Blog Reflection 8

I feel the need to rant! So many people assume that we sit around all day and read books or twiddle our thumbs because the computer does all the work for us. If only I got paid to read. If only computers did all the cataloging, reference and circulation work for us.
When I tell people I work in a library their eyes usually glaze over with a look that says “poor thing” or “oh…that’s nice. I guess”. I swear this happens a lot. The average person just doesn’t get it and I sincerely doubt they ever will. They see a person or two at a Circulation desk and maybe someone shelving and think that is all one needs to run a library.
For instance, teaching is such a large part of what I and fellow employees do on a daily basis. My library happens to have an OPAC available on the intranet only and accessibility to most of our resources are IP authenticated. Day after day we are asked questions that are easily answered with a little training and I have found that I enjoy teaching people how to use our resources. They are so thankful and happy to learn the correct way to do their research or studying and there are different ways we train.
One way we assist people is by participating in our hospital’s monthly new hire orientation where one of the librarians gives a short presentation outlining our library followed by a Q & A at the end of orientation. It is a great way to get people to know we exist and that we’re here to help them.
Our librarians created a PowerPoint tutorial that is posted on our intranet page with step by step directions on using the OPAC, Journal and Book A – Z Lists and Single Search. The tutorial is available to 24/7 and from anywhere in the hospital.
But by far the greatest way we teach people is one on one. Every day I am asked questions that lead to educational opportunities. The number one thing people learn is that they need to use our library’s intranet page to access databases, journals, books and evidence-based resources (among other things).
As I was suggesting before I get a little frustrated from times when people assume that “everything is on the computer”. It is my job to make sure patrons know other wise and to get the word out that working in a library is actually work. I feel better now.