August 30- September 5
Electronic Information Services
Important Notes from References Services Book- Bryner and Lanning
Information- data with a meaning and framework 11 22 82 is just data but 11/22/82 is my birthday. Information must be recorded or classified to be published and that is what libraries are all about.
Remember the first class when I wondered how "reference services" fit in to a 21st century library? The readings of Chapter 1,3,7-9 helped shed some light on the toolss that allow users to find information and their transformation through time and technology. While the basic idea to be the "window to the library" has stayed the same, the speed,accuracy and quality of the record keeping have dramatically improved.
Life of Catalogs Quickly:
Catalogs started by monks handwritten in books, hard to update, could not share with other libraries
Card Catalogs monks begin to keep on individual cards using certian styles of library script, may have seperate cards for author, subject, title
Com Cats were computer output microfilm which created cards from data but were short lived. Moved to Microfilm for searching because it was cheaper and took up less space. Easily able to share.
OPAC is the Online Public Access uses a computer file to access and read. Some made own programs, some bought but it extended options for searching.
WebPAC is Web based public access allowed ultimate sharing for users and electronic links.
Open Source Catalogs are integrated library sustems available to anyone with free software.
This is an interesting progression where each advancement comes out of a previous limitation. Important themes I saw repeated were increased user friendliness, ability to update collection information, and increased sharing among libraries.
Extending on the catalog collection are databases and search engines. The personal computer has transformed these electronic reference services.
Databases are collections of related items called records that have specific fields.
Catalogs, Databases and Search Engines put information in the hands of users to make decisions about their information search. This is an important thing to remember as a school librarian. It is not my role to answer every question as the giver of all knowledge but to use these reference tools to empower my patrons to create their own information. I checked out the New Treir Library that was in our first class notes and saw each of these services used in very 21st century ways. They were available for anytime use by the patron for reference anywhere with internet connection. They also had Facebook, twitter, and chatting with librarians to extend their services.
New Questions: What lessons or cirriculum teaches students to use these services effectively? Is it best to embed them into instruction or does some explicit instruction have to be done? What age do we start?
Monday, September 5, 2011
What are Infomation Services?
August 23-29
Information Services
During this first week of class I was unsure of what I would really learn in this course. What exactly are reference and information services? I wondered if I would have to memorize lots of categories or catalogs in order to perform reference services. The very thought of a "reference librarian" at a special desk in the library did not fit it in with the 21st century learning commons vision. My first impression was that this means your collection is very centeralized and confined within the walls of the library. What are some ways that reference services which have been such an important part of the library experience for decades can be updated for the 21st century?
The presentation of Past, Present, and Future Information services helped to answer these questions. Reference services have moved past the librarian answering questions to the patrons creating and evaluating their own information through the faciliation of the librarian's services. This change is not that different from the shift in teaching that encourages students to be actively engaged in discovering information. One important role of the library I did not think about previously was the education of immigrants and citizens through public libraries. This really made an impact on the way I view equal and free access to information as a way to support a democratic society.
Information services are the vehicles that you use to help users find and use information. Print and digital resources that allow for a wide variety of high quality information through collections, interlibrary loan, document delivery or virtual spaces are the central feature of information services. Also included are the interactions available between information specialist and users through planned or spontaneous interactions either in person or electronic means. The physical organization of the facility and resources to provide clear and easy access to information and tutorials for information literacy skills are also important.
Information Services
During this first week of class I was unsure of what I would really learn in this course. What exactly are reference and information services? I wondered if I would have to memorize lots of categories or catalogs in order to perform reference services. The very thought of a "reference librarian" at a special desk in the library did not fit it in with the 21st century learning commons vision. My first impression was that this means your collection is very centeralized and confined within the walls of the library. What are some ways that reference services which have been such an important part of the library experience for decades can be updated for the 21st century?
The presentation of Past, Present, and Future Information services helped to answer these questions. Reference services have moved past the librarian answering questions to the patrons creating and evaluating their own information through the faciliation of the librarian's services. This change is not that different from the shift in teaching that encourages students to be actively engaged in discovering information. One important role of the library I did not think about previously was the education of immigrants and citizens through public libraries. This really made an impact on the way I view equal and free access to information as a way to support a democratic society.
Information services are the vehicles that you use to help users find and use information. Print and digital resources that allow for a wide variety of high quality information through collections, interlibrary loan, document delivery or virtual spaces are the central feature of information services. Also included are the interactions available between information specialist and users through planned or spontaneous interactions either in person or electronic means. The physical organization of the facility and resources to provide clear and easy access to information and tutorials for information literacy skills are also important.
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