File under "Now I've Seen It All"

The Oconaluftee Trunpike Company is a Japanese oldtime string band. This footage was taken live at The Honky Tonk in Kyoto.



They sound great.

Scenic Roots @ MBL

Today I created a youtube channel for Marianna Black Library. This is the first video added to the channel - Erin and Amber Rogers, of Scenic Roots, who played here at MBL last night. They were great and the crowd (and I mean crowd) loved them! Here's a little montage I put together for the MBL youtube channel.



More music videos to come. Also, possibly story times, SRP footage, library tours, etc.

Thing #21 - podcasts

Like youtube, I've been familiar with podcasting for some time now. NPR was probably my first experience with podcasting, as "On the Media" as been offering mp3 downloads of it's show for years (Fresh Air, with Terry Gross, by the way, has just started offering mp3 downloads - YES!). I've owned an mp3 player for only a short time, but I love down loading podcasts. The New Yorker, which I subscribe to, has been offering a great series of contemporary fiction writers reading their favorite short stories out load and then discussing them at Fiction Podcasts. One of my favorites is Jhumpa Lahiri reading and discussing William Trevor’s short story “A Day.”

I also go to the New York Times Podcasts often. There you hear NYT topstories, book reviews, music reviews, science news, business news, the Ethesist and more.

I went to Podcast Alley to see what I could see (or, I guess, hear what I could hear). I first searched the term "library" and 147 podcasts came up. I semi-randomly chose #66, Library of the Living Dead. This is "A Podcast dedicated to discussion and reviews of all things Zombie. Zombie novels, Zombie short stories, Zombie graphic novels, Zombie comics, Zombie science and last, but not least, Zombie movies." Each podcast is about 2 hours, you read that right, 2 hours long. I only lasted about 9 minutes, but hey, I'm just reporting my findings here. Here is a photo on the the webpage:

Another library related podcast is that of Sarah Anne Long, who does "Long Shots." Sarah is the director of the North Suburban Library System in Wheeling, IL and in her podcasts she "explores the world of libraries through interviews with key library figures and commentary on issues that matter to libraries." To this day there are 103 podcasts, here's the latest one.

I've also seen story time podcasts in the past and I think that would be a wonderful thing for FRL to persue in the future.

Technical Services/ER spoof

This was on Tame the Web today. I thought I'd share.

Here is the video description from youtube:

• This is an "ER" spoof video for the Arlington Heights Memorial Library Technical Services Department, entitled "TS". The LibVlog series video was written by and stars AHML staff members.

Thing #20 - youtube

I've had a youtube account for over a year and I find youtube fascinating. I cannot believe how much knowledge there is out there that folks want to share - for free. There's a guy (Patrick Costello) who just gives banjo lessons away at http://youtube.com/user/Dobro33H here is lesson #1 for those who are interested in clawhammer frailing banjo.





After exploring youtube for more banjo and guitar stuff I told my wife that there were probably folks out there show others how to bake (her latest obsession). Sure enough, there were dozens of people making sour dough starters with the video camera rolling.

It would be nice to start a MBL youtube page in the future. I can imagine an updated storytime or promoting events (Community Music Jam) on youtube.

Thing #19 - Exploring

I looked at the http://www.seomoz.org/ awards and decided to check a few things I'd never heard of.

While I do know about self publishing, I had not heard of Lulu, which helps writers, musicians, movie makers, just about all artists, get into the marketplace. Lulu help you publish you book and also helps you sell it. I took their tour and actually found it quite interesting. I then looked at some of their non-fiction books (I'm sorry, but fiction self-published books tend to be awful - call me a snob, I don't care). I found quite a few books on gardening, cooking, hiking (I found this book, which I think we might purchase for the library Freezer Bag Cooking: Trail Food Made Simple ) and I also looked at their self-published poetry (scary - again, call me a snob).

I next looked at http://www.metacafe.com/ which is sort of like youtube, but not as good. Which make me wonder why anyone would go to metacafe other than those who just want to boycott youtube because it's too popular. Anyway, seomoz gave it an award as third best in the video catagory.

More on #18

So that was one mighty long post. Obviously a link to the training might have been better, but I'm going to leave it the way it is, just to show "what not to do."

Anyway, I can see how powerful this application could be. And the thought that all of this can be accessed from any computer connected to the internet - very nice.

I see a fine line of difference between this and wikis, as far as in-house collaboration is concerned. In fact, I can't see any difference for in-house collaboration.

Thing #18 Google Docs

I uploaded my Reference Interview training to my Google docs account and then "published" it to my blog. The whole thing follows:

Annual In-Service Training

April 16, 2008

The Reference Interview

Presented by Jeff Delfield

The Reference Interview

Thanks and introduce self…

Objective: During this session you’ll learn what a reference interview is and why it is so important. You’ll also learn the components of the reference interview and helpful strategies to implement them.

I. What is a Reference Interview and why is it important:

Definition:

The conversation that occurs between a library employee and a library user to determine the person's specific information need(s), which may turn out to be different from the question initially posed.

A reference interview may occur:

In person

Over the phone

Sometimes electronically - (usually via e-mail)

Sometimes at a patron’s request …

But a good employee will sometimes initiate communication if a hesitant patron appears to need assistance.

Importance:

Patrons so often have trouble articulating their specific information needs.

Sometimes patrons may have trouble expressing their needs to a stranger, or may be reluctant to do so.

Also, patrons sometimes don’t understand all the sources and types of information the library has to offer, so they form question based on their perceptions and past experiences.

Finally, let’s face it, sometimes patrons, literally, don’t know what they want.

One Example:

Suppose a woman comes into your library asking for tomato sauce recipes.

It's easy to provide her with those recipes but is that all that she needs?

Suppose this woman has just grown her first home garden tomatoes and is overwhelmed by the amount she harvested.

If you can find out what the real need is, you may be able to really help her by providing her with ideas of other things she might do with the tomatoes: canning them, drying them, making ketchup, giving them to food banks, composting them, and so forth.

You would have done a much better job of really meeting the information need that brought her to the library, even if she didn't clearly express her need in her opening question.

Other examples to think about:

Here are some questions I’d like you to look over. What is your first, “gut” impression of what the patron is looking for?

“Where are your books on horses?” (training, riding, betting, )

“My son is an honor student and on the debate team. He told me his next debate is on how children live in the orient. Where would I find this information for him?” (China population problem, culture in the orient)

“Where are your books on cars?” (repair, racing, history, reviews)

“Where is your section on child psychology?” (research, Piaget, text book)

“I need the book “Oranges and Peaches” for my college biology class, where can I find it?” (fruit trees, botany, landscape)

What do you think this patron’s information needs are?

You can see that different people read the same question in different ways.

Keep these questions in mind and we’ll get back to them later.

II. Components of a Reference interview:

1. Greeting

Be approachable –say HELLO, SMILE and ask “how can I help you?”

Believe it or not, some people are actually intimidated by you. We need to let them know we want to help them find what they need. We’ve gone over good customer service skills in the past and they apply to the Reference Interview, 100%.

2) Active Listening

There is a difference between hearing and listening. Hearing tends to be passive, we hear background noise but don’t process it. Listening is active. If done correctly, it is difficult – it take energy.

However, communication can only happen if you are actively listening to you patron.

As a patron tells you about an information need:

• Focus on the person and concentrate on the question – try not to be distracted by your environment.

• Hear the person out – never finish a person information request or start typing on the computer before they’ve finished their request.

• Listen for facts, concepts or main concerns.

• Let the patron know you’re listening by nodding or saying “I see” or “I understand” when appropriate.

• If you do not understand the patron’s question let them know. Tell them “I’m sorry, I don’t quite understand the question” or “I’m not familiar with that term, could you explain it to me.”

3. Ask open ended questions:

In order to get the patron to tell you more about what they are looking for, open questions should be used.

Open ended question require an answer that will get the patron to explain more about an information need. Closed questions require one word answers, like yes or no. The idea is to give the patron a chance to state their own questions and not to have you define what the patron wants, by “filling in the blanks.”

Examples of CLOSED “fill-in-the-blank” questions are:

Partron request: Where are your books on computers? Where are your books on birds?

Employee response: Do you want to learn how to fix computers? Are you a birder?

Examples of Open Ended Questions:

• Can you tell me more about what you’re looking for?

• Could you be more specific about ____________?

• What sort of material are you hoping to find?

3. Verify: Once you think you know the patron’s information need, verify by paraphrasing the question back. This question is typically a closed ended question, because you are essentially asking if you understand their need.

Examples of verification:

• So you’d like to find our books on how to create your own web page, is that correct?

• You’re raising chickens for the first time and need more information on how to get started, is that right?

If the patron says, “yes, that’s right” It is at this point in the reference interview to begin your search for information.

If your patron says, “no” then you are back to asking open ended questions.

5) Locate information. These are the types of things that we do every day.

Reminders:

• Age appropriateness. Is the information suitable for this patron’s needs?

• Format: sometimes books are more appropriate; sometimes magazines; sometimes a video is what they prefer; but sometimes, for information that needs to be current, NCLive Databases will be the most helpful for your patron. Be sure you know is most suitable for your patron.

• Bring your patron to the item. Unless you are positive your patron is savvy enough to find the item, pointing is not enough. You should always at least ask, “that book is at 641.43, do you know how to find that number?” This gives the patron the option.

• Material location: Some patrons will wait for a Hold, others will not. You might want to establish this early on in the reference interview.

• Avoid using jargon. FRL, MCPL or sometimes even the Marianna Black Library will mean absolutely nothing to your patron. Spell things out for them.

• If you have actively listened, used open ended questions and tried paraphrasing and still don’t have a clue of what you patron needs, there is nothing wrong with getting help. We can’t all know a little bit about everything. Sometimes you’ll be stumped. At these moments the last thing you want to do is help the patron anyway. Seek help from a colleague, knowing that they’ll do likewise with a future patron.

• Don’t forget to use referrals. Sometimes the best place to get information on a topic is NOT IN YOUR LIBRARY. This is okay. Your patron will appreciate it when you tell them where your local Health Department or Genealogy Society is, and they’ll love it even more if you make a phone call to verify that someone can help them.

6) Follow-up.

How will you know that the patron has found the information they needed? There is only one way . . . you have to ask, “Is this the information you were looking for?” You cannot possibly know in any other way. Many patrons are polite, and will smile or thank you even if you did not help them. But they will not leave the library satisfied.

Before the patron leaves just ask, “Did you find what you were looking for?”

Don’t do an interview when…

There are times when a reference interview is inappropriate? Usually ready reference questions do not require a reference interview.

How do you spell _____________?

What is the population of _____________ ?

What’s the title of the new John Grisham book and do you have it yet?

III. Role Play with Helen:

Questions (scripts on separate page):

“Where are your books on horses?”

“Where is your section on child psychology?”

“I need the book “Oranges and Peaches” for my college biology class, where can I find it?”

“Answers” the other two questions:

“My son is an honor student and on the debate team. He told me his next debate is on how children live in the orient. Where would I find this information for him?”

It turns out that the parent misheard the debate topic of euthanasia for the youth in Asia. This is a case of a patron literally not knowing what they want. It is difficult, if not impossible, to help someone who has misunderstood the initial information need. However, this is another example of communication errors and the importance of listening.

“Where are your books on cars?”

This person wanted to know how much his 1998 Mazda Miata was worth today.

IV. Conclusion:

Our job is to help everyone who comes through the door, whether the question is “where is the bathroom” or “what’s the meaning of life.”

We do not be in the business of giving our patrons reasons to not come to the library. Many have already created reasons to not come in. When we help our patrons find information – information that they might not be able to find themselves – we are providing one of the most valuable services a library can uniquely claim to provide.

Performing a Google search is easy, but too often not enough. Finding the correct answer for a patron is difficult. However, using the reference interview to get at what specifically your patron wants is the first step to satisfying their information needs.

Role Play scripts:

Staff: (SMILING): Hello, can I help you?

Patron: Yes, where are your books on horses?”

Staff: Could you tell me more about what you were hoping to find.

Patron: Well, I need a book on horses.

Staff: I’m sorry. What about horses specifically were you looking for?

Patron: I just started a drawing class and the teacher assigned us to draw our favorite animal. So I need a book on horses.

Staff: So, you need a picture of a horse, is that right?

Patron: Yes, that’s what I said I need a book on horses.

Staff: Does the photo need to be of a specific kind of horse?

Patron: No just any horse?

Staff: Well, I think that the place to start will be in the children’s section, usually those books have the best pictures.

Staff: Hello, how can I help you?

Patron: I’m looking for books on child psychology.

Staff: What kind of information on child psychology are you looking for?

Patron: Well, I need to know what makes a two year old tick?

Staff: What were you planning to do with this information?

Patron: My husband and I are going through the hardest time toilet training our son. We hoped to find more information here at the library.

Staff: So, you’re looking for books on potty training?

Patron: Yes.

Staff: Well we have a whole section on that topic. The dewey decimal number is 649.52, let me take you there.

Staff: Hello, How can I help you?

Patron: Yes, thanks. I need the book “Oranges and Peaches” for my college biology class, where can I find it?

Staff: I’m sorry, we don’t have any books by that title.

Patron: (with anxiety) I can’t believe you don’t have this book. My professor said you’d have. He said every library in the country should have this book.

Staff: Well, we don’t have that title, but may I can try an author search, do you know who wrote the book?

Patron: (pulling out a scrap of paper) I don’t know, Charles something.

Staff: I’m sorry I can’t cross reference with only a first name.

Patron: This is ridiculous!! This book is supposed to be legendary! He said that it’s the cornerstone of understanding in evolution! And you don’t have it?

Staff: (now understanding) Could it be On the Origin of Species, by Charles Darwin?

Patron: (relieved) Yes, that’s it.

Thing #17 - just so I get credit

I played with the FRL Wiki today. I ended up adding a "favorite" or two to each catagory. It was easier that I thought it'd be, but the editor was strange. I found that I had to re-edit my posts almost every time. Once there was a missing space, another time it added a extra line. These were easily edited, but they weren't there before I hit "save." Just an observation.

Thing #16 Wikis

So, of course, as a librarian I've known about Wikipidia for some time. I've also had a bias againt it helped a little by articles in the New Yorker , which challenges the very notion of Wikipedia, and this one in the Onion (hi-larious). These were both written almost two years ago (I cannot believe how time flies).

With all that said, I have to say, that I can envision our library utilizing wikis as an information collaboration tool. However, I looked at the examples that Sarah asked us to read and one thing stands out fairly quickly, these wikis are not exactly kept up to date. One was created over a year ago and not updated since. I know that these are only examples for us to look at, but I do fear not so much an over-utilization/security of our wikis, but an "I'm too busy to do my day-to-day let alone add to that wiki" under-utilization. The staff here at MBL have been busily working on their blogs and it seems like they're enjoying the 23 Things. They're finding the time right now to blog and explore, but I wonder about keeping wikis up to date. Anyway, this is just a concern. We'll see how it goes in the future.

It's great to see everyone excited about this.

Before I go on to the next Thing

Just thought I'd test out the "add a video" to your blog tool.

Here are The Freighthoppers playing at the Marianna Black Library back in December of '07. This free show was the official debut of a new line-up. The two original members, Frank Lee (banjo) and David Bass (fiddle) hadn't played together publicly since 2002. New Hoppers are Isaac Deal (upright bass) and Thomas Bailey (guitar). Since this concert the band has toured the country playing in New York City, San Francisco and most places in between. I talked to Frank the other day and we're trying to set something up for the library again this summer. Stay tuned.

Thing #15 Library 2.0

Well, I've read the articles that you've required and I have to say I feel really behind. I graduated with my MLS in 1998 and I'm relatively computer savy. Now, every article I read and every new "thing" I'm learning about during this "23 Things" excercise, makes me feel more and more like I need to catch up.

Part of my problem is that I currently lack the tools that these articles claim all of our patons have. That is, I don't have high speed internet in my home. I think this leads me to believe that a great deal of my patrons are in the same situation. Which, thus, leads me to think that most of my patrons are not ready for Library 2.0 yet. I certainly don't hear them demanding more Web 2.0 services. Maybe I'm not asking the right questions.

Anyway, I really enjoyed the Michael Stephens article from Nextspace and then when I did a Librarian 2.0 search at Technorati, guess whose blog came up? Michael Stephens' Tame the Web, which I now subscribe to. I figure if I read his complete blog and keep up with his posts, I'll be up to speed in no time.

More thoughts on Technorati

I just have to say something about Technorati and so many of the other sites we've been exploring. There seems to be a theme of popularity=quality (or at least "worth viewing"). That is, the more the site is viewed the more valuable the information must be. I found that digg, especially, worked on this model. Technorati, though there is much to explore and find, seems to be mostly interested in showing me what's really popular.

If seems to me, 50 years into its history, television pretty much contradicts this concept.

Maybe I'm missing the point.

Thing # 14 - Technorati

Though I didn't add my blog to Technorati, I really enjoyed exploring this site. I have to say the its home page is a bit "busy" and sort of difficult to dive into - at least initially. One thing I really like about Google, for all of its faults, is its simplicity.

Anyway, once I got into it, I did find many things of interest. I was very excited to find the Hillbilly Sevants blog which claims "This blog is about our Appalachia - the real one, not the Hollywood-stereotype nor the third-world nation-esque stereotype being sold by do-gooders, or even the neo-Romantic sylvan stereotype that Rousseau would probably buy into." It's lastest posting was right up my alley : Podcast Appalachia: "Appalachian Music." I also found a post on the Queen family, that I found interesting. I encourage anyone interested in this topic to check out Hillbilly Sevants.

Not a "Thing"

Thanks to Helen I created a Meez for me and my wife (who loves to cook). Check them out to the right.

Thing #13 del.icio.us

So, for the second time, I've played with del.icio.us. After the NCLA confrence last fall, I played with del.icio.us for a bit, but became a bit frustrated when it wanted me to download an application. Of course, my work computer wouldn't allow that so, after experimenting with the site for a while, I gave up on it.

Now here we are again - more than a few months later and I now have a working account at http://del.icio.us/jdelfield. I've posted a few links and added tags to all of them.

I'll probably keep this up for my own del.icio.us page, but I think that MBL will have its own del.icio.us account which will be quite useful for everyone at the desk. I haven't jumped into finding other library del.icio.us pages yet, but I'm sure there are many ideas that we can use as a springboard.

Thing #12

I have to say, I have learned alot so far. I also love using Goodreads as more than my personal library. It is an interesting social networking tool.



I guess I'll take the MP3 player.

Gotta go.

So much done - no BLOGS

Firstly, an apology. Though I have been going through the 23 Things, this is my first blog in over two weeks.

I have gone nuts with Goodreads (probably a little more nuts than I should have).

I did look at Digg and I have to say it didn't exactly strike my fancy. Though I found it entertaining, I, like Deb, had trouble with its authority.

As far as finding an item of interest that I might not have found otherwise, well I found lots of entertaining things. Today I looked at an artical on Ben Stein's movie"Expelled" in the Scientific America called "Six Things in Expelled That Ben Stein Doesn't Want You to Know..." I probably would not have read that article, and I did find it interesting.

By the way, did you notice the way I linked that article. Pretty fancy, huh?

Thing #10 - Goodreads

Well, I've had a Goodreads account for over a week now. Not sure why I haven't kept this blog up, when I'm actually doing the "things."

I've found Goodreads a fun site. I've found a few friends and I like looking at their lists. I've also found a few books that I'd be interested in reading. Although, I already have a pretty good handle on what I want to read in the future (there's always more, isn't there).

I used the widget and added a link to my account blog. Take look!

Dumpr

Okay, one last post on Things #8 & 9. Here is Elise (again) looking down on some museum goers.

Thing #8 & 9

Most of you probably don't know that my wife, Elise, and I are starring in a new version of "A Star is Born."

This is the poster I did up on fd's. Very fun. Please don't ask why this was rated NC-17.

Flickr

I have had a flickr account for some time now. What I really love about flickr is that you do not have to create an account to simply view public photos. I cannot stand getting invitations to view photos only to find out that I have to create a login, password and give out my email address, just to look a friend's vacation photos.

So, here are my vacation photos - not account required.

Elise and I went up to Mt. Le Conte last fall. It was a dreary couple of days, but a wonderful trip. If you'd like to see more pictures go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/16003922@N08/sets/72157602695121446/

RSS and more

So I've actually just now caught on to the RSS process. Though I understood the concept, I, for some reason, couldn't figure out how to manually save new feeds. After viewing the PaliNet tutorial (don't ask me why I didn't watch it right away) I got it.

Now I've created additional folders for FRL Blogs, Friends (personal friends who have started blogs), Library related feeds, etc. I've never utilized this service before, so I'm looking forward to seeing how well it works.

I'm now paying attention to the red feed icon wherever I am on the web. If it's a page I return to often, I look to see if it's lit up. This is very cool. I'm going to try my local weather next.

Thoughts on the 7 1/2 Habits

The habit that I find most natural is "View Problems as Challenges." I actually think that this comes from me first being a cheap-skate and second my attempts to solve problems without consulting professional. I love using library materials and technology (usually the internet) to teach me how to repair something that is broken or install something I need.

Setting goals seems to be my most difficult habit. I think that often I set goals more subconsciously. But, I rarely consciously think to myself, "before I try to learn this new thing, what is my goal."

Anyway, these are just a couple observations.

MY FIRST BLOG

So, here it is. My fist blog entry. I have to admit, it was very easy to set up this page. I also have to admit that this is very easy to do, as long as you have some computer experience. So, I've already forgotten what I'm supposed to say here. I know it has to do with the 7 1/2 habits of life long learners. I'm going to have to go back to that segment and review.

Is reviewing things you've already looked at one of the habits?