Reference Librarianship: not for the timid.

This was the first class weekend for LI 813.

For fun, I've decided to give Wordpress another go by using it as the class blog for this class. I may still do all my posting here and post it there via RSS. Here's a link to that location: Caro's 813 Class Blog.

Tonight we had two guest speakers who talked about the reference interviews and reference librarians. Something one of the speakers said really struck a chord with me when she said that librarianship at an academic library is more about showing people how to help themselves with the database systems. I feel that I would really enjoy this, as it's something I already do as a hobby by teaching friends about my latest flings with new internet finds. I don't think I would be heavily satisfied with the scenario described in a public library, where the patron just expects the librarian to find the resource for them. I'm starting to think this is part of my greater desire to make better systems that are easier for people to interact with.

They also talked about capstone, which was encouraging. I'm very excited at the prospect of capstone, and I'm hoping to do something a little off the wall and creative for mine--I think my multidisciplinary and unusual paths through the education system warrants it. I can't wait to see how my Lakota class influences and meshes with Library Science this semester.