Live Help

Hi Everyone,

Number of calls: 2

Issues: There was no issue today.

Projects: I was working on reviewing the databases’ subjects. The total of the subject terms is 76. I figured that a good way to review was to go to databases grouped under the same subject. For example, I started with Aboriginal Governance Databases. By checking the description and help in the database (if available), I was able to tell if there were any subjects missing and what they were, and was able to assign relevance as well. I reviewed three databases tonight.

Thanks,
Rachel

Posted by Rachel at 9:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hi Everyone,

Number of calls: 5

Issues: I could not find this article for the student: “Image-Based Culture: Advertising and Popular Culture" by Sut Jhally. It is for Mass Communications and Popular Culture (50.3209/6). It is in the course pack. But the student did not have the course pack. This is all the info I have. Could anybody help? I have the student’s email address. I can email to her if we can find it.

Projects: I have checked 11 libraries today. I will email the list to CJ.

Thanks,
Rachel

Posted by Rachel at 6:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Calls today: 1

The only call I had was a patron who could not access course reserves. When I could not access them either I called the ref desk. Turns out they were also having problems. I hope they got it worked out.

CJ - after you popped into RAKIM to let me know there was some tasks to do I checked it out. When I did, there was only one entry - the first one. I wrote that article for the library news blog. I didn't catch that I was also supposed to go through the website looking for broken links... Wish I had - It would have given me something to do besides fret over not getting any calls. After that problem with my ringer I've been glued to my computer screen, despite the fact that I know it works now. I've noticed that the blog often lies about when things were posted - Maybe sending me emails or catching me on IM or skype would be a more reliable means of communication? :)

As for IM instead of chat - they are using IM here at the UofA and have given up chat altogether. I just went to a presentation on IM given by Jeff Harder at the Netspeed conference. NAIT also uses IM. And from my own experience IM is much better. As for numbers and keeping records and such - I'll have to go over my notes from Netspeed - but I remember them being fairly good (the numbers that is).

Posted by James at 5:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We've changed our web address from cybrary.uwinnipeg.ca to library.uwinnipeg.ca. Directing anyone to "cybrary" has been problematic, and library is just much more convenient.

Now we need to review the website and make sure that we don't have any links directing people to cybrary.uwinnipeg.ca/....

James, I would like you to go through the website (using library.uwinnipeg.ca as the main URL) in a systematic way and find problem links and report those in a word document, which you can then send to me by email.

Rachel, I would like you to review what other libraries are calling what we call "MyCybrary". I believe the UofA calls it My Account. Please indicate the term they use and the URL to the library's page.

When these tasks are finished (please keep each other posted on your progress via the blog), I would like you to find information about using Instant Messaging (IM) for chat reference, instead of a system like ours. Will using IM increase traffic? If so, what are the reasons for it doing so? Are there reviews of libraries trialing IM/implementing IM? How do they collect stats?

Thanks,
~CJ

Posted by CJ de Jong at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

James, could you please put up a news item on Library News about the following? Also include info about related sources that we have in the library. Thanks!

------------------------------------------------------------------
On Thursday November 2nd the University of Winnipeg will host a public
forum featuring Jean Kilbourne an internationally famed advocate against
the adverse effects of advertising in the media.

For more information please go to our web site address below and click
on the presentation title to view a poster of the event.�

http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/faculty/pass/index.htm
------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by CJ de Jong at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi Everyone,

Number of calls: 1

Projects:

Hi CJ, I am not very clear about the procedure of updating the databases’ subjects. Let’s take Academic Search Elite for example. Should I go to this database’s “Help” page and get the information of what subjects are included in it? Then check what subjects have been assigned to it? If there is something missing, add it? Then, how should I decide the number of the relevance stars?

Thanks!
Rachel

Posted by Rachel at 9:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hi Everyone,

Number of calls: 3

Projects:
1. I have checked RefWorks instructions for the following three databases and made changes to two of them:

1) BioOne: Updated. Importing into RefWorks is not automatic. The old instruction said that Importing into RefWorks was automatic. They changed it? I could not find “BioOne’ in the “Import Filter/Data Source” list and have requested it.

2) Sage: Updated. I could not find “Sage in the “Import Filter/Data Source” List and have requested it.

3) CAS: No Changes. It is restricted to campus IP addresses.

2. I also checked and changed course help pages to inactive, except those for Winter 2006. Currently, the total of course help pages that are active is 27.

Thanks!
Rachel

Posted by Rachel at 5:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here are some things you can work on:

Change all the Course Help pages, other than those for Winter 2006, to inactive. There is a link to the interface on the Staff-Only page under Information Literacy > Course Help.

Review the subjects assigned to our databases. You can get from the Staff-Only page to Databases > Databases Maintenance Module, and look for the "Add/Modify Subjects." This will affect where a database will show up in our lists of databases by subject. When you click on continue, you can assign relevance to the subject.

Thanks! ~CJ

Posted by CJ de Jong at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Number of calls today 2

Yep you read right, 2 calls. I was worried that I was missing calls - But the ringer is working again - I had to download another browser (Opera) but I got it working in the end.

So I put two things up on Library News - one on Science Direct and the other on Project Muse's addittion of a couple more journals. The second is really short - but I didn't think much more was needed there.

Are the library's public access computers really still running Windows 98? Thats what it says on About > Information Services > Reserve > Help - under the heading "Printing multiple pages to one sheet of paper."

Thats it for the day.

Posted by James at 5:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Number of calls: 7 (excluding James’ trouble shooting calls).

Issues:

1. A student booked a vedio for tomorrow, but her MyCybrary record said it was overdue. I checked with circulation desk and they said she should check at the circulation desk in person during regular hours.

2. When I changed or entered students’ database login info before, it always took half an hour to have the new info work. But today it took more than an hour. I updated the login info for a student and told her to try half an hour later. After 40 or 50 minutes, the student came back because she still could not log in. I told her I was going to check for her and then email to her. But after about another 20 minutes, I tried her login again and it worked. So I emailed to her and explained that it took longer this time for the new data to process.

Lessons learned: next time I will advise the student to wait another half an hour if the new data cannot work after half an hour.

Project:

The following two databases may need to be checked for their Import Filter/Data Source:
For Gale, there is no Gale in Select Import Filter/Data Source. It looks like it should be GALE InfoTrac Web.
For PubMed, I cannot find “PubMed” in Select Import Filter/Data Source.

I don’t have time checking the rest databases for RefWorks Instructions. I will do so this Sunday.

Thanks,
Rachel

Posted by Rachel at 9:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Check out this article on RAKIM:

Implementing RAKIM Open Source Chat Reference Software
Shawn Carraway; Susan Payne
Computers in Libraries; May 2005; 25, 5

You should be able to access through ProQuest.

Posted by CJ de Jong at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi Everyone,

Number of calls: 2

Project: I have checked the following 10 databases and made changes when needed:

ABC-CLIO: updated
CSA (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts): no changes. “Export to Refworks” button does not work.
EBSCOhost: updated
Gale: updated. In the dropdown list of “Import Filter/Data Source”, there is no “Gale”, but “Gale Infotrac Web” and “Gale RDS Business and Industry”. I selected "Gale Infotrac Web".
ISI: updated
Jstor: updated
OCLC: no changes
Project Muse: no changes
ProQuest: no changes
PubMed: no changes. I cannot find “PubMed” in the dropdown list of “Import Filter/Data Source”.

Issues about RefWorks instructions for databases:

Besides issues regarding each individual databases, I cannot find the HTML editing page for importing instructions.

Thanks!
Rachel

Posted by Rachel at 5:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hello, Hello

Total number of calls (5)

Issues today. Nothing exciting. I had a proxy server call... I had the patron download Firefox when I couldn't get IE's problems worked out.

I was glad to see that I gave the right advice to a person wanting books from CMU (inter library loan them) Rachel had this problem but I hadn't read the blog when that call had come through.

I'm having problems with the ringer - no sound coming through when I get a call - yes, I am using IE. When I first had this problem switching from Firefox to IE fixed it. Not sure what the problem is. now Perhaps next week CJ or someone can help me troubleshoot this. My speakers work for everything else.

So I wrote the news article for Science Direct as requested - wasn't sure how long or detailed to make it - I figured shorter the better. Should I just email that to you CJ in word format or did you want it in HTML or Text or... let me know what to do with it.

Neat feature beyond topic alerts - citation alerts - very cool. So you select a specific article and get notified when it is cited by another article. I really think that is a stellar feature.

Has anyone else been following the conversation on the ILI-L listserv? Can you believe we are still arguing over the term, information literacy?

Posted by James at 5:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

James, I would like you to write up a news item on ScienceDirect's new Topic Alerts. You'll have to find out how it works, who would make use of them, and then write up an article for Library News. You may also point out other databases that have a Topic Alerts feature.

Rachel, I would like you to go through our RefWorks instructions for our databases and update where necessary. For example, ABC-CLIO needs to be updated. You will find a link to Vendor Help (RefWorks) under the Databases section on our Staff-Only pages.

Thanks and have a great weekend!
~CJ

Posted by CJ de Jong at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi Everyone,

Number of calls: 6

Issues: Two of the three calls were regarding access to the database proxy authentication page. Changing IE settings worked in both cases. It is interesting that the instruction is there on the library homepage, but some students just did not notice it.

There were more calls about looking for articles. One student was looking for databases particularly focused on reviews. I don’t know if we have this kind of databases.

Thanks!
Rachel

Posted by Rachel at 9:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi Everyone,

Happy Thanksgiving!

Number of calls: 3

Issues:

The first call was still regarding using IE to search database. The student has followed the instruction and has made changes to his IE. However, the student still could not access databases. I suggested the student to download Firefox. I am wondering if there could be more technical problems associated with IE?

The second call was an interesting one. The student could not access databases and the system told him the login info was wrong. I checked his login info in Putty, and found that one letter in his email address was in upper case instead of in the correct lower case. Reflection: anything could happen with electronic system.

The third call was about a book that is available in CUM Main. I am wondering how interlibrary loan works at. The user can search in six libraries in U of W Library catalogue. Does this mean the interlibrary loan can work between U of W Library and the other five?

Thanks!
Rachel

Posted by Rachel at 5:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's been another hectic week at the UWinnipeg Library. Lots of problems with printing and some ongoing issues with the authentication to our databases. Sure made the week fly. I will have some projects for you both to work on for next weekend!

Cheers,
~CJ

Posted by CJ de Jong at 12:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A slow day today.

3 calls total and all went quickly.

I had no real issues or concerns arise today. I tried to keep busy familiarizing myself with the U of Winnipeg's library.

Happy thanksgiving.

Posted by James at 5:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi Everyone,

Number of calls: 1

It was a very slow evening. So I spent time reading the article, checking the library website, and reflecting on my 7 shifts work so far.

With both theories and examples in it, “Communication Strategies for Instant Messaging and Chat Reference Services” is a very helpful article for me. I am going to try these strategies.

I found that the eReserve is a very creative and valuable service. I like it and I believe that students like it too.

Today in the Instructional Strategies for Library and Information Professionals class, we discussed the user’s library anxiety. Three typical concepts are: “(1) students generally feel that their own library-use skills are inadequate while the skills of other students are adequate, (2) the inadequacy is shameful and should be hidden, and (3) the inadequacy would be revealed by asking questions” (Mellon 160). Reflecting on my own experience, I found that I also have the anxiety when I start working in a new library system. I think knowing well about the system and material is probably the best way to lessen the anxiety.

Mellon, Constance A. 1986. Library anxiety: A grounded theory and its development. College & Research Libraries 47 (March): 160-165.

Thanks!
Rachel

Posted by Rachel at 9:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi Everyone,

Number of calls: 7

Issues:

Today two calls were regarding PIN. But I did not realize that I could change PIN for the students until almost the end of my shift. I have one of the student’s email address and barcode. So I deleted the old PIN, emailed to the student and told them that they can reset their PIN. I do not have the other student’s email address. But she did not log off when I had to logg off at the end of my shift. So I left her my email address and asked her to email me her barcode. (The student did email her barcode to me at midnight. So I deleted her PIN and told her that she could create a new PIN. ) My apologies for all the mess. It is all because of my unfamiliarity with clearing a PIN.

Grant’s resolution to off-campus access to databases problem was really helpful. I got one call regarding this problem and it was solved in one second by following Grant’s instruction. I noticed it was also on the library homepage. Thank you CJ for passing on the message.

Thanks!
Rachel

Posted by Rachel at 6:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)