Summer 08 ending

Wow, this summer has gone by so fast! I can't believe it.

I traveled a good portion of the summer, the first 4 weeks of the semester and saw some amazing things. I went to three national parks in ONE week - Mt. Rainier, Glacier and Zion. Breathtaking and really reset my peacefulness meter.

Library 3 only has a few more weeks. Another great summer class with excellent students. Out of all the classes I teach, Library 3 seems to give me the most joy. Probably because its a three unit class compared to the one units that I teach often. I'll be happy to see some library 3 faces in my new course Library 204 starting this fall (Intro to Reference Services).

Even though I'm more of a computer/database programming geek, I love working at the reference desk and sharing that enthusiasm with students. In my masters program, the Reference Services course was probably my favorite and the course that I learned so much about library resources in. Perhaps that is what my students feel as they discover the resources they learn about as well. It's overwhelming, but in a good way. Amazing to think that there is so much information out there.

There is no doubt we are an information fed species that thrives on the Internet. If there is something we hear throughout the day that we don't know anything about, once online google to the rescue. Instant access (not always correct information but as we develop our research skills we learn how to sort through credible versus non-credible information). We are *keyword* driven. We use words daily to describe things, but how do we learn which word to use? Thats one of the ideas I try to emphasize in my courses - the difference between keyword searching and subject searching.

We look at dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference indexes and have to first learn how to use the book, how is it organized, how do i search using it. It seems like so much work compared to just opening up a search engine and typing our word. But is it worth it? I think so. I think thats what makes these classes so interesting. Learning about the resources, learning which resources are available for you to use online through the LBCC library, learning how they work. Most of the online reference sources are trying to simplify the searches to resemble the google searchbox. Because that is what we know. That is what we breathe. As educated people, we need to be aware of what are other options are when we need more.

Okay, enough for today. Back to the reference desk!