WebJunction homework

Hi everyone,
Are we supposed to write up summaries and find related articles for these WebJunction courses or do we just have to post the summary on the blog and print out the certificate? I wasn't sure if we had to do a class presentation for the WebJunction courses or just the Acquisitions Interview. Let me know, Thanks

Weeding the Library Collection

I took the WebJunction Course on Weeding the Library Collection. It stated the reasons for weeding such as making the library look better. Even though there may be less books, the quality of the books is higher. Weeding the collection also gives you an opportunity to see what materials are in your collection and what may be lacking. In this regard, weeding is part of the acquisitions process, allowing you to see what subjects areas need to be strengthened. Some barriers to weeding are that it is time-consuming and patrons may see all of the discards and feel that the library is throwing money away. It is necessary to have a Weeding Policy especially detailing how gifts and donations are processed. Weeding is done using the CREW method which incorporates how old the book is, how often it has circulated in a certain number of years, and MUSTIE criteria (misleading, ugly, superceded, trivial, irrelevant, and expeditiously available elsewhere). I know we are supposed to change the "ie" to "y", but in the course it used mustie with the "ie". I enjoyed this course because I am weeding the YA section now and it gave me some good insight, especially about "unweedable gifts".

Web Junction Login

I didn't get my links either, but I was able to take one of the courses that I signed up for. I noticed that the courses from LibraryU did not need a login, you could launch it from the website. If the course is a LE@D one from University of North Texas you will need that password.

I haven't gotten my links yet

Hi to all: I'm having the same problem Sarah Snyder is having...I'm still waiting on my links from Webjunction.

Shelving with Dewey

The WebJunction class that I took was called Shelving with Dewey. I thought this class was very informative and I enjoyed it a lot. I personally have always been familiar with Dewey, specifically the 000-900 major subject areas, but not as much on how to shelve with it. I’ve always been one to just ask a librarian for help, but I suppose if I’m going to be that helpful librarian someday, I should be a bit more knowledgeable about it. ;)

The course started out with a lot of background information on Melvil Dewey himself as well as how his classification system came to be. They then describe how it works, going into more detail about the call numbers and how they differentiate within each hundreds designation, tens designation, and into decimals. I thought they did an excellent job explaining how to shelve numerically with the call numbers and alphabetically by author’s last name. They even described how mentally adding 0’s to the end of a call number with a decimal can help you keep everything in order. The class also illustrated how to shelve fiction alphabetically by the author’s last name and special sections based on your library as well as shelving biographies, reference books, and juvenile books. What was really cool though was they had 5 different shelving simulations where they gave you 8 different call numbers to put in the correct order. I thought those were super helpful, as shelving is something you need to master through practice. Overall I thought this was a great course, especially for someone not as familiar with Dewey.

Cataloging

This week I took the course called Cataloging for Non-Catalogers. This was a pretty basic course, but it was informative. It started with the basics of the different types of libraries and the basics of card catalogs and OPACs. It mentioned the advantages and disadvantages of OPAC. One disadvantage mentioned was the inconsistency of the OPACs from library to library and that card catalogs were always the same no matter what library you went to. I personally feel that searching with an OPAC is far easier and quicker than a card catalog and any learning curve associated with it is worth it.

Next I learned about the three parts of cataloging. First was descriptive which is describing it so a patron can tell if they want to check it out. This will tell things like if is a paperback, large print, or if it comes with a cd or map. There is a book of rules called the AACR2R which stands for Anglo-American Cataloging Rules 2nd edition, 2003 Revision. The rules are important so that there is a consistency between libraries. The next part is Classification which is basically the call number, based on Dewey or Library of Congress. The last part is subject analysis, which uses fixed vocabulary for search terms. There are rules for these terms as well from Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) or Sears List of Subject Headings.

The last section was about the three types of cataloging, and they are add item, copy, and original. Add item is for adding an additional copy for a record already in the catalog. Copy cataloging would also be for an item already in the catalog but it may need editing. Original is when there is no record and an item has to be cataloged from the beginning. This is a time consuming and expensive process, since all access points and subject headings need to be verified.

Overall I think this course was helpful. I have a much better understanding about the parts and types of cataloging.

Retailing Methods and Techniques in Libraries: How to Market Your Services

The Web Junction course that I chose to take was Retailing Methods and Techniques in Libraries. The aim of the course was to teach the student how to market your library as you would a retail operation. The instructor claims that the mistake of many libraries is to not realize that they are in competition with other businesses for patronage, and lack a clear focus of the product that they provide.

He puts forth a narrow definition of the services that a library provides as a product (circulating material, programming, computer access, information [reference] services, and customer service) and goes on to stress how important it is to market those products to patrons as you would any other retail product. He highlights the mistakes that he claims that many libraries make, such as not keeping track of the exact dollar amount of fine transactions, lack of clear and effective advertising of the library's services, and not reacting swiftly to a community's changing information needs because "that's the way we've always done it".

He also stresses how a sense of urgency and a friendly and open attitude toward customer service is necessary, as is placing trained staff on the library floor outside of the circulation and reference desks to answer questions. He explains the importance of community involvement and creating a "tag line" associated with your library, as well as the necessity of making it known to "investors" how you are using their money to serve them. And he ends the course by showing how to use numbers to gauge productivity and efficiency, and how to set goals for constant improvement in the future.

Overall, I felt that this course did a fairly good job of highlighting the similarities between running a library and running a retail operation, and how to maintain a competitive mindset when it comes to organizing and marketing your collection to patrons. My only main complaint was that the introductory and ending videos the course featured were only able to stream sound, not images. Regardless, I still consider it a valuable course to take, especially as it relates to how we need to market our Special Collection projects to our respective communities.

Problems w/ webjunction

I still haven't received my password for my Webjunction classes. They aren't in my junk mail. I will take the class and post as soon as I can. I just didn't want anyone to think I was a slacker.

Technical Services: What they do, Why they do it, How it's changing

The webjunction class I took was titled: Technical Services: What they do, Why they do it, How it's changing. I found the course to be informative. It took the technical services area and broke it down into several sections like acquisitions, classification and collection maintenance. You looked at one section at a time which helped you focus on the topic. At the end of some of the sections there were activities. After the classification section the activity was to match Dewey numbers with the subject written on about 12 books. There was also an activity on collection maintenance where it gave you an item description and you had to say what you would do with it, like digitize it, destroy it, replace it etc... The course was in easy to understand language. I found it helpful as it reinforced what we learned on our "field trip" plus added some new information to the technical services area. It consisted of a pre-test, the lesson and then a post-test. I'm glad to say that my LTA knowledge helped me pass the pre-test and the lesson gave me new information to increase my grade on the post test. All in all an informative and fun course to take!

Blog article on weeding/MUSTY

I've added a new blog article on weeding that explains more about MUSTY.

Webjunction Issues and JJC Email FYI

Just discovered that the emails I've been waiting for from Webjunction have been going into my junk mail.  If you're waiting like I was make sure to check your Junk inbox.  I have no idea why it would go there, but it did.

Library Visit, Malta, IL

Hi all: Just wanted to post some pics of an adorable little library I found in a town of 1,000 people called Malta, IL (near DeKalb). In fact, the town was selling off a land parcel to help pay for a much needed library expansion. I was so tickled that such a small town had it's own public library (they are now part of PALS) that I had to stop and take pictures. The shelving units were handcrafted by a library patron and town member. It really is as adorable as it looks. The Director is Peggy Wogen, who graciously let me take the photos you see here. They have wi-fi, too!
Children's Section
Computers purchased through a technology grant

Plan to Weed

I took the Web Junction course called “Weeding the Library Collection.” The course emphasized the need to include weeding as part of any library’s collection development plan. If there is a plan in place, there will be less resistance to weeding. Some patrons, board members, and library staff have a hard time letting some items go. If a plan is in place it can always be referred to. A weeding plan should include a schedule, parameters for weeding, and what to do with special items such as gifts to the library. It should be clear to everyone that items will be eventually weeded. Books and other items need to earn their keep on the library’s shelves. We need to know they are “paying rent” by circulating. There are other parameters as well. Condition, relevancy, appearance, and content all need to be considered. Weeding does not need to be done in a marathon session. A weeding schedule can be made to stretch over the course of a year. It may be an overwhelming task for some but overall it will make the collection look more attractive and other items easier to find. There was a lot in this course including the CREW and MUSTIE methods for evaluating materials. I think this course was helpful for our weeding project coming up and for my job as well.