Christine Zaccardi LIS 204 2/20/08

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Grade = 96 A

Christine Zaccardi

LIS 204

Research Report

February 20, 2008

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The goal of this assignment was to find out what an average person knows about libraries and how they work. I had a hard time deciding who to interview. I abandoned two interviews, feeling the people I chose did not know enough about libraries to even support my questions, before settling on an interviewee. In the end I chose to interview one of my mother’s friends, Darlene. Darlene is a 60 year old mother of two children, and brand new grandmother. She is recently retired from the fashion industry, and I know that she is an occasional reader. Darlene is not as computer savvy as her husband. She does look up information “on Google”, but usually she will have someone else do it for her.

She was hesitant to be interviewed at first, claiming she felt sorry for me trying to get answers, because she and a lot of others were “ignorant about the library”.

Currently, Darlene doesn’t use the library. She hasn’t been there in at least four years. When her children were younger, she would frequent the local public library with them, because it was convenient. Now that they are grown and have moved out she hasn’t felt the need to use it. She feels that going to the bookstore to pick up a book is more convenient.

In the past, Darlene would mostly check out books from the library for pleasure reading. Occasionally she would go there to find, what she called, “more in-depth information”. Once in a while she would use the library for its periodicals, looking at consumer magazines. Now she has a computer in her home and uses Google to find answers to any research questions she may have.

When her children were small, Darlene had a set of encyclopedias in the house as well as a dictionary and thesaurus, which took away some of her need to use the library for information purposes. When she did have a question that required more in-depth answers, she would try the local library. It’s small, and although they have music, tapes, and videos, they didn’t always have the research or academic materials she was looking for. Quite frequently, the local library would send her to a larger branch 15 minutes away from her home. There she would find books that went “more in-depth”.

When it comes time to decide what materials are available in the library, Darlene believed that there was a set of standards that libraries followed to choose materials, and then depending on how much shelf space they had, the head librarian would make the final decision based on what the patrons wanted. In her experience, the library always had what she needed, as well as the newest novels or periodicals. The materials chosen were then organized into sections according to the Dewey Decimal System. Any time she had to find a book she would use the card catalog and find the numbers assigned by the

Dewey Decimal System, and then go look for her book on the shelf. She had minimal training at finding books this way when she was in elementary and high school and was able to locate most books by herself, without the assistance of a librarian.

Darlene has had positive experiences in the past with libraries and librarians. Any time she went in looking for information, on Puerto Rico for instance, the librarian would try to find something that met her needs, asking, “how about this…or that...?”Then they would refer her to a certain book or section or to a bigger library branch if they didn’t have what she needed. Even though she never had a negative experience, she thinks

- 3 - Christine Zaccardi LIS 204 2/20/08 people assume that libraries can’t do things for them and so they don’t ask for the help they need. She has never been afraid to ask.

Darlene believes a library staff consists of a head librarian, service clerks, and management staff. She believes that most of the staff are required to go to school and at least complete a four year degree, while some of the service clerks are trained on the job.

Mainly, she believes that librarians are there because of a career change, coming as former educators or just book lovers. I think her answer was swayed in part by her knowledge that I am currently enrolled in an MLS program. She stated that she had never really given the question much thought before. Really, she had never thought about many of these questions before and she said many of her answers were assumptions or just educated guesses.

I agree with Darlene that most people are ignorant about the library. In the short time that I’ve been taking classes I’ve heard comments ranging from “I don’t know how to use the library” to “the library is obsolete”. I think there is some truth to the second statement. I think the need to use a library as a source of information is being replaced by the convenience of searching the internet. As more and more information becomes available online, the library as a source of reference searching may be superseded. I think what Darlene felt was that having a computer removed any real need for her to use the library aside from wanting to borrow tapes or audio-cassettes. Now when she wants to research information on, for example, Puerto Rico, she will “Google it”. I do this all the time when I need quick information, and I wonder how libraries are combating this. Part of my problem when trying to find someone to interview was that everyone I asked (and I asked a lot of people: friends, relatives, and co-workers at my school), all stated that they

- 4 - Christine Zaccardi LIS 204 2/20/08 rarely used the library. All of their information needs were met online. I imagine there will always be a demographic that uses the library for pleasure-reading or resources like periodicals, but I wonder about some of their print resources. For example, last night I had to research Fidel Castro for an assignment, and I chose to look at an online encyclopedia. Just today it was announced on the news that he is stepping down. While the online encyclopedia will most likely be updated rather soon, the print version currently sitting on a shelf in many libraries will continue to list him as the leader of

Cuba until a new edition is printed. If I had to research any kind of statistical information or data that changes from day to day or month to month I would also hesitate to use the library, thinking that their information is outdated. I wonder if many people think like me. If they do then that may cause a problem for libraries, for I’m certain librarians have many resources available to them online as well as in print, but I wonder how many people are aware of that. I know I certainly wasn’t until recently, and Darlene clearly stated that she had no idea what was new in libraries in the past four years.

After the interview, Darlene and I spoke off-hand about my experiences and perceptions about the library and we agreed on many things. We both realized that we had a lot to learn about what kind of services are available at the library. I myself am guilty of not knowing all the resources that libraries have at their disposal or how to find them. In the past I’ve attempted to find it myself or asked a reference librarian how to find a broad topic rather than pursue the in-depth information I really needed.

I was also unaware that reference desk librarians are supposed to interview you to find out how best to help you find your information. I think this is a major problem with libraries. We have done a lot of reading that extols the friendliness of reference librarians.

It seems like a small virtue, but it has a huge impact. Two weeks ago I had an unsatisfactory experience in St. Johns own university library. The reference desk librarians were less than friendly when I needed assistance and seemed like they couldn’t be bothered with my request. They didn’t espouse any of the qualities I’ve read about or would have expected at a university that is currently educating students in this very field.

As a matter of fact, I was quite surprised to find that Darlene has had so many positive experiences in the past. Her children are around the same age as me, which would mean that her experience with the library was much stronger twenty years ago and has waned in the years since then. We were probably both using the library a lot during the same time period. At the time we lived close to one another, but frequented different branches of the public library. I wonder if our experiences were based on the personalities of the different librarians, which would just mean it was chance that led me to have a poor experience while she had a positive one; or was it that Darlene received the training or help that was adequate to meet her needs while I did not.

During the interview, Darlene mentioned that the librarians were always friendly and willing to come out from behind the desk and help her find a book. This is interesting, because I think body language is extremely important. If reference librarians want to have a fighting chance, I think they are going to have to be more like the librarians Darlene came in contact with. Turning away from the user or acting busy deters people from wanting to use the library. I went to three libraries looking for the

Encyclopedia of Associations a few weeks ago, and only found a friendly reference librarian at my last stop. Originally, I tried looking it up on the internet but couldn’t seem to find the appropriate link. After a half hour of fruitless searching, I decided to head over

- 6 - Christine Zaccardi LIS 204 2/20/08 to the local public library. Located three blocks away from my house, it’s a small library, offering a rather small section of reference books. I tried looking on my own and when my search bore no result I went over to the reference librarian. She had a very stern look when I approached and said nothing until I asked for help locating the Encyclopedia. She typed it into her computer and began scrolling through results, still not saying a word.

After what felt like ages she told me I would have to go to another library and offered to look for the closest one. I left with another destination. Overall it wasn’t a horrible experience, but it didn’t leave me felling feeling as though I should return to her with future queries.

When I arrived at the next library and approached the reference desk, the librarian immediately stopped chatting with the patron in front of her, looked right at me and asked if she could help me. Her entire demeanor was different. She not only pointed out where I could find the encyclopedia I was looking for but jumped up to lead me there. She pointed out the 3 different volumes and offered some quick tips on how to find information within them, as well as where I could find the copy machine and some tables to browse through the books. She ended by asking if I needed help with anything else. I left feeling very pleased with the information I had found, and a thought occurred to me.

She had an edge that the internet did not, which was personal interaction. The internet offers information to the user who knows how to search, and search well. If you don’t know the ins and outs, you are left with sources that may or may not be what you are looking for and no idea if you can get anything better than what you have. At a library, with the assistance of a reference librarian, you can search both print and electronic sources and get feedback from the librarian on how to clarify your search terms and

- 7 - Christine Zaccardi LIS 204 2/20/08 narrow or widen your topic to suit your informational needs. They can also provide knowledge on whether or not you are looking at credible sources. This is a huge advantage for them that they should exploit.

Darlene had mentioned that she thought people didn’t ask for help at the library because they assumed librarians couldn’t help them. As a user of the library I have felt time and again that I didn’t know how to effectively use the library or librarians to best meet my informational needs. Most of the time when I try to get the help I need I am still left wondering what to do or where to look. Knowing that others have had positive experiences, and having had at least one of my own gives me a positive outlook for the future, especially knowing this is the field I am going intoentering. If librarians make themselves known more as a valuable asset to the ordinary researcher in the library by effectively communicating with the patrons in an encouraging manner, more people may start to flock towards the library for their informational needs. Librarians are very important and I don’t think the need for them will ever completely disappear. I think their role is evolving and their attitudes need to stay current as well to best suit their patrons need. McDonalds had the right idea when they introduced “service with a smile”. It does make a difference.

Appendix

Questions Asked During the Interview:

Background Questions:

Do you use the library often?

When was the last time you used it?

What library did you/do you use?

What kind of library is it?

What do you use the library for?

Collection Questions:

What materials are available to you in the library?

Who decides what materials will be in the library?

How do they decide?

Do you feel the library is modern or outdated?

How are the materials unorganized?

Service Questions:

What services are offered by the library to its users?

Which ones do you use?

What will the library do for you?

What can you ask for?

Are you comfortable using the resources by yourself?

Did anyone ever teach you how to use the card catalog?

What kinds of help will they give you?

Do they seem willing to help?

Staffing Questions:

What kind of staff does a library have?

How do they learn their jobs?

How do they get into library work?

Has your past interactions with libraries influenced any future decisions to use the library?

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