What some particular users wanted...
I just finished a two hour shift doing reference work. This is what the users I talked to wanted:
1. [Phone-in.] User asked for additional information about a Barbara Taylor Bradford novel set in Elizabethan times she had heard about. I used the summary and subject headings in the catalog record.
2. User requested books (not electronic resources) on the topic of conflict resolution techniques for juveniles. Subject heading searching and call number ranges were used.
3. User asked how long a particular movie was. Extent field was used in catalog record to answer question.
4. [Phone-in]. User asked if we had an e-book version of a ten-year old novel. Wanted to surprise her husband by having it loaded it on an e-book reader prior to a trip (the novel is quite heavy and this would have been a good demonstration of the usefulness of the lighter e-book reader). As with the vast majority of titles, there was no e-book version, but she was interested in the Book-on-CD versions of titles by the same author.
5. User brought in a Kobo e-book reader and wanted to know how to download and transfer e-books. I explained how the catalog worked and how the e-book services worked. I explained the software required, and the many steps required for authorization, download, and transfer of e-books. I explained the different formats that need to be reviewed prior to selection. I directed her to the vendor help information available online, as well as help resources produced by us. She commented: "Well, I think books are much easier!".
6. User asked if we had CDs of a jazz musician. He couldn't remember the name exactly. I tried various spellings in the catalog with author keywords, wildcards, filters, and browse lists, and eventually got it -- Erykah Badu.
7. User presented a call number he had written down. He had searched for it and couldn't find it. It was checked out, and he agreed to have a hold placed on the title.
8. [Phone-in]. User asked if we carried a particular film, and asked to have a hold placed it on it when it was found to be checked out. Normally the catalog, with the hold function, is the only mechanism people have to obtain popular works within a reasonable amount of time and without spending money on DVD rentals.
Thomas Brenndorfer
Guelph Public Library
Received on Thu Aug 11 2011 - 18:43:47 EDT