned to the information desk to determine where else it might be, when a couple stopped by and asked me how to spell “Nietzsche.” Since it was a quick and easy Google query, I went ahead and looked it up for them. Just when I thought we were done, they wanted to know how to spell “counterfeit.” I quickly looked that up for them as well. Again, thinking we were done, they then wanted to know where to find books by Nietzsche. In the meantime, my previous patron was still waiting for me to run down the book she was looking for. I let her know I would be back with her in a moment and I quickly looked in the catalog for Nietzsche books. The first one on the list was a biography. I directed the couple to the shelf location, and then I went back to helping the previous patron. I decided the book she was looking for was most likely in the back, waiting to be re-shelved. I went to the back and found it for her. She was pleased. I apologized for making her wait. Just about then, the couple returned to the info desk and said that they wanted a book written by Nietzsche rather than about Nietzsche. I apologized for not realizing that before, and I once again queried Walnet. I found that there were several in the holdings and I sent them to the correct call number section. They came back with books in hand and thanked me for my help. I am pleased that each transaction was ultimately successful. However, I feel I should have completed the first transaction before taking on the second one. I am learning, though!

I made progress on mapping out the information flow for the NoveList tutorial. I am hoping to get the project completed by the end of the quarter (next week), but I have assured them that if I don’t, I will get it done soon thereafter.

It would have been nice to end my time at the information desk a bit closer to perfection, but I am thankful for all I have learned. I have learned as much, or more from my mistakes as I have from my successes. This week, I attended my last Librarian’s meeting as well. I am thankful to have been allowed that privilege. I have learned a lot from hearing about the issues that they are dealing with. I never realized how especially difficult and cumbersome technical services can be. The IS&T Manager in me wants to jump in and try to help them find ways to improve workflow. But, that is not why I am here. I am here to learn more about librarianship. I am taking in everything that I have learned during my fieldwork at the WWPL, and I believe my experience here has made me a better librarian.

My Spring 2010 DFW website is at the following URL:  https://catalysttools.washington.edu/workspace/jlw61/13124/