Getting the Hang of It

I finally feel like I am "getting the hang of it."  I spent several hours at the Reference Desk this week and am starting to feel more comfort with this aspect of the Reference Librarian position.  There were only a few questions this week, but I felt more confident in knowing how to answer them.  In fact, I was able to practice what I learned during an Information Literacy session that I observed a few weeks ago.  A student needed to find some books on a very specific painting.  After an unsuccessful search attempt for the name of the painting, I used a keyword search to find books about the creator of the painting.  This proved quite successful as I was able to help make this individual a happy patron.

After a few more hours spent working on the Grants LibGuide, I finally have a finished product.  To see the helpful resource click on the following link: http://mc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=44807.  As part of my work with these resourceful guides I found a useful article entitled, "Reaching Out with LibGuides: Establishing a Working Set of Best Practices" by Alisa C. Gonzalez and Theresa Westbrock (Journal of Library Administration, Jul-Sep 2010, Vol. 50 Issue 5/6, p638-656).  This article was written about New Mexico State University's work with LibGuides and addresses certain issues they faced.  The article provides a concise literature review, gives relevant background information, states the need for these guides and provides helpful information on choosing good software to create LibGuides.  The authors also discuss "administrative buy-in", building templates, and providing training for stakeholders.  In addition, there are several colored figures provided along with a bunch of references.  This resource is beneficial to those who are contemplating the use of LibGuides.