Skills for reference staff

[Ruth Hartman - Adult Services - Ventura Library System]

An interesting issue has surfaced on Cristal-ed, and I'm curious as to how
people on this list would respond.  How much technology should a reference
person be expected to learn?  The argument of some staff is that they need
only be able to use the computer to access material, but anything
"mechanical" is not their responsibility.  Should they be expected to do
maintenance, rebooting, simple repair, etc.?

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Ruth Hartman          
Manager, Adult & Childrens Services Division           :::::
Ventura County Library Services Agency                :::::
651 E. Main St.,                                      ::::
Ventura, CA 93001     (FAX) 805-652-7586              ::::: 
(voice) 805-652-7529  (e-mail) rhartman at rain.org  \   ::::::
===================================================>   *:::::
Michael Gorman's New Laws of Librarianship:       /     :::::: 
     *Libraries serve humanity.                         ::::      
     *Respect all forms by which knowledge is communicated.
     *Use technology intelligently to enhance service. 
     *Protect free access to knowledge.
     *Honor the past & create the future.
(American Libraries 9/95)
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