This afternoon started with more research on assessment. It looks like a lot of librares use house-made questionnaires when assessing the quality of services. The challenge is making a sruvey that gets the information that is needed without being cumbersome for the patrons to answer.

One "unobtrusive" method of assessment, taken from the retail world, is the use of secret shoppers. Students are trained to approach the reference staff, ask specific questions, and then evaluate the service they received. This method of assessment raises some issues, in my view. First, there are ethical issues in assessing staff without their knowledge. If one tells staff that they are going to be observed via secret shopper, then it defeats the purpose - staff know they're going to be assessed, so the assessment might as well take place out in the open.

I do have experience with secret shopping in a retail environment - part of my job was to make fake calls to employees, asking for certain information, and to report on whether or not I got good service and correct information. In this specific situation, employees knew that they were going to get the calls, they just didn't know when. Most of the employees really resented the practice - they viewed it as sneaky and hostile. After a while, they also learned how to spot the secret callers, and treated them disrespectfully.

Today I also got to sit in on an Academic Policy Committee (APC) meeting. Jill is ont his committee, and she invitied me to come observe so I could learn a little bit about how decisions are made on campus. APC is a subcommitte of University Senate, the shared governance body of UW-EC. The current purpose of APC right now is to examine and revise the liberal education core at UWEC. At the meeting,t he committee spoke about a review that took place of the Art department's cirruculum. They also spoke about the necessity of the math competency requirement for graduation, and how this requirement should be worded in the new LE core materials. It was interesting to see the decision-making process in action, especially seeing representation of the different departments (including the library), as well as the structure of the meeting (Robert's Rules, etc). Very different from meetings in my current private-sector job setting!

    Today I worked on my assessment research. Jill suggested I look into obtrusive vs. unobtrusive assessment methods, and the ethical considerations involved with each. This is something I've come accross briefly in my research and it would be interesting to delve in further.

     I also observed another library instruction class, this time with Eric. This was an English 110 class (composition). This was more basic than the other classes, and involved forming queries, searching basic article databases, etc. A unique challenge with this class is that these students aren't necessarily looking for scholarly articles, but rather for more rhetorical pieces - like editorials or articles in consumer publications.

     I spoke with Jill today about my final project for Acadmic Library class. Initially I had chosen to do a profile of McIntyre Library, but I'm more interested in doing a paper on the subject of library anxiety. I asked Jill if it would be possible to interview reference works (librarians, staff and students) about their experiences with library anxiety in patrons. She thought this would be interesting, and would be a good tie in with the assessment project. She is going to inquire with the research board about getting approval for interview questions and mentioned a UW toold for developing online surveys, if I would like to go that route.

    I'm starting to feel more comfortable working at the reference desk. Our patrons are, for the most part, friendly and grateful for the help we offer them. Today there seemed to be a theme of students needing help searching the catalog and locating materials in the stacks. At our reference stations there are two monitors -- one for the staff to work on and one for the patron to observe. I found this especially helpful today because it allowed me to to show the students how to find things instead of just finding the items for them.

     Jill showed me the UW libraries Forward website, which is a new shared catalog initiative through UW-Madison wherein you can search all the UW libraries' holdings. Jill indicated that the options for narrowing search queries are better here than on the UWEC catalog when it comes to searching for certain materials. An example she had was a student searching for a musical score. Forward allows for narrowing based on fromat, where "score" is one of the options. The material was easily found on Forward, where it may have taken quite a bit longer to find it in the UWEC catalog. However, whatever you find on Forward you need to bring back to the UWEC website in order to order it through interlibrary loan - this feature isn't available on Forward yet.

     This afternoon I observed a library instruction class held by Greg, from the Special Collections and Archives department. This class was very different than the social work class that I observed with Robin, and it was good to see the variety in subject matter and teaching styles.

     Greg was teaching students from a core history class how to locate resources online, how to request materials from other area research centers, and how to find primary sources in digital formats. He, like Robin, did things to engage the students - including asking questions, having students follow along on their computers, and using visual aids.

     In showing students how to find primary sources online, Greg showed them how to sue Google. I think this is important in teaching information literacy. Students today are going to use Google no matter what, so I think librarians should show them how to get the best scholarly results from it for their college assignments.

     In the second part of class, Greg took us up to the archive for a tour and a hands-on activity with some of the archives collections. It was great - now those students are familiar with how to use the archives, so they're more likely to do so. It was fun to see how excited the students were when they got the opportunity to dig in to those collections. I heard one woman say something about this being her dream job - she's probably a good candidate for library school!

    I also worked on my research on library assessment tools. I'm learning that there are a lot of options out there, and that there's no one universally-agreed on assessment method. I'm also familiarizing myself with the background and reasoning behind assessing reference services. jill thought it would be a good idea to present my findings at a staff meeting after my research is complete. This research also dovetails nicely with my Academic Library class, where I've chosen to write my midterm paper on library assessment methods.

This morning I met with Robin about the LibGuide. She said it was good, and that the search tips will help students be more independent in their searching. A snapshot of the finished guide can be seen below. Once the guide is published to the web, I'll provide a link to that as well.

I also met with John, the director, this morning. I asked him some questions about the library's planning process, his personal management style, and budgeting for the library. He told me that there isn't a current strategic plan in place for McIntyre, but he recognizes the need for one.
John sees his management style as somewhat hands-off. He feels that his role should be "to hire talented people, marshal resources and then get out of the way." Another big part of his role is to set the vision and mission for the library, and to help the faculty and staff of the library pursue that vision and meet the library's goals.
John wants the library to be a place of collaborative learning. He is not alone in seeing the emphasis shifting from the library's collection to the learning services the library provides. The shift to a collaborative learning center can be hard to get going -- John mentioned that it's hard for someone faculty to understand the shift. But John feels that it's his job to keep promoting the vision to the rest of the campus.
John also meets with the heads of the library units on how to allocate resources and make other decisions for the library as a whole. While this kind of collaboration is important, John also recognizes that sometimes his role is to make the final call and move the decision process along.
Another part of John's job is to allocate financial resources in the library. For the most part, the budget is pretty stable. However, with recent legislation, the library has had to make some changes to accommodate budget cuts. John and the other unit leaders have done this by trimming the collection budget, hold off on hiring, and changing some positions from part time to full time instead of adding more full time positions.
On a more personal note, John has not always been a librarian. He as a masters degree in history, and worked as a truck driver to support his family. When his kids were older, he decided to go to library school. Since then, he has worked exclusively in academic libraries, at first as a reference librarian. His goal was always to become a director.
Toward the end of the interview, I asked John about what his thoughts were about librarianship as a profession. This is a topic that has interested me since my foundations class where I first learned about the debate about whether or not librarians should be considered professionals. John said that he doesn't buy into the traditional divide between professional librarians and paraprofessionals. To the patrons, there is no discernible difference between the two. To him, the difference is in responsibility. Professional librarians, with their commitment to getting an MLS degree, are agreeing to a larger commitment to the job, as well as to community outreach.

The last part of my day was spent covering a shift at the reference desk. Jill and I helped a student find an empirical study for a psychology class. We also took pictures for promotional materials for a new on-campus book delivery service that the library is offering.

Jill has also gotten me started on researching reference assessment strategies. My first step is to conduct a literature review of the different possibilities of reference assessment that's out there.

Today I sat in on an instruction session for SW383, taught by Robin. The objective of the session was to teach these students how to find and access bills and laws, and demographic information. This is to help in completing a large assignment where the student has to analyze a social policy. Robin directed them to the course's Libguide and took them trhough the process of searching Thomas.gov. I helped a couple of students with simple questions, and also observed interactions between Robin and students to learn how to answer these kinds of questions. I will serve as a backup to Robin and Mary for student questions, as Robin expects a lot of consultations for this particular assignment.

I spent an hour on the reference desk, which was somewhat slow. I helped a student start some general research on Kenya by directing her to Credo Reference and Academic Search Complete.

The rest of the time I spent working on the Novels of Social Protest LibGuide. I brought it to the point where Robin can do a final review of it, which she will do tomorrow morning.

Much of today was spent working on the Social Work 285: Novels of Social Protest LibGuide. SW285 students have an assignment for which they choose one of 8 preselected novels of social protest to write a paper on. The LibGuide has a tab for each novel. My job is to do preliminary research on each novel and put up suggestions for finding resources. The information I've added includes these categories:

• Welcome - purpose of the guide, a picture of the book and a brief synopsis
• Links to appropriate databases
• A box from which the student can search Credo Reference
• Keywords and search strategies
• How to narrow a search by year
• How to find print resources in the library

Some novels are easeir to resarch than others. I've been workig with Robin to get guidance on the best way to build the guide.

Today I also met with Eric, who is an Instruction and Outreach Librarian. A newer part of his job is to maintain and develop the library's social media present through Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. The main purpose of this presence is to make connections with users, the majority of which are students. Sometimes library staff are able to answer questions through this interface by responding to status updates and tweets. These social media outlets are also good ways to promote the library's services and events. It's a nontraditional way of getting users to engage and ask questions.
Eric's main job is to teach students how to use the library as a liasion to the social sciences departments. He taches information literacy classes to these students, and is always working on new ways to reach out to faculty who haven't yet taken advantage of the library's instructional services. Sometimes it can be a challenge -- he uses a variety of channels, including email, print letters, phone calls and in-person meetings with faculty.
Another task that Eric considers an important part ofhis job is staffing the reference desk. Some feel that staffing the desk with students and paraprofessionals is sufficient, that librarians don't need to be there. But Eric (and the other librarians here) feel it's important for librarians to be on the desk. It allows them to interact with students and become approachable to them; it also allows the librairans to learn. Eric stressed the importance of always learning. While at the desk, librarians learn about new assignments and new ways to meet user needs.
Eric stressed the importance of the user -- meeting with users, especially students is his favorite part of the job. He has an open door policy where he welcomes students to stop in whenever he is in the office.
I mentioned to Eric that I'm currently taking a library marketing course. He said that he'd be interested in finding out what I'm learning, to see if it could be applied here at McIntyre.

Next I met with Stephanie, who is the Periodicals and Electronic Resources Librarian. She supervises one paraprofessional (Kevin) who in turn supervises two student workers. Kevin and the students do a lot of the technical work with the print journal collection - cataloging, barcoding, arranging for binding, etc.
An on-going project for Stephanie (who has been here for only 1 year) is to thin out the print journals. This involves checking to see if the journals are available online in a user-friendly and cost-effective format. If a subscription to an online database is cheaper than a print subscription, a lot of times Stephanie and the committee who helps make these decisions will cancel the print subscription in favor of the database. Stephanie also examines usage data of print and electronic journals to determine what to keep. With collection budgets remaining static, or reducing, it's important to eliminate resources that aren't being used, so that money can be allocated elsewhere.
A big part of Stephanie's job is to review contracts and negotiate with vendors for the best price. She also uses these skills to help faculty review their publishing contracts, and aspect of her job she really enjoys.
Stephanie also handles a lot of technical database issues, and works with Bryan in technical services in this capacity. Sometimes she troubleshoots with students, faculty or other librarians when they are having trouble accessing a database or a resource within a database.
Stephanie has a masters degree in women's studies, and is an affiliate to the UWEC Women's Studies Department. When there is overload teaching available in this department, she will teach those classes. She also meets regularly with the department.
I found it very interesting that Stephanie had a background in the private sector (high-end retail) and commercial information centers (at a library in a pharmaceutical company).

Today’s shift was spent in meetings with library personnel. First I met with Mary, a paraprofessional who works with government documents. Previously there was a separate government documents department, but they eventually merged with the Research and Instruction Department.

            McIntyre is a state depository and federal depository library. They receive about 2/3 of what the state distributes, and about half of what the federal government distributes. The print collection of government documents is maintained in a way that meets the needs of the courses that are offered at UWEC. For example, there are many state and federal resources about Native Americans, to serve the history and American Indian Studies courses on campus. As a matter of fact, one of the most valuable parts of this collection is the group of rare Native American census rolls kept on microfilm.

            With the onset of digitization, collection management has changed somewhat for the government documents. Librarians will analyze usage records to determine if students are still using the print resources. If they aren’t, those particular resources are weeded out of the collection. With government documents, weeding a collection isn’t as simple as just throwing unused publications out. The library has to first off the publications to other depository libraries. If no other depositories take the publications, only then can McIntyre throw them away.

            On the technical side of things, Mary taught me that government documents have difference classification schemes. The call numbers for both state and federal documents are based on the department that published them – A or AG for Department of Agriculture, for instance. The decimal systems are difference in state compared with federal documents. The two are therefore shelved separately, each according to their respective schemes.

            Next I met with Bryan, who is the head of library systems. Bryans’ job is to maintain the electronic infrastructure that keeps the library running. Not only does Bryan’s department serve patrons in the library, but also those who never physically enter the building (through the library website).

            Bryan spoke about the challenges of creating and maintaining a powerful and user-friendly website. First, financial resources are a major concern, which is no big surprise considering the current climate. He also said that in a university setting, technological decisions are often politically driven instead of based on user feedback, which can prove problematic when trying to create an interface that users like and can use effectively.

            Some of the things that the department is thinking about is embedding tutorials on how to search the catalog in the catalog itself; and trying to find a good and efficient way of providing e-book content to patrons. The main idea I came away with after meeting with Bryn was that his department is focused on making an IT infrastructure that is user-friendly and value-added for all patrons.

            Finally I met with Greg, the head of Special Collections, University Archives and Records Management. He describes his departments as a small library within the library. They do collection development, administration, and cataloging for their collections. Part of cataloging is creating finding aids – they contain traditional cataloging information, along with specific information on what documents are contained in what collection boxes.

            The archives is an area research center for the Wisconsin Historical Society, and 60% of what is in the collections is owned by that organization. The archives are made up of primary sources that are mainly concerned with the surrounding geographic area. However, a researcher at UWEC can request collections from any other WHS research center. Due to aggressive collecting early on, the WHS collection is considered the 3^rd most significant archival collection in the United States.

            The archives are climate-controlled for optimal document preservation and are separated into sections that include rare books and university documents. Just with other library departments, resource allocation is a concern for the archives. Greg pointed out that his department is often viewed as only being relevant to the history department. This misperception can affect how much money is allocated to Special Collections and Archives. Greg is trying to shake that reputation by developing relationships with other academic departments, and highlighting the vital role that his department plays in the education of a wide array of patrons – including students and community researchers.

It was a very busy day at the reference desk today. I helped more students than I had previously. I showed one student how to cite a photograph using APA style. I helped another fill out a “not in stacks form” when one of the books he was looking for wasn’t where it was supposed to be. I spend a good amount of time helping a student over the phone find the text of the Affordable Health Care and Elder Justice Act.

            I learned the process that is taken when a book isn’t in the stacks – circulation is notified and they go through a set search process. I also learned how to use two online resources. One is a subscription database that UWEC students have access to – ProQuest Congressional. The other is open to the public – Thomas.gov, through the Library of Congress website. Both can be used to find full text laws as well as other government publications. 3 hours

I met with Robin today to discuss projects concerning two Social Work classes. I’ll be constructing a course and research guide aimed at helping a 200-level social work class complete a specific assignment. The assignment is to write a paper on a novel of social change. My job is to research each assigned novel option and provide the best databases for the task. In particular, students will be looking for reviews/criticism published at the time the book was released. Since my undergrad degree was in English-Literature, I am looking forward to this project. The deadline for this is Feb 21^st. 

            Robin also introduced me to another project, this time concerning a 300-level Social Work Class. I will sit in on her instruction session with this class and then serve as a secondary resource for questions from students. This class traditionally needs a lot of guidance, so I potentially could be helpful in lessening the workload put on some of the librarians.

            Today I also sat in on another candidate presentation. This candidate, if hired, would serve as a liaison to the business school. She has less experience than the previous candidate, but Jill said that the position could go toward the more entry level if they found the right candidate. 2 hours

Second shift at the reference desk. I handled two questions, one of which was a non-resource question. The other consisted of a phone conversation with a distance education student enrolled in the joint MBA program. His professor at UW-Oshkosh had directed him to a UW-Eau Claire research guide, and he was having trouble accessing the resources listed in the guide. I consulted with Kati and found that there is a proxy login for such cases. I gave the student the login information and walked him through some preliminary steps in navigating the databases. I also spoke with Jill about some potential projects and goals for my fieldwork experience. I worked with Brad to set up meeting appointments with many of the librarians. Today I also sent in my membership information to ALA/WLA. 3 hours