NSW public library wiki

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

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