This is another librarian blog about anything relating to libraries but also about nothing relating to libraries. As a librarian at a small college library (4 staff members), I wear many hats. We are all called upon to “Do This, That, and the Other Thing” on a daily basis. I’m a jack of many trades, master of few. I take pride in my ability to juggle numerous duties, projects, and to switch gears at the drop of a hat to meet an immediate need of a member of our user community. So in keeping with that tradition, I blog about anything and everything library related. But I also like to indulge myself in other areas that I am passionate about such as music. A lover of classic rock and owner of a growing album collection of over 600 titles, I fancy myself an amateur rock historian. I am the Cliff Clavin of Rock n’ Roll trivia, so I also use this as a forum for my random opinions about music.
I am the Reference and Electronic Services Librarian at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. While I am not an engineer or have a technical background, I have provided reference assistance for students and faculty in engineering and the sciences for over nine years. The types of reference questions I deal with range from Freshman research, to engineering literature searches, to requests for specific or technical data. I also evaluate resources and manage subscriptions, licensing, and access to all electronic resources at Rose-Hulman’s library. While I am not an engineer, I have developed the skill of asking the right questions to figure out the best approach in fulfilling user’s information needs.
A typical day for me can involve any combination of the following activities
- Conduct reference assistance
- Conduct library instruction classes
- Update WebSite
- Manage LibGuides
- Manage EBSCO AtoZ
- Review new electronic resources
- Review / negotiate license agreements with vendors
- Manage the Digital Archives Project (supervise student worker digitization efforts, conduct quality control, upload items into CONTENTdm)
- Troubleshoot access problems to electronic resources
- Conduct support for library technology and perform “triage” in connection with the IT department
- Evaluate usage statistics of electronic resources
- Scholarly Communication Committee work for the Engineering Libraries Division of ASEE.
- Serve on Program Committee for the Indiana Online Users Group (IOLUG)
- Conduct personal library related research for publication or presentation
