Doing Good as a Librarian

I mentioned Ask A Librarian (AAL) before: an online chat service libraries provide for the public and students to ask questions and request research.  At the university/college level it's for students stuck off-campus to get help finding online research or figure out what they need for assignments.  At the public library level: we're for home-schooled or virtual school students and for middle/high school students; or for adults needing help with placing holds, figuring out ereaders, and whether or not their library card numbers are still valid.

It's a state-wide program: a lot of the county and city libraries provide staff to give an hour or two a day at least once a week.  We get about four questions an hour, usually from the big systems like Jacksonville, Broward, Tampa/Hillsborough, Miami/Dade, Orange County (Orlando), sometimes Lee and Monroe.  The quirky ones are the ones out-of-state: I had one from Shasta College... one from Bolton (UK!)... anyway I digress.

Every month, the organization overseeing AAL gives out a couple of staff awards.  There's one for the librarian who provides extra effort to make sure most of the hours are covered as best as possible, called the Superstar award.

I was named for September's Superstar:

There's a plaque for it!

From Jessica at TBLC:

Paul is the Reference and Computer Librarian at the Bartow Public Library which is part of the Polk County Library Cooperative. He was been at Bartow since February 2013 and has been an outstanding team member of Ask A Librarian since his arrival. He has also been nominated for several exemplary reference awards.

Paul volunteers to cover shifts needing last-minute help on the Collaborative Desk. Paul's eagerness to help librarians and staff from around the state shows true dedication to the collaborative program. His virtual reference knowledge reaches customers in a true time of need.

Paul is a crucial member of the Ask A Librarian program. Please help me congratulate this month’s SuperStar winner, Paul Wartenberg from Bartow Public Library.

I'm feeling good right now.

Update (10/17/14): I wasn't allowed to keep the plaque. It's rotated around to the monthly winners.  Ah well.  At least I had it on my wall... :)

Ask A Librarian. You Know You Want To...

The Ask A Librarian service in the state of Florida just turned 10 years old this year.

You ask, "Gee what is Ask A Librarian" and I tell you it's an online chat service where you login for free, ask a question about a current problem or research itch to resolve, and viola a librarian will magically appear within your computer and grant you three wishes find out the answers to the questions you've got as well as provide citations and links to supporting materials.

It's helpful for times that the libraries may be closed: physical libraries can close between 5 pm to 8 pm in the evenings: AAL stays on until 9 pm for general, some universities stay on until 11 pm.  Or you may be stuck at home or at work when the question comes to you and you need an answer for it.

I know some of you are saying "but gosh, you can just Google it anymore or heck even go to Wikipedia for the answers," and I'll note that's partially true: however, not everything on the Internet is accurate, informed, or itself researched to any degree of academic criteria (ESPECIALLY don't believe anything you read in the Comments section of a blog entry).  Wiki may be a decent summation/encyclopedic site, but it's still dependent on editing by persons not always certified or qualified to make the entries you find, and may not go into the detail that some people - especially college students - require.

Librarians are providers of information: we are the sorters and sifters and the hunter/gatherers of raw data roaming the information savanna.  You might be able to Google, but you may not use the right search terms, or you may go for the first hit that appears without recognizing you're clicking an ad site and not a research site.  Librarians know what we're looking for: we ask you the Interview Process to whittle down what you are and aren't looking for in order to a) find the right book, b) find the right link, c) find the right answer.

So please, support your library and give the Ask A Librarian service with your local library (it may be under different names, but the service should be the same) a try.