15 March 2007
Notes from Reference Meeting
15 March 2007 Strathfield
Discussion of coming @ your library topics and possible reference and information services promotions
Reduce, reuse and recycle
Energy efficient promotion – giveaways/displays/website - light bulbs etc
Data on energy efficiency – comparing local government areas
Re-use of old books for display/ or some other re-use
Work in with council officers and workshops on offer – tie in resources/displays with workshops – even offer to hold workshops in library
Workshop – making fancy dresses from recycled newspapers or other sculpture
Drug info
promotion of young adult fiction – some deal with drug issues – could refer to drug info web sites
tying with health and wellness databases trying for positive rather than negative
working with cdat
working photographing graffiti tags
Holiday fun
gourmet night with wine/cheese/local produce – ties in with reference resources, could be followed by quiz
travel type internet training sessions overseas (travel, tourist sites, online bookings…) and domestic travel as well as training session on how to enjoy Sydney – lots of museum/art gallery sites
help de-stress HSC sessions/displays
walking tours in the area – promoting local studies collections
Good sports
gentle exercise in library (need to check insurance)
kids sport training
local sport person for a talk / combine with information display
Beijing developments – possibly Chinese consulate
Asia Cup promotion/display for soccer – even show the games live
Find the past
Family history/local studies/hsc history
Reference file on history on local area
Maps with contrast of then and now
Photograph display
Booklet/website on local suburbs
Quiz on facts/photographs
Involve community – people’s past – oral history/talks/group discussion – promoting the cultural past
Displays of local studies and reference treasures – to highlight their presence
Know your suburb – using local resources and ABS statistics
Promoting the book resources
Primary schools doing research on local area – tie in family history/local studies staff/people to help when classes come into the area
Tie in oldest/ longest been a library client – tie in with oral history
Just ask
trivial pursuit questions to provoke people to ‘just ask’ – as a display
promoting services – ‘can’t use the catalogue – just ask’
tacking in database information for other training ‘ just ask’ about this other aspect of our service
Read
reading groups – talk to them about readers advisory tools
encourage reading groups to try non-fiction titles – and then additional reading ideas for background
promoting ra tools and databases
posters/postcards around library – “if you liked…”
books into film promotion – resources for people to help find
reading maps to direct people from books they have read to tie into other topics
Escape
travel promotion
sea change writing – plus what resources to assist people who are planning sea/tree change
escape into databases like Times Digital Archive
display based on historic Australia/travel books/atlases
books which deal with great escapes
look at news/sport through the perspective of other nations
escape into history
use atlas to pick up themes of people and places for ideas about reading geography and reading what was set there
local history
How are people training their staff in reference and information services?
Use nsw.net training and one on one
LIAC training
Adopt a database – staff member skills up and does training for other staff
Reference resources – before opening ½ hour once a week highlight resources
Monthly staff meeting – at the end of meeting do database training or training in other resources – provide catch up for people who can’t attend
Reference quiz about once a quarter – use resources to write questions – books/databases – make it so that people can’t just use google
Reference training module written
Team days – twice a month – training/refresher
Information folder/reference folder – on common computer drive
Reference information file on what are the top reference questions at the moment – for staff who are self learning
Systematic reference training for all staff – reference interview skills and time management (queue control), reference resources (databases/library resources/key resources), ya/children’s resources, customer service - different versions for staff on reference desk and other staff – need staff to be confident in referral to reference desk – practical examples
Fortnightly/monthly training – include training for mobile drivers – databases/advanced catalogue searching
Intensive training program – each section required to train everyone else – reference – introduction to reference section (walk through in detail 1 1/2), 3 -4 hour database training (staff most likely to use), LIAC and drug info (2 hours each), family history overview (2 hours), library and council website awareness (1 ½ - 2 hours) – are noticing better reference and more confident/competent staff – building towards competency based training system
5 day intensive training module – every few months the main reference people from each branch have 5 days on resources/databases/ABS (using ABS staff)/local studies – activities and work books – have a couple of months to work through work books. Have feedback day. Working through all people who do reference in groups of 5 -7 people. Have resource information file. Practical exercises for every module
strategic searching training – reference based resources – looking at options as well as databases
How are people providing training for their communities?
Unstructured – library tours from Adult Migrant Education Centre – tour may be in English or community language – include reference and non-fiction – encourage people to join the library
Monthly internet searching and online database searching – mainly for seniors – already booked out for next few months so may need to run more classes – including awareness sessions for seniors week – 6 – 8 per class
Unstructured – group training in microfilm and associated resources 8 – 12 people on demand for family history group
Unstructured training for new migrants in how to use the library
Training session at local high school in databases – class sized groups – using powerpoint demonstration
School visits – reference and other resources – databases, reference sources, how to use the equipment, school visits – in 2006 focused on year 12 students, have been invited back – will focus on English, Legal studies and History – covering reference resources
Online tutoring to introduce students to these
General business
RISG web blog for people to share their ideas (
www.nsw-risg.org/weblog) relating to reference and information resources
Questions about filtering – chat rooms blocked in one library, download limit reached in one library because of myspace/youtube, libraries are blocking yourtube because of volume of downloads, and may have filtering software, or junior pc category (with parents signing), conditions of computer use comes up every time you log in, filters on staff pcs, face out computers
Database promotion information from Proquest
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Database descriptions
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database promotion
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draft press release
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for web site
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Present
Chris Brimble (Lane Cove), Jeff Stonehouse (Campbelltown), Kathy Maltby (Ryde), Kerry-Ann Prideaux (Woollahra), Andrew Allen (Canterbury), Diane Rutherford (Wollondilly), Cathy Johnston (Tamworth), Carol Sommer (Ryde), Annette Kucharska (Auburn), Sharon Drenth (Ku-ring-gai), Andrea Pakchung (Liverpool), Ion Sloggett (Kogarah), Annette Webb (Strathfield), Yan Zand (Strathfield), Jennifer Kelly (Botany Bay), Carmel Blakely (Hurstville), Susan Wright (Hurstville), Natalie Gray (Rockdale), David Sansome (Canada Bay), Sue Counell (Burwood), Roger Swanson (Blacktown), Andrew Powell (Cessnock), John Royle (Waverley), Ellen Forsyth (State Library)
Next meeting
Will be held in last week of July – date and location to be confirmed
Agenda items
Beyond Google – what are libraries doing?
What is part of reference and information services and collections at your library? What is reference and what is loan? Are there other specialist services we should be providing – for example local studies, LIAC, ABS, HSC collections, drug info, literacy?
Favourite/least favourite reference tool
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