LTAIG Newsletter - October 2006

 

Hello, LTAIGers!

Well, it's October, and fall is almost certainly here. It would be easy to insert any number of autumnal clichés here, like the sound of crunching leaves, the reintroduction of heavy sweaters to wardrobes, and the abundance of pumpkin-based treats in coffee shops. True, those things are wonderful, but I'll spare you from here on in--we've got more important things to talk about, like the excellent articles in this month's newsletter, kindly written by two Vancouver library technicians. For those of you who are students about to embark on practicum placements, you'll enjoy reading about Kathy Barry's practicums in school and medical libraries, and how those placements shaped her perception of what sorts of jobs she could apply for after graduation. Google-maniacs out there will be enlightened by Christina Tribe's report on the recent SLA seminar, "A Google Smorgasbord". And if you missed Langara's LIT Program's 40^th anniversary celebration, here's your chance to hear all about it.

As always, LTAIG welcomes your suggestions for news and articles for this newsletter. Please let us know if there is something you'd like to share or hear about! Just send an e-mail to ltaignewsletter@gmail.com.

 

~Emma Wood, LTAIG Newsletter Editor & Social Coordinator

 

 

Kathy Barry, Library Technician at Farris LLP

Practicums are a great opportunity for you to test the waters of a certain type of library that you are planning to work in.  They also provide you with a chance to work in different kinds of libraries without the pressure of not feeling qualified enough to do the job.

During my library technician training at Langara College, I had always envisioned myself to be working alongside a children's librarian.  So, I decided that working in a school would be the most logical place for me to do my first practicum.

For two weeks, I worked in a high school library.   My tasks included cataloguing, working at the circulation desk, organizing the journal collection, assisting the students with CD-ROM materials (it was the 90s) and researching on the internet. Overall, it was a pleasant experience. The head librarian gave me a variety of tasks so that I had ample exposure to the various aspects of the job. I was able to get help when I needed it from her or the library assistant, and the staff always encouraged me to help the students when they asked for help. Working at the high school was a really positive experience and I was able to get a great reference letter, which helped me to get my second practicum. 

Well, many library courses and job postings later, I decided to try working in a completely different library environment.  I figured that any experience is good experience, and I wanted to keep my options open for future employment.

For four weeks, I worked in a medical library, and I was fortunate again, to work with a very kind and supportive staff who gave me a variety of jobs.  At first, I was a little intimidated given the scholarly content of the collection, and also in knowing that I would be interacting with the patrons who consisted mainly of doctors and medical students.  The only medical knowledge I ever had was to call 9-1-1! 

In spite of my initial trepidation, I was keen and I wanted to learn everything I could.  The library staff trained me how to do several tasks such as: cataloguing serials, processing new materials, photocopying articles, and sorting all of the document delivery requests. So far, my lack of medical knowledge didn't seem to matter.  I also worked at the circulation desk, which was a lot busier than the one at the high school library. 

I had to work a cash register to accept payments for borrower's cards, library fines, copy cards, and document delivery charges. I also had to work on a very slow, command-based circ system (again, it was the 90s).

Working the cash register was a little daunting because it had keys for specific transactions.  So, I would just stand there staring at the keys trying to figure out which one to press.  Of course, I would press the wrong one and the register would give off this loud and annoying beeping sound until someone on staff came over to fix the problem.

The circ system was not much better. One wrong keystroke and the screen froze so I would have to start the sequence all over again.  After a while, I started to get hang of the duties at the circulation desk and I really started to enjoy all of the aspects of working in a medical library. 

Eventually, I grew more comfortable helping the doctors and medical students because I realized that I didn't need to be an expert in medicine in order to help them locate a book or show them how to order a journal article.  I just had to be helpful and professional.

Overall, my work experiences were successful because I didn't try to limit myself to working in a specific type of library.  I learned that when I started job-hunting that I should apply for anything that sounded interesting, which gave me a greater number of job postings to choose from. I also learned to apply for jobs that I felt were out of my reach because you just never know who is willing to hire you and train you if you have the right attitude. 

Both practicums provided me with positive reference letters, which led me to a part-time job working at the Law Society of BC as a library assistant.  Four months later, I spotted a job posting for a library technician position at a law firm.  The qualifications sounded beyond my reach, but I applied anyway.   After three interviews I was hired, and for over six years I have been happily employed at the same law firm.

 

 

It's hard to believe that the 2006 BCLA conference was almost six months ago, which of course means that planning for the 2007 conference is well underway. The association has announced its call for session proposals, and LTAIG will be submitting several proposals. Last year we sponsored two sessions: a panel presentation on the roles and future of library technicians in public libraries, and a session on RSS, both of which were very well received.

The theme for 2007 is Beyond 20/20: Envisioning the Future . For more information on the conference, visit http://www.bcla.bc.ca/conference.

Is there a topic you're itching to learn about? Do you have an idea for a session, or know someone who would be a dynamite speaker? We represent you, the library support staff community, so the sessions we propose should reflect the kinds of things you want to learn about. Please send us your ideas at ltaignewsletter@gmail.com.  

 

 

Christina Tribe, Library Technician at Harper Grey LLP

Almost every morning, on our daily commute over the Lions Gate Bridge, my husband and I see the "Internet Superstar."  She rides a Vespa scooter.  The large white letters on the flap of her red courier satchel alert the world to her secret identity.  It always reminds me of that saying nobody knows you're a dog on the Internet.  She may be a dog or a god, but I know she doesn't compare to the real superstar.  His name is Geoff Peters, and he is a tall and unassuming fella who is also charming and very very smart.  You may already know him, or have heard of some of his feats, as he is the inventor of Google Duel; Song Search by Tapping and Celebrity Ranker.  He is an SFU Computer Science grad, a pianist in a jazz quartet, and a co-founder of Vancouver restaurant guide Food Vancouver, among many other achievements. 

Geoff was one of three terrific speakers at a recent SLA WCC/CASLIS event, called A Google Smorgasbord.  His presentation was entitled "How Google Shapes Online Popularity - How A Good Ranking in Google Can Mean Good Things in Real Life."  In particular, he spoke about how to craft websites that rank within the first page or two of a Google search.  This is especially important because 62% of searchers do not look beyond the first page, and only 10% look beyond the 3rd page.  82% refine their searches if what they are looking for does not show up on the first page.  He encouraged us to think how people search (ie. they don't usually search for "badger dogs" but instead search for "dachshunds") and how they refine their searches (maybe they add "weiner dog" or "doxie").  He directed us to the Google webmaster guidelines, and to www.nichebot.com -- a site that measures popular search terms, including those used by your competition.  Geoff recommended incorporating keyword targeting directly on the page -- in headings, text, titles and pictures and not hidden in the html, or written as the same colour as your background (also known as "keyword stuffing" and is frowned upon by Google staff).  Some of his tips for achieving high ranking pages include:  having original content, targeting a specific audience, focusing on themes and subjects, avoiding placing keywords inside graphics or flash, and updating frequently.  He also proclaimed the importance of viral marketing, which is when other sites link your site, as it ups the page rank. 

So, Internet dog or god?  Depends on your ride.  And your keywords.

Geoff's presentation is available via SLA, here:  http://units.sla.org/chapter/cwcn/wwest/v9n4/vancouver.shtml and also via his own website:  http://www.sfu.ca/~gpeters/03/

Kay Cahill, Vancouver Public Library's Training and Virtual Services Librarian, and another expert, spoke about Google's Beta Labs in her presentation titled "Making Google Tools Work in an Information Setting."  She posed the question:  "are Google's Beta Labs just flashy novelties, or are they genuinely useful ways of interpreting search results and delivering information?"  She illustrated her points with brief tours of the various tools that Google has available, including Maps, Froogle, Books and Earth.  She has continually proven the superior skills of a Reference Desk Librarian through these tools, though it was her opinion that the role of librarian was more a facilitator than that of gatekeeper.  After her presentation there were questions about the usefulness of nascent tools such as Google Books and the ethical dilemmas of a tool like Google Maps, especially of producing satellite images, maps and directions to famous landmarks in this post-9/11 world. 

Eugene Barsky wrapped up the event with his presentation "Google Scholar and the Future of Searching."  It was an overview of Google Scholar's strengths, weaknesses and breadth of subject coverage.  He uses Google Scholar to help source medical information in his position as Physiotherapy Outreach Librarian at the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre at UBC.  Scholar, conceived in late 2003, is based on the CrossRef project.  Google Scholar is free from advertising and consists of journal articles, technical reports, preprints, theses, books and indexed webpages that Google staff have considered "scholarly."  Most of the content indexed by Scholar is science related, with the bulk of articles relating to medicine, engineering and biology, and to a smaller extent humanities, business and law. 

Some of the "pros" of Scholar include speed and ease of use, citation tracking tools, free full text content, easy access and the support of Boolean command searching.  Cons include, well, what is excluded -- all material from major publishers Elsevier and ACS.  There is also no way of knowing what is "scholarly" (apparently the folks at Scholar don't know if you're a dog or a god either).  The also index lags behind PubMed, has weak Canadian content, and has no way to sort or organize results.

The verdict was that although the plan is ambitious, it still needs a lot of work.  So far the Scholar tool is useful for basic searches, but nothing in-depth, and it certainly can't be relied upon for scholarly research (ironically enough).  Eugene said that librarians are right to scrutinize this tool but need to work together not only with companies to create robust systems, but also to teach and tailor information literacy and intelligent search skills depending on their environment.

Before and after the presentations there was a lot of networking, noshing and nibbling.  I found the speakers informative and entertaining, and although my Vespa girl was not there, I thought the presenters were superstars all around.  No word, though, on their transportation choices.

 

 

Keeping current in the library field is easy with so many high-quality blogs, online newsletters, and websites devoted to the library community. Choosing which ones to read and which feeds to subscribe to is a little harder. Which blogs and other websites are in your "must read" folder? Maybe you're even blogging yourself. Either way, drop us  a line at ltaignewsletter@gmail.com, and we'll publish a list of your top picks in the next newsletter.

 

 

Langara LIT 40^th Anniversary Celebration

On Friday, September 15^th, faculty, students, alumni, and members of the library community joined to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of Langara's Library and Information Technology Program. Attendees were treated to food, drink, prizes, and speeches from representatives of various groups within the school and community. LTAIG Chair Rob Golbeck, who is himself a Langara grad, spoke on the committee's behalf. Pictures of the event are at http://www.langara.bc.ca/libtech/40thAnniversary/40thphotos.htm, and a history of the program, compiled by Diane Walker, past LTAIG Chair, is available here http://www.langara.bc.ca/libtech/40thAnniversary/history.htm. While you're checking out the photos and timeline, be sure to explore the other sections of the 40^th Anniversary site - there are some old LIT program brochures in the "Memory Lane" section, from back in the day when registration fees for a 4-month term were just $125!

Our sincere thanks go out to the event's organizers - it was a momentous occasion and one certainly worth the celebration!

 

Fall LTAIG Event

The LTAIG barbeque that had been planned for September 30^th was postponed, but LTAIG expects to hold a pub night later on in the fall.