tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061870849031468581.post1817332369969600894..comments2024-03-27T05:00:00.090-04:00Comments on Letters to a Young Librarian: What We Talk About When We Talk About Technical Services, by Erin LeachJessica Olinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00282500023825318766noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061870849031468581.post-65407023354951472572014-07-31T10:00:55.408-04:002014-07-31T10:00:55.408-04:00I have been a technical services librarian for 15 ...I have been a technical services librarian for 15 years after 22 years in reference. I don't think that anyone should ever start in technical services without having worked directly with users first. I still relish my time filling in at reference or in children's.Bill Harrisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07549608705494946331noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061870849031468581.post-38283666563708135892014-07-28T10:07:30.532-04:002014-07-28T10:07:30.532-04:00I do think it's a shame there isn't more s...I do think it's a shame there isn't more short-term secondment and shadowing within libraries, once traineeships are done and dusted. <br /><br />It's a tricky one, and I absolutely see some drawbacks, not least that people are often not keen to do so, and (not unrelated) that senior management may see it as a way to patch shortages and stretch staff rather than maintaining and balancing skillsets. It was suggested where I worked a couple of years back, and that looked 85% like pushing junior staff into an impromptu cover arrangement. Unsurprisingly, with that and some other reservations, it never happened. <br /><br />But especially considering the amount of change happening in recent years, it seems like it would be to everyone's benefit to keep their hands in everywhere. Something I've also seen done is a sort of showcasing, where every so often someone presents on what they actually do day-to-day, although that was mostly an IT affair.Shimmin Beghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10350037986748679919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061870849031468581.post-30383466431734853792014-07-28T09:36:01.795-04:002014-07-28T09:36:01.795-04:00It's cool that you can take your cataloging ex...It's cool that you can take your cataloging experience to the reference desk with you. I suspect it makes you better and finding what users are looking for. Erinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12747706743337220992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061870849031468581.post-4070491867288869472014-07-28T09:33:18.992-04:002014-07-28T09:33:18.992-04:00I agree with your take on the differences between ...I agree with your take on the differences between workflows. I think the best way for this difference to be communicated is for one "side" to see how the "other side" works. For instance, I know my experience doing traditionally public services tasks has given me insight into how agile people have to be when working with users.Erinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12747706743337220992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061870849031468581.post-81581562227708171882014-07-28T09:30:34.077-04:002014-07-28T09:30:34.077-04:00That's a great point, Cari. It's not just ...That's a great point, Cari. It's not just a TS vs. PS thing. There are stereotypes and rivalries everywhere! What can we do to help each other see the person behind the stereotypes? (This is not a rhetorical question. I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this!)Erinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12747706743337220992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061870849031468581.post-76226024678786854912014-07-27T10:14:13.243-04:002014-07-27T10:14:13.243-04:00As a former cataloger who is now a reference libra...As a former cataloger who is now a reference librarian, I agree with the above sentiments. My "perfect dream job" would be 50/50 of both worlds. Keeping a hand in the cataloging because I can see how the public uses our resources (and can create a record to help them find what they want) but also being able to do the "Librarian Stuff" that includes working with the public and being kept aware of what they want and how they're using the library.Displaced Librarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16868082100422729075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061870849031468581.post-84150396401104774742014-07-26T22:36:03.036-04:002014-07-26T22:36:03.036-04:00My traineeship involved terms spent in all three m...My traineeship involved terms spent in all three major divisions of the ILS and it was invaluable. I can't tell you how many weirdnesses brought to the desk I was able to unpick or painstakingly track down, using what I'd learned in cataloguing. On the flip side, experience of what readers are looking for and how the lending service operates let me argue for some cataloguing decisions that I'd never have thought of otherwise. Same for electronic resources.<br /><br />In my experience, there is a little bit of truth to some of this, but a lot boils down to working practices. In cataloguing you mostly work through your pile of jobs under your own steam, taking care over each one because doing it suboptimally now will cause major headaches later; there are definitely various pressures but you aren't standing there with the end-user at your desk. In public services, you're driven by reader flow: constant switching between background tasks and the newest reader, lots of multitasking, juggling rotas to make sure everything gets done while everyone gets a break. But it's also a more short-term field, where often the best solution is relatively quick and dirty, because overcoming the reader's problem when they need it trumps some long-term ideal solution, while priorities shift constantly. If CS and PS mostly see the each other's results and responses rather than the actual work being done, this can easily look like "cataloguers are perfectionist tortoises" vs. "desk staff are absent-minded kangaroo rats". Or, indeed, "what do electronic resources even do?" because all that's noticed is when something stops working...Shimmin Beghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10350037986748679919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4061870849031468581.post-35966519624034968562014-07-25T15:41:40.920-04:002014-07-25T15:41:40.920-04:00I just had an insightful comment that Blogger ate....I just had an insightful comment that Blogger ate. The gist of it was that this is a great post! I think we need to be unified in all areas of librarianship. Seems like anytime there is a difference or division (MLIS vs. non-MLIS, circ vs. reference, full-time vs. part-time, academic vs. public) rivalries and stereotypes crop up. We need to see each other as people and not just representing one side or another.Carihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17089762130217570280noreply@blogger.com