The Project Report and The End

This is the internship report I just turned in that describes the projects I worked on. Links to the work will be up soon, I hope.

The internship that I just completed this Spring semester consisted of two parts: one was in Reference and the other was in Collection Development for Latin American, Caribbean and U.S. Latino Studies. For the Reference part of the internship, I engaged in multiple ‘small’ projects and a slightly larger one at the end. On the other hand, I spent the entire semester developing the project related to Collection Development. I will talk about all of these in the pages that follow.

The Reference Projects
A common thread that ran through all the Reference projects I undertook was an emphasis on ‘user-centeredness.’ The library’s need to be relevant to and engage its patrons was at the top of my mind as I developed outreach materials - in the forms of slide presentations and online guides - and a Reference user profile survey.

Outreach Materials
A lot of work goes into the design of Reference services and resources that aim to meet users’ needs and expectations. The materials developed to make patrons aware of these resources and services are just as important. At the most basic level they let patrons know these services and resources exist; sometimes that by itself is enough to generate interest and a reaction (especially when done in an appealing, engaging manner.) They also have inclusive power since by just addressing specific audiences they are made to feel important and catered for. Further, however, outreach materials which give patrons an idea of how the existing services and resources can benefit their activities make these even more relevant and valuable to them.

The Main Library has been featuring services, resources and events in slides which are projected on a plasma screen by the Main Lobby and Circulation desk. From what I understand, this is a relatively new effort which is still being evaluated and improved upon for effectiveness and results. During the internship I developed a series of slides for several events and services, from the Writer’s Institute presentations to career resources for Hispanic students. One series of slides, which featured available electronic databases with Spanish-language interfaces and help sections, reportedly generated inquiries and responses from interested students and faculty. I especially enjoyed working on a series of slides which featured pronunciation resources in the Library for Spanish-speakers, including audio files embedded in Xrefer’s online dictionaries. It was a fun yet informative set of slides which featured the use of various humorous homonyms (which I ran it by some Hispanic students from various countries just to see if they all knew the words in Spanish.)

Guide on Writing Resources for Spanish-Speakers
A slightly larger project (which at this point is nearly but not quite finished) is the creation of a guide – meant to be accessed online on the library Reference page - which includes print and online resources to help native Spanish-speakers with their writing. I divided this list into general bilingual dictionaries, thesauri, usage and grammar guides, style guides and specialized dictionaries (I would also include all the library’s Engish- language fiction and newspapers as nothing helps with writing-skills as lots and lots of reading.) I was fascinated by the dictionaries. Why, many would ask, is it necessary to have a dozen or so different Spanish-English dictionaries? Aren’t they all the same? I spent some time perusing them - looking at the sections beyond entry definitions and translations- and looking at reviews from Choice and other sources in Book Index Review Plus. I hope I clearly defined the strengths, weaknesses and special features that make each unique, such as emphases on Iberian or Latin American Spanish, inclusion of business and technological terminology and buzz words, print and electronic corrrespondence guides, verb tables etc. As librarians we must save the time of the user, right? Thus I was very aware of differentiating each source and highlighting its best features so that patrons may be able to zero in on the one best suited to their needs (no, they’re not all the same!). The same goes for the thesauri. I hope to hand the completed guide in next week.

User Profile Survey
A final project I’m working on, and which is also due next week, is the development of a research grant proposal. I’m proposing to conduct a survey to develop a profile of the Main Library’s reference users. The most challenging part has been developing a complete and accurate literature review and turning it into a relatively captivating, convincing narrative – “it’s all about narration” as Prof. Andersen constantly reminds us.

Collection Development’s Globalization in Latin America Bibliography
As I mentioned, the Collection Development project has been an on-going semester-long effort. This consists of an online bibliographic guide on the subject of Globalization in Latin America. This topic has acquired greater significance in the Latin American Studies curriculum which now actually offers a minor in Globalization in the Americas.

The Annotated Bibliography
The guide I developed has a dual nature. On the one hand, it’s an annotated bibliography that compiles the resources available at the University Libraries on the topic. It’s selective and it would have been impossible to even try to create an exhaustive bibliography on the topic as it is so cross-disciplinary. Thus the guide does its best to present a good amount of resources divided into categories by topic, sub-topic and geograhic area. These categories and the resources therein are meant to be useful starting points for those researching the topic. We had more ambitious designs at first. We expected to be able to follow this effort with a selection effort to compile a list of resources not available at the library that could be potential candidates for acquisition. However there was simply not enough time for that in between the meetings and lectures.

I spent a large amount of time, perhaps too much, devising a search strategy (details on blog post.) However, I feel this guide could still be expanded on. If it were, I would recommend searching by using key words related to the sub-topics within globalization (since I already exhausted all the searches using Globalization. ). For example, I would create new search strategies for trade, treaties (by name, NAFTA, etc.), labor, commerce etc., combined with country names. There are also several authors who write prolifically on the topic and I know there are more works authored by them in the Library. I would search for these using the author’s name. Finally, the sections in the guide could also be more specific. At the point I left off, however, I didn’t have enough resources to justify creating a specific one such as, say, environmental effects.

The Web Resources
This is the part of the guide which involved some selection and evaluation of resources on my part. Basically, I followed the general rules for evaluating authoritative, reliable sources. I also looked at the syllabi of the program’s professors, checked out academic programs’ sites and went into the links and resources sections of the ‘core list’ of academic globalization center websites I found. Then I wrote an annotation and linked to the URL’s on my guide.

The Search Guide
The second purpose of the guide is to provide advice and tips for those looking for additional resources beyond those included in the bibliography. It’s not really in the realm of the pathfinder as it’s more brief and focused on how to locate resources. My guide provides a list of subject headings which can be used to search the University OPAC. I knew I needed to explain the nature and use of subject headings as clearly and simply as possible. I have no doubt myself subject headings are useful in searching library OPACS. However, I also understand patrons are so much more geared towards keywords and tags and the former concept is hard for many to grasp.

The guide also includes a section on shelf browsing by call number, an effective way of coming upon related materials and which is in line with users’ behavior in retail outlets. In this case that method may prove a little less useful than usual, however, since due to Globalization’s cross-disciplinary nature, the ranges of call numbers I had to include cover a huge area of the Library’s stacks.

Finally, one can never assume people know more than they do. This point was quite clear following an instructional session we gave during the internship. After instructing patrons on all sorts of ‘fancy’ search techniques, a few expressed something like “yeah, but how do I actually find the books on the shelves?” Thus there’s a section on Locating books in which briefly explains how books are placed on shelves according to call numbers and outlines the Library’s locations. Frankly, I commiserate with users who are stumped by this, the most basic of tasks. Why don’t libraries have more user-friendly signage? Supermarket signage is a great model – now that’s friendly and universal! If libraries adopted a more subtle version of this system, navigating would be so much easier for those who have not had the necessity or inclination to familiarize themselves with classifications systems.

Putting it Online
Of course, the last step was formatting the guide in order to upload it to the Library webpage. I used a department template with an embedded CSS style sheet. As I worked, I sent the sections to the bibliographer for any comments or suggestions. We also shared and discussed ideas for improving the usability of the guide, making links visible but not annoyingly so, linking titles to the library record, opening external links in blank pages etc. After attending a 2.0 Library lecture many more ideas came to mind!

Conclusion
The internship allowed me to develop work that helped me to acquire solid hands-on knowledge and to get started on a professional porftolio. The experiences greatly enhanced the skills learned in the classroom and the mentors’ efforts to teach and guide were invaluable.