Skills for reference staff

[Dena Lahue]

FORWARDED MESSAGE from Ruth Hartman - Adult Services - Ventura L (RHARTMAN 
@ SMTP {rhartman at rain.org}) at 8/7/97 11:47a

>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.?
>
>(:-)(;-)(:->(:+)(:-#(%-)(:-I(;-}(:-*($-)(:=)(;<)(8-)(X->(:-Q([->(S-)(;-o
>Ruth Hartman
>Manager, Adult & Childrens Services Division           :::::
>Ventura County Library Services Agency                :::::
>651 E. Main St.,                                      ::::
>Ventura, CA 93001     (FAX) 805-652-7586              :::::
>(voice) 805-652-7529  (e-mail) rhartman at rain.org  \   ::::::
>===================================================>   *:::::
>Michael Gorman's New Laws of Librarianship:       /     ::::::
>     *Libraries serve humanity.                         ::::
>     *Respect all forms by which knowledge is communicated.
>     *Use technology intelligently to enhance service.
>     *Protect free access to knowledge.
>     *Honor the past & create the future.
>(American Libraries 9/95)
>(-:)(-;)<-:)(+:)#-:)(-%)I-:){-;)*-:)(-$)(=:)(>;)(-8)<-X)Q-:)<-])(-S)o-;)
***** NOTES from Dena Lahue (DLAHUE @ FAULKNER) at 8/7/97 2:36p
I believe being knowledgeable about electronic resources also includes 
having at least a basic knowledge of the hardware on which they run. I do 
lots of in-house 'maintenance' on our computers..things that I don't need 
to contact the computer dept. for. I reboot when something crashes, run 
the scandisk occasionally to clean up lost cluster files on the 
harddrive, upgrade our monthly/quarterly CD updates, and lots more.  It 
just doesn't 'pay' to be technologically illiterate.

Just my opinion....

Dena Lahue                            (334) 260-6209 ph.
Public Services Librarian             (334) 260-6299 fax
Faulkner University                   dlahue at faulkner.edu
Gus Nichols Library
5345 Atlanta Hwy.
Montgomery, AL 36109-3398