Observation of the Reference Desk & 2nd interview

I had the opportunity to observe the reference desk at Gaston College. I was there for about two hours and witnessed the lull of summer hours. No one ever approached the desk with questions. Instead, every patron that entered the library sat at a computer carrol and browsed the internet or used word processing programs. There were maybe ten patrons total in the library during my visit. While I watched the interactions of the users, I spoke with the evening librarian, Jody Mosteller about her experience at the reference desk. Jody was very easy to talk to and showed me her typical start to an evening. She walked through the databases she recommends and uses to teach library sessions. She also talked about the prevalence of the nursing students (though they usually help themselves), and the social issue essays that students write. She also mentioned her second highest queries occur when professors put books or articles on hold for checkout in the library. Often times, some students will check them all out and leave some students empty handed. She shows them how to find the articles online or put the books on hold from ILL. Overall, Judy was a dream to interview. She was much more personable and relatable. She mentioned that they are opening a new library in Belmont, and I wish her the best of luck in interviewing for that position!

Interview with a Reference Librarian

I met with Calvin Craig the Information Access Librarian at Gaston College's main campus. He is the main reference librarian with morning/afternoon hours. He also teaches study skill sessions to different classes about how to use online databases and how to find informaiton in the library. He is also in charge of the library website. On a typical day in the semester, the morning hours are busier with students and questions. The typical user is hard to describe because of the diversity of the campus. The average age varies from high school students earning college credit to retired folks returning to school. There is a large, dedicated group of nursing students that take their education and research seriously, but are capable of working independently. The most common questions come from writing assignments on social issues. These requests are so typical, then college subsribes to two online databases that focus soley on these political and social hot-button issues. As far as difficult patrons, Mr. Craig has not experienced many. The majority of issues arise from the public patrons using the internet. Two public users and one student have been banned from the library beause of innaporpriate use of the internet. Overall, I was very impressed with the interview. He was very hospitable and gave me a tour of the library introducing me to everyone, including Dr. Cook the Director of the library. Mr. Craig was nothing, if not thorough and I appreciated his time.

Feeling much more confident this go round with Dr. Rob! I remember in August feeling pretty overwhelmed! Who knew I would be a *semi*pro at virtual worlds, wiki's and blogs! Kinda nervous about this collaboration project and looming deadlines, but what else is new! Ahh the life of a graduate student! : )