Tuesday, March 29, 2011

What a night

I worked the desk of the Indiana Room tonight and, although it was pretty slow, I was on the phone a lot. And by a lot, I mean for 35 minutes to the same patron. She has called before, and I think I actually blogged about her - she had called for the phone number of Bed Bad and Beyond and was very impatient, but once I got her the number became very chatty and oversharing. This time she was in a fine mood, and wanted to know where property taxes went to. Her mother's property taxes were doubled this year, and she wanted to know where that money was going. I gave her the answer, and then we somehow got launched into a girl living across the street from the patron's niece who apparently sells meth and prescription drugs out of her house. This then went into a discussion about a local cop in that town who the patron has been talking to about this woman (who is apparently a very unpleasant woman all around), the cop gives the patron too much information about other goings on around the town - and although he is married, he seems to be interested in the patron on a personal level. The patron is not interested back and is not a believer in adultery. We got back to the original question - property taxes - and segued into her taxes and that she needs to get them done. This turned into a discussion (I say discussion, but the woman would barely let me speak) about what household improvements she is going to use her refund money on. I was almost freed from her about 5 times, but whenever the conversation was slowing down, she would go into another subject.

It is hard because there was no real way for me to get her off the phone without being rude. This woman obviously needed someone impartial to talk to and vent about a variety of things, and I was not busy otherwise. However, it was just a weird position to be in when the woman was going into some personal details (such as her taxes and money), and generally the Indiana Room is a quite place for people to research and study in.

Eventually the other phone rang, and I told the patron I had to answer the other phone. About 8 rings later (I was in a panic, and felt bad that it was taking so long to answer the phone), I finally hung up with her. Thankfully, it was not a patron on the other phone but my boss, Christine, calling to save me! I'm sure there will be times like this when patrons call and just keep talking - but I am definitely going to need to find a good way to get off the phone with them, especially at a busy reference desk (although that is probably why she calls the Indiana Room instead of the main desk - she knows the person isn't very busy). So that was my adventure today!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Back at it

After a nice (but short) break from the library, I was back at it again today. After weeks of researching the two editors of the Bloomington Republican, Christine wanted me to write a page about each man. An almost impossible task. I have not only researched the men themselves, but also their families to try and see if they had any descendants living in Bloomington (as far as I could tell, neither did - although I did not get to a few great-grandchildren). This made my task even harder, because I had gotten attached to the families (both men only had surviving sons oddly enough - what daughters they had did not live past their 10th birthday). There was relevant Bloomington-related information for a few sons that I really wanted to include, and it just did not seem right to only discuss one son and not the others, so I got to them all. Magically, I ended up with exactly one page for both John F. Walker and Clement Whitaker. Believe me, no one was more surprised than me.

We finally got the City Directories back from getting unbound. Now instead of having a research shift every week, we will be getting a scanning shift. MCPL has many old City Directories that are in very rough shape, with the binding falling apart and are therefore unable to be in the stacks. Our task is to digitize them, so Christine had them completely unbound for us to scan (although if someone desperately wanted to donate a book scanner we would definitely not turn that down, and would no longer have to unbind books to scan). I may not be doing this, as Christine has encountered something she wants me to transcribe. We'll be talking about that this weekend. I am also currently transcribing another copy of the Bloomington Republican, one from September 6, 1862. We had originally thought that the only surviving copy was the one we received from the Lilly Library - the one I transcribed earlier in the semester. We discovered that we had this copy from 1862 on one of our local history microfilms. It is only three pages, whereas all other newspapers had four, so I wonder if it is missing a page - but it would only be advertisements so it is no major loss as I will not be transcribing the ads this time around.

As I begin my job hunt, I have definitely realized how spoiled I have been in my internships at MCPL. When at the main reference desk, there is always at least two other librarians on desk with you - always someone to pick up the ringing phone or to have as backup with a difficult patron. Even the Indiana Room is a luxury; local history, tons of microfilms, the separate collection along with separate librarians. *sigh* My ultimate dream job would be to work in a library similar to MCPL, and work in Adult services but also have two or three shifts in something like the Indiana Room. It is a great change of pace and a totally different atmosphere than the main reference desk. We will just have to wait and see what comes my way...

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Article #7: Adding History

Marquis, K., & Waggener, L. C. (2011). Historical Collections Is Adding One Right for Your Public Library?. Public Libraries, 50(2), 42-48. Retrieved from LISA.

This article consists of basic potential guidelines for how to create a historical collection in a public library, provided by two professional archivists. It includes where to begin the collection, what questions libraries should ask when developing their collection plan, who the users will be, basic archival information. It also addresses what all needs to be invested in for the collection, in terms of money and space.

For the libraries that decide an archive collection is too much work or does not fit into their libraries goals, there are also guidelines for creating a simple local history section, or a virtual archive. Both do not require as much special attention, as well as space requirements.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Article #6: Building Support

Nelms, W. (1979). Using Local History and Genealogy To Build Library Support. Library Journal, 104(6), 686. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier.

Public librarians are now in the local history and genealogy business. American's are more interested in local affairs and their family backgrounds than they ever have been before, and expect their local library to be the place to find such information. Libraries need to see this need and desire for this information and act accordingly by improving their collections. However, space and budgets are two major things that can prevent building these collections. This article provides different ways to increase their genealogical and local collections without breaking their bank.

Although this article is rather old being printed in 1979, the tips are still very much useful for today's public libraries.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Tidbits

Thanks to my off-desk project (and to be honest on-desk project when I'm not helping patrons) I have been using the microfilms A LOT. Thankfully, I totally love going through old microfilms. They are full of the weirdest stuff that would never be printed today. If I could I would just spend my whole shift going through old newspapers and reading the strange things they printed. I have taken to printing off articles that catch my attention and posting them on the Indiana Room blog as well as the Adult and Teen Services blog. Needless to say, many people have come up to me and commented about the articles.

One such thing that I found today was from the 1969 Bloomington Telephone. It was an "Ask Abby" column and it was a question sent in my a newlywed man. I am not sure what his ultimate question was, it seemed more like a complaint than anythings else. He wrote that before the wedding his wife was always really well put together, hair done, makeup done, nice clothes - but now that they were married, she slathers moisturizer on her face before bed and puts on a sack thing that ties around the middle for a nightgown. I was so taken aback by this - it is such a foreign thing to me, and did this man think that she went to bed with makeup on? It really speaks for the generations, and how different things are now. And, it makes me really not like this guy.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Article #5: Rewarded by History

Pierce, J. (2003). HISTORY IS ITS OWN REWARD BACK HOME IN INDIANA. American Libraries, 34(7), 46. Retrieved from MasterFILE Premier.

Focusing on the Allen County Public Library in Indiana, this article looks into the relationship between the residents of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the library. It notes that the genealogy department at ACPL has played a significant role in sustaining the economy within the community.

Contrary to most library practices, the genealogy collection has a budget proportionate to other departments. It also holds the largest collection of genealogical materials outside of Salt Lake City. The department constantly watches the antiquities market for books, and solicits unpublished work of family members for the collection. People specifically go to Fort Wayne to do research at ACPL, and the local restaurants and hotels are reaping the rewards. The collection has impacted both local tourism and the town's relationships across the state. Each year, the genealogy department serves between 98,500 and 110,000 visitors, who then have an economic impact of between $7.2 and $9.8 million annually. The library is a local treasure.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

And now for another Microfilm goodie

While searching through the book Miami County Schools 1830-1930, I found this great accounting of something that happened at the Struble School sometime between 1867 and 1918,

"Mike Wahlig recalls an incident that happened while attending this school. A certain teacher was unusually cruel to the children. During spelling class one day, a certain boy was requested to pronounce and spell a word. He spelled it, but failed to pronounce it. It so happened that the boy was rather large for his age, so he challenged the teacher to a fight. The whole school saw the boy emerge from the struggle as the victor! The teacher disappeared that evening and has never been heard of since."

No age was given for how old the boy was, but I like to think of him as around 10. Just makes the story that much more amusing.

Oh, the gems you find in the Indiana Room