Reference service and computers--further reflections

[Steve Hooley]

        Thought I was looking at an in-house message for a second. Our
network administrator is going private-sector, too, and leaving us in a real
pickle as we scramble to get on top of all his responsibilities. Good
cybergeeks are hard to find (by good I mean non-caustic and user-friendly)
and we'll miss him, but it goes back to the 'Reference' thing we've been
discussing: he wasn't a librarian by profession and his actual profession
came knocking on his door, saying 'you're getting behind in your training;
move up!' Actual Librarians with this kind of skill are at the top of the
totem pole in this profession, with both the library skills and the tech
knowledge to draw on. 
        My best advice for all is to be unashamed about not knowing the
answers. We're not expected to KNOW the boiling point of uranium, just where
to look up the information on boiling points. When technical stuff is your
problem, look up a technical person to fix it. Or do what I do: find a small
child and ask him or her, since they all seem to be Unix hackers by the
third grade today.......


>Our library just lost an excellent computer support person to the 
>private sector.  It is the latest twist in an already volatile situation.
>
>Reference librarians have good reason to be reluctant to do more 
>than learn to boot the system and fix the different printers.  Our 
>Reference staff must master and retain search strategies for our 
>networked library system, multiple cd-rom databases, and Dialog. 
>Try doing that with a technologically-sophisticated scientist standing
>over you. 
>
>Just booting up all the different pcs with this stuff on them
>in the morning is a stress point for the Reference staff. 
>The rest of us back here in Tech. Services are trying to lie 
>low and avoid being drafted to serve on the desk.  But that time 
>looms inevitably as we lose staff and don't replace them.   
>
>One wonders what profit there is for anyone in a burned-out, demoralized
staff? 
>Diane M. Lewis, Serial Records Librarian
>& Exchange Librarian
>U.S. Geological Survey Library
>National Center--MS 950
>Reston, Virginia 20192
>(703)648-4399
>dilewis at igsrglib01.usgs.gov  
>
>"Whatever the cost of our libraries,
>the price is cheap compared to an 
>ignorant nation."--Walter Cronkite. 
>
>With gratitude to those who gave their lives so that
>we might speak freely, the ideas and opinions expressed
>herein are mine alone.
>
>
 
*+============================*
|   Stephen S. Hooley         |  Statesboro Ga
|  Romulan Tech Assistant     |  Home of the
|    Henderson Library        |  Statesboro 
|"It's Only a Job Description"|  Blues
| Georgia Southern University |www2.gasou.edu/facstaff/hooleyss
+=============================+
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