**Reference and Information Services Group Meeting** 28 November 2006 10.00am – 12.00nooon Blacktown - Apologies - Introductions - 2007 @your library campaigns for January to April (January - Holiday Fun, February - Library Lovers Day, Connect, March – Environment, April - Holiday Fun, Food). How we can use them to promote reference and information services in our libraries? - Promotion of online resources - General business - Reference mentoring - Subjects for discussion at the next meeting. - Favourite/least favourite reference tool November 2006 **Holiday fun** * Encourage council staff to come to the library to use the reference resources, even if not on holidays can even have fun in libraries – ABS/traffic calming * Treasure hunt using ref col could be series of clues * Use ref col to plan holidays – directories, guides, databases * Holiday quizzes for school kids – using ref col * Find out romantic get aways – using ref resources **Library Lovers day** * Romantic quotes – write your own love poem * Choose a romantic restaurant using library resources * Anniversaries and other significant events quiz * Adopt a borrower – based on Scandinavian model * Read dating event * Quiz for the kids and they get hearts or wrist bands or chocolates * “if you’ve got the question we would love to answer it” * Survey or postcard or billboard asking “what do you love about the library” **Connect** * Run events after library hours but leave the library open so people can still select and borrow * Social hook to bring people to the library * Beyond Google – use for general assistance or to encourage people to look at more sophisticated techniques * Women’s wall of wisdom – display of things women wanted to pass on to other women, target local community groups through ci database. Aim was to bring in non-library people – press promotion. Most people want to tell you something – way of bringing people in * Connect to myspace, blogs – library 2.0 * Reconnect – seniors, memoryman – to discuss writing memoirs, could use health resources ‘use it or lose it’ * Displays of new books which are geared to older readers – range of formats – connecting people together * Need a catalyst for connections * Getting people based on interest groups – photography, gardening – talk and resources – social networking opportunities * Target families – have events for children and adults at same time **Law** * ‘roof over your head’ – information for renters/buyers/sellers/ strata issues – how to do it and legal implications - talks * Migration, rights as an artist, contracts, fair trading, ‘across the fence” neighbourhood issues – talks and displays – target topics for your community * Canvas school community to match talks with legal studies topics – domestic violence etc also target range of speakers police, courts local groups – allow anonymity in booking **Food** * Food event with literary theme – like edible book * Promotions around themes like iron chef * “feast of information’, gorging on information * Promotion of databases – looking for recipes * Linking visits linking in visits of local chefs/cooks/authors with food and resources * Wine and book tastings or beer and ?? tastings * Healthy food expert showing children how to prepare food with other events * Tafe and WEA in – promoting course and they can cater * Travel food tie – for winter travel * Taking bread maker into work with display around it and bread being made all day – bread given out to library clients – staff took turns mixing up the bread * Explore sponsorship for food * Sharing recipes from patrons – library recipe book **food and holiday fun** * Talk on worm farm – eating recycles food * Jackie French related event **Online databases** * Promote that people can access the databases from home (short library hours) – Britannica very popular for remote access as identifiable brand – promoting database for homework help * Internet classes for specific subjects – and including databases as part of the training connecting together resources * Promote that databases normally have a cost associated but library has paid for this so people can access for free * Use ‘free newpapers, magazines’ etc rather than databases as people understand what newspapers are rather than what databases are * Promote to schools - need to go to schools and youth and other groups which need speakers – need to go along and promote the library to groups * Promote the databases as ‘free information at home’ * Some primary schools coming on library visits and do homework help and encyclopaedia demonstration – ties in with school unit on verifying resources – has increased offsite and onsite usage * Send information on how to use the community information database * Show and tell works * Clear database access on website * Have database promotion as screensaver * Remind people that newspaper articles available – possibly have as on shelf sign * When signing up new people tell them about the databases – or give out appropriate flier * Make sure all staff know that there are databases – all staff should have a basic level of awareness even if it is not their core business * Staff training * Other terms for databases – online library, e-library, e-reference * Resources listed on web site * Catalogue databases * Adopt a databases – staff adopt a database and once a month have to learn how to use a database and have to present to the other staff showing what is so great about the particular database **Reference mentoring** * Blacktown – new staff shadowing as part of training program – over a number of months before they are alone on the reference desk, go through resources and services * Fairfield – trialling 5 day intensive reference training, working way through all staff who work the reference desk – all sites, done in groups, includes local studies with six months feedback, With manual **5 March 2007** Strathfield Library * @your library topics – feedback (pictures) and the next campaigns * How are people training their staff? * How are people providing structured training for their communities? * Beyond Google – what are libraries doing? * Are there other specialist services we should be providing – for example local studies, LIAC, ABS, HSC collections, drug info, literacy? What is part of reference and information services and collection? What is reference and what is loan? **Useful reference items** * Street directories and travel guides especially Sydney CBD * ANZRC* – testing its limits, coloured maps and flags – cheaper for printing out * Novelist – good for reviews, similar authors * Cordells building guide and the cost guide * Who else writes like? * Almanacs – yearly updates, very fast to use * Cordless phones – can do roving reference and can ring the experts * Issues in society* * Manly cemetery records transcripts – word searching * TAFE guide* and Ozjac database * Easy access to articles – Artshub database with searchable news file * Ryerson index – dead person society – index of obituaries * Profile id – local area information – aggregated information, World newspapers online, Whereis * Good reading – combined display with the reference material * Law handbook – give thinking time and is well indexed, Infocus collection, Access science – science and technology encyclopaedia * Liberty Plains a history of Auburn – well indexed, Mylanguage * McGraw Hill encyclopedia of science and technology – great help, Australia’s heritage magazine – well indexed, written at a level for students * Australian dictionary of national biography – online, LIAC collection for legal studies * Travelmate.com – maps and time for travel * Libraries Australia* – checking if things exist and where they are, Google books plus Google news archive * ABS new census web site, World religions * UAC guide * Health and wellness – good for alternative medicine, difference formats helpful * Community information directory – local focus, How products are made - multiple volumes ---- Back to [[reference_and_information_services_working_group|Reference and information services working group home page]]