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TechNique: December 2002Library Technician of the Year - 2002The Victorian ALIA Library Technicians recently held their end of year Celebration dinner at Bells Hotel. The highlight of the evening was the 'surprise' presentation of the Library Technician of the Year 2002 award to Kerrie Kelly, convenor of the Victorian LT group. The award came as a complete surprise to Kerrie and she was heartily congratulated on her success by representatives from the ALIA Board of Directors, fellow Library Technicians, representatives from RAECO, 3M, VUT and Box Hill TAFE library schools. Approximately 40 people attended the dinner. Kerrie Kelly began her work in libraries whilst at primary school. She commenced paid employment in 1976 and began studying the library technicians' course the following year, graduating in 1978. Kerrie has since undertaken two upgrades. She is currently working at the State Library of Victoria, home of the wonderful domed reading room. Her duties include cataloguing a range of new acquired materials and she is also database and systems co-ordinator for her division. Kerrie has been on the Victorian ALIA library technicians committee since 1994 and has been convenor/president for three years. Her duties on the Committee include chairing monthly meetings, helping to plan events, such as the hugely successful Techs on Tour, organising speakers and library visits. She is editor of Technotes and unofficial catering officer. Kerrie has almost single-handedly revived and expanded the Library Technicians section in Victoria, making it the success it has become. Along the way she has co-opted and cajoled colleagues into volunteering for the various activities. Kerrie has been asked to be on many panels within ALIA, and is currently on the Ballarat University Course Advisory Committee. Kerrie has also held the position of secretary for the ALIA National Library Technician Section, has held many positions in the Victorian LT section and has been a member of ALIA for over 15 years. Kerrie has also attended all Library Technician conferences, since the 1987 one held in Melbourne, for which she was social secretary. She has also been a pre: conference presenter on cataloguing issues for the last three conferences. Kerrie displays all the qualities we promote in technicians, she is flexible, competent, and able to turn her hand to most library task, vocal, and always willing to give of her time and knowledge to anybody who asks. She is unswerving in her efforts to network and to provide networks for Library Technicians, whether it be giving talks to students or providing a listening ear. Kerrie's enthusiasm and dedication to the cause of Library Technicians has not gone unrewarded. Congratulations Kerrie on receiving this well earned award!! About the Library Technician of the Year Award This award promotes the role of library technicians in library and information science, and the role and image of the library technician. Nominees must be a personal member of the Library Technician Group and hold a library technician qualification recognised by ALIA. The award is administered by a selection panel comprising two representatives from the Library Technicians Group and a member of ALIA appointed by the executive of the National Library Technician Group in consultation with the ALIA Board of Directors. Nominees may be judged on their contribution to the advancement of Library Technicians, journal publications and/or conference papers, or personal achievement in the development of library and information services or development within the Association. In 2002 Edith Cowan University took on the sponsorship of the award. This was exciting as ECU is very involved in the education of Library Technicians in Australia. Judy Clayden, well know to many LT's, is the convenor of the LT programmes at ECU. For more information on these programs go to http://www.scis.ecu.edu.au/ or contact Judy on j.clayden@ecu.edu.au Christmas in special libraries - a wish listGovernment special libraries can be a bit 'dry' at the best of times. The Christmas season can pass by with hardly a ripple. Anything out of the ordinary can raise a few eyebrows, such as a scenario from 'Yes, Minister'. We celebrate the same way each year with tired decorations, chocolate Father Christmas's for patrons and a display of inter office Christmas cards. This is the time of the year when the stock of sticky-tape rolls mysteriously gets low and the bounced-on animated Christmas messages bring down the 'System'. The compulsory Christmas drinks on Christmas Eve is attended by employees anxiously watching the clock and thinking about the million of things they should be doing at home. My wish list to change public servants at Christmas would include:
Jackie Williams There was one place where I forgot the cold, indeed forgot Siberia. That was in the library. There, in that muddy village, was a great institution. Not physically, to be sure, but in every other way imaginable. It was a small log cabin, immaculately attended to with loving care; it was well lighted with oil lamps and it was warm. But best of all, it contained a small but amazing collection from the world's best literature, truly amazing considering the time, the place, and its size. From floor to ceiling it was lined with books - books, books, books. It was there that I was to become acquainted with the works of Dumas, Pasternak's translations of Shakespeare, the novels of Mark Twain, Jack London, and of course the Russians. It was in that log cabin that I escaped from Siberia - either reading there or taking the books home. It was between that library and two extraordinary teachers that I developed a lifelong passion for the great Russian novelists and poets. It was there that I learned to line up patiently for my turn to sit at a table and read, to wait - sometimes months - for a book. It was there that I learned that reading was not only a great delight, but a privilege. It's beginning to look a lot like ChristmasIn this issue of TechNique we are offering some links to Christmas resources and activities. Use them for your library activities or with friends and relatives...especially after that one too many glass of champagne! (photos please for the next edition of TechNique J)
Want to know what other Australian libraries are doing for christmas and the holiday break? ...visit these sites (random selection)
There are so many sites freely available on the web. These are but a few - Go 'Googling' to find what you need... Treasures of the State Library of SA - Italian antiphonalIn 1945 the Friends of the State Library of South Australia presented the Library with a magnificent 13th century Italian antiphonal - a 13th-century, illuminated, music manuscript book. The Italian Antiphonal contains the text and music for the sung responses proper to church services for the Temporal cycle of the Christian church year from Christmas Eve to the end of the feast of the Epiphany, as they were celebrated in a central Italian monastery. The State Library has undertaken preservation work on this book and in doing so has utilised new technologies to increase access to the richness of the material. Photographic images of the book have been digitised and made available on the internet, along with sound files covering a portion of the performance of the Antiphonal. Explore this unique resource at http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/treasures/antiphonal/ ASSOCIATES The electronic library support staff journalASSOCIATES was established in 1994. Published three times per year in March, July, and November, contributors are invited to share their views on library-related issues with a local and international audience. It is intended as a journal written for and about library support staff and articles may be about any theme, fiction, fact or poetry (or anything else), as long as libraries form the central thesis or background. To date there are over 1500 subscribers from over a dozen countries, from large academic libraries to small public libraries, from corporate libraries to private foundation libraries, from military libraries to forestry libraries, and so on... The November issue includes articles on:
...along with letters to the editor, Information from the Superhighway and Conference schedules for 2003. (including the 12th National LT Conference, Brisbane) Subscription is free and there is the option of receiving the full issue via e-mail or receiving e-mail notification of the Web release of the journal. To find out more or to subscribe go to http://associates.ucr.edu/ To give you a taste we are providing a reprint of an article in the current issue. Read and enjoy...thanks to Carol Borzyskowski and Associates - the electronic library support staff journal.
My view from the back room
That's 'FINE' with me. I went and offered my services to our supervisor. I said I knew she was taking on a lot of new problems, and if there were anything I could do to make her job easier, I would do it. The bad news is, I am now the 'fine' lady. All the returned books that look 'damaged' end up on my desk. I get to page through them and decide whether to withdraw the book and fine the patron, or not. I also picked up the extremely important position of pinning notices up on the community bulletin board. (I can't explain it either, but I did say I wanted to help lighten her load.) So, library workers, be careful what you ask for!! Fines are just not a popularity maker. It has only been about three years that we have been charging and collecting overdue fines. Our computer system-DRA software (which is going away and we all have to migrate to a completely new system, but that will be another column!) makes attaching and collecting fines very easy. So the entire staff, except the director, wanted to charge fines. We checked with all the other libraries in our system and got an average of what they charged and kept bringing it up at staff meetings until we finally got the necessary approval. Then we spent three months telling people that fines were going to go into effect. We stressed the fact that IT WON'T COST YOU ANYTHING IF YOU BRING EVERYTHING BACK ON TIME. We put up signs, put it in the paper, on the radio, and on the website. We also verbally told everyone who checked out anything. When fines went into effect most people were fine and paid right up, but there were the hard core ones who swore they didn't know, had never been told about it, hadn't read or heard anything about it so they shouldn't have to pay. PLUS, they checked out those items before the fine policy went into place. Overall we have very few people dispute overdue fines. Oh, they may crab about it, or sometimes laugh and say, 'Oh, I just forgot.' And smile at you like that is a valid reason to waive the fine. My favourite overdue fine excuse, by far, is, 'Well, we take out so many books, I don't think you should expect us to keep track of them all. I think we should get special service because of the quantity we borrow.' So, if I were to waive fines in a situation like that, wouldn't that be like enabling a dysfunctional person? Here was a customer, not disputing the books were late, or the fact we charge for late books, but thinking it simply shouldn't apply to them because they couldn't bother to bring them back on time. Sorry. Fines charged for damaged materials are the ones that are the least popular for the customer. The NUMBER ONE most used excuse is very simple and hard to reach a happy solution on: I DIDN'T DO IT! Or, its close cousin, IT WAS LIKE THAT WHEN I GOT IT! We do scan and flip through all materials when we get them back and before we discharge them. No, it isn't 100%, but if it were bad enough to have to withdraw the book, we would have noticed it. You know the book, right, swollen with mildew and black stains? It sort of rocks on the counter and THAT would not have been noticed? Sorry again. So the first 3 books I withdrew and assessed fines on were disasters. All three books were wet when they came back. When they dried they were not that bad, but one was brand new, and the other two were bestsellers. So, I withdrew them, and charged the customer. Bad news for the staff at the Circulation desk: None of the three patrons had done the damage (imagine that!). One said she had seen worse than that on other books so why was she charged a fine, one worked in a book store and respected books too much to ever do that, and one was a young mother and she cried. Just stood there and cried and said she didn't do it. I got called out there each time to deal with the unhappy patron. I tried to explain that I hated to withdraw the book and fine anyone, but the library and the city were out the use of the book and it had to be replaced. They all did pay but it was ugly. Plus I got the feeling from higher up that I was being too tough and should think about public relations. Boy, you just gotta love that! So now I do a lot of stamping DAMAGE NOTED or add a fine charge for damage and keep the book. To further grind salt in a painful place, I spilled my lunch on some books I was bringing back to the library. My handy dandy plastic container was NOT equipped with an airtight seal. I wiped up everything and they really looked okay. I tried to be objective and determine if I would charge a patron, and decided I would not. But one book was from another library. SO I wrote them a nice note, said I was sorry, told them what had happened, how I cleaned it and it seemed fine, but to let me know. WELL, they charged me full price on the book. When I got it back I passed it around to everyone on staff and asked if they could find the damages. No one could. Anyway, I keep that book at my desk and I am going to show it to the next patron who disputes a damaged book fine! Now I am just hoping that the bubble gum stuck in the book I am reading will peel off when I pull it out of the freezer. Want to read more... go to http://associates.ucr.edu/ The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. |
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