Well, I finished earlier than I expected (or at least everything that I need to worry about), so I am off until the 2008.
Though I am not overly enthusiastic about the seasonal events, I leave you with the Pogues' and Kirsty MacColl's collaboration: "Fairytale of New York". Why am I posting this video if I am indifferent to the season? Simply because it is a damn good tune.
Season's greetings and happy New Year!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Busy month before the semester break...
It has been a hectic month, but the end in nigh.
On top of regular duties, I was sent to a conference in Edmonton, Alberta for the second Canadian Campus Card Workshop. College administration wanted to gather information about the “smart card” concept. Admittedly, I had some trepidation about attending since it was outside my normal experience, but it turned out to be more interesting and informative than I initially suspected. The consequence was a 30 page report to administration (which I wish I could post) and a new page on our library site that informs people about the campus ID cards functions. [The new page can be viewed by clicking here.] I have to give kudos to John Younk, of the University of Alberta’s ONEcard office, and his counterparts from the National Association of Campus Card Users (NACCU), for a well organized and presented program.
A few last minute classes on the Modern Language Association’s (MLA) style of citation were added into the mix, too. It was fortunate that I created a PowerPoint presentation beforehand, and was not forced to use the old overhead projection sheets. The classes were not too bad (for me anyway). It was definitely different, since most of my instruction is in the American Psychological Association’s (APA) format.
A couple of additional Web chores were thrown in before my holiday break begins. The University of Lethbridge is having trouble resolving a security certificate issue with the library system’s server alias, so I will have to alter all links in the online catalogue and our own site. So long, “eureka.uleth.ca”! Hello, “darius.uleth.ca”! Once the “darius” server name is employed, everything should be fine for all parties involved.
The final chore before I leave will be overhauling the databases’ section of our website. It is not dynamically structured yet, so I have to recode about 35 pages to meet my new layout requirements. It is not overly hard, but it can be time consuming. There will be 6 new databases being added in the New Year, so I will have to leave room for them. Hopefully the URLs will be waiting in my mailbox when I return in January.
In the meantime, it is back to work.
On top of regular duties, I was sent to a conference in Edmonton, Alberta for the second Canadian Campus Card Workshop. College administration wanted to gather information about the “smart card” concept. Admittedly, I had some trepidation about attending since it was outside my normal experience, but it turned out to be more interesting and informative than I initially suspected. The consequence was a 30 page report to administration (which I wish I could post) and a new page on our library site that informs people about the campus ID cards functions. [The new page can be viewed by clicking here.] I have to give kudos to John Younk, of the University of Alberta’s ONEcard office, and his counterparts from the National Association of Campus Card Users (NACCU), for a well organized and presented program.
A few last minute classes on the Modern Language Association’s (MLA) style of citation were added into the mix, too. It was fortunate that I created a PowerPoint presentation beforehand, and was not forced to use the old overhead projection sheets. The classes were not too bad (for me anyway). It was definitely different, since most of my instruction is in the American Psychological Association’s (APA) format.
A couple of additional Web chores were thrown in before my holiday break begins. The University of Lethbridge is having trouble resolving a security certificate issue with the library system’s server alias, so I will have to alter all links in the online catalogue and our own site. So long, “eureka.uleth.ca”! Hello, “darius.uleth.ca”! Once the “darius” server name is employed, everything should be fine for all parties involved.
The final chore before I leave will be overhauling the databases’ section of our website. It is not dynamically structured yet, so I have to recode about 35 pages to meet my new layout requirements. It is not overly hard, but it can be time consuming. There will be 6 new databases being added in the New Year, so I will have to leave room for them. Hopefully the URLs will be waiting in my mailbox when I return in January.
In the meantime, it is back to work.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
AAQ: Events Between 1973-1981
Hello and thank you for using the Ask A Question service.
Your inquiry is: “What was going on economically, historically, politically, and in business during 1973-1981?”
This is a very broad inquiry and it is not possible for us to deliver a complete answer that will satisfy all of your possible needs via this service. We suggest is using a chronology if you want a broad overview of world events during this time period.
To search for a chronology, go to our homepage > select: Books & Audiovisuals (under the: Search for: header) > select: Basic Keyword (under the Search by: header). Enter the word chronology in the search box, and click the Search button. You will get 90+ hits with this search. You can narrow your search by linking chronology with words such as: business, economy, history, politics, science, Canada, etc. You will link terms by using AND (e.g., chronology AND Canada [Note: capitalization is not required] > this search will locate all titles with the words chronology and Canada in their records – which are presently 14).
Some generic titles that we can recommend include: Timelines of World History (Call #: D 11 T43 2006; Reference Collection), Chronology of World History (Call #: D 11 M44 1999 v. 4; Reference Collection), This Day in Business History: Great Corporate Tales, Commercial Milestones, Colorful Titans, Captivating Quotes, and Calamitous Blunders for Every Day of the Year (Call #: HC 51 F72 2006; Circulating Collection), and The Fitzhenry & Whiteside Book of Canadian Facts and Dates (Call #: FC 24 M94 2005; Reference Collection; greater Canadian content).
Thank you again for using the Ask A Question service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Vera Bracken Library (Phone #: (403) 529-3867; Toll Free Phone #: 1 (866) 282-8394 (Ext. 3867)).
AAQ #: 39655
Your inquiry is: “What was going on economically, historically, politically, and in business during 1973-1981?”
This is a very broad inquiry and it is not possible for us to deliver a complete answer that will satisfy all of your possible needs via this service. We suggest is using a chronology if you want a broad overview of world events during this time period.
To search for a chronology, go to our homepage > select: Books & Audiovisuals (under the: Search for: header) > select: Basic Keyword (under the Search by: header). Enter the word chronology in the search box, and click the Search button. You will get 90+ hits with this search. You can narrow your search by linking chronology with words such as: business, economy, history, politics, science, Canada, etc. You will link terms by using AND (e.g., chronology AND Canada [Note: capitalization is not required] > this search will locate all titles with the words chronology and Canada in their records – which are presently 14).
Some generic titles that we can recommend include: Timelines of World History (Call #: D 11 T43 2006; Reference Collection), Chronology of World History (Call #: D 11 M44 1999 v. 4; Reference Collection), This Day in Business History: Great Corporate Tales, Commercial Milestones, Colorful Titans, Captivating Quotes, and Calamitous Blunders for Every Day of the Year (Call #: HC 51 F72 2006; Circulating Collection), and The Fitzhenry & Whiteside Book of Canadian Facts and Dates (Call #: FC 24 M94 2005; Reference Collection; greater Canadian content).
Thank you again for using the Ask A Question service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Vera Bracken Library (Phone #: (403) 529-3867; Toll Free Phone #: 1 (866) 282-8394 (Ext. 3867)).
AAQ #: 39655
Monday, November 26, 2007
AAQ: Square Footage of Medicine Hat Meat Shops
Hello and thank you for using the Ask A Question service.
Your inquiry is: “How do I find out how many square feet are in all of the meat shops in Medicine Hat?”
There are two methods to collecting this data.
METHOD 1:
The first method is to call each meat shop (which you listed in your initial inquiry) and ask them directly.
METHOD 2:
If you know the building addresses, the second method is to contact the City of Medicine Hat’s Planning, Building and Development Services department. You will need to get permission from that office to browse any available public plans/records for the particular building that the business is located in, so call ahead before you go to their offices.
Thank you again for using the Ask A Question service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Vera Bracken Library (Phone #: (403) 529-3867; Toll Free Phone #: 1 (866) 282-8394 (Ext. 3867)).
AAQ #: 39606
Your inquiry is: “How do I find out how many square feet are in all of the meat shops in Medicine Hat?”
There are two methods to collecting this data.
METHOD 1:
The first method is to call each meat shop (which you listed in your initial inquiry) and ask them directly.
METHOD 2:
If you know the building addresses, the second method is to contact the City of Medicine Hat’s Planning, Building and Development Services department. You will need to get permission from that office to browse any available public plans/records for the particular building that the business is located in, so call ahead before you go to their offices.
Thank you again for using the Ask A Question service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Vera Bracken Library (Phone #: (403) 529-3867; Toll Free Phone #: 1 (866) 282-8394 (Ext. 3867)).
AAQ #: 39606
Friday, November 23, 2007
Update & AAQ
It has been an extremely hectic few weeks, hence the rarity of my posts. For now, you will have to be content with knowing that I am simply posting my latest AAQ and will be writing my report for the Campus Card Frontier conference that I recently attended. More about everything later.
Hello and thank you for using the Ask A Question service.
You are inquiring about how to make sure that students, in their learning groups and in the classroom environment, can reach an academic goal.
We cannot give you an absolute solution for this inquiry, since there are many different paths to success, but we can direct you to resources that might assist you in discovering a method that suits your needs.
The first step would be to build a list of keywords that could be used to perform searches. Since we are looking to maximize performance in the student, then we could employ terms such as: student (pupil, learner), education (academics, teaching, instructing, etc.), classroom, goal (performance, achievement, success, maximization, achievement, motivation, etc.), manage (direct, lead, supervise, organize, etc.) and group (team, “group dynamics”, etc.). Please note that our primary terms are listed and followed by alternate terms in parenthesis. We will mix and match these different terms to maximize the possibility of locating the best possible set of resources.
A good place to start would be the library catalogue. You can select Books and Audiovisuals from our homepage, or go to: http://eureka.uleth.ca/search~S2. The best search option to begin with is the Basic Keyword search. If we were to enter the: “classroom and success”, “classroom and achievement”, or “classroom and management” [each in a different search], you are sure to find a number of titles that might assist you in answering your inquiry. To discover more about maximizing success in groups, you might also want to search for titles that are related to managing group dynamics. Though they might be related to business or management fields, the theories/methods could also be applied to the academic setting.
If you need additional resources, you can also employ our large collection of online databases/periodical indexes. These tools will search journal, magazine, and newspaper articles for the latest articles related to your search parameters.
From our homepage, select Journal, Magazine, and Newspaper articles. The best place to start would be the databases under the Education heading – ERIC is the most comprehensive of that list to start. You will need to select the On Campus or At Home link to access the resource – if you are at home, be sure that your library privileges are up-to-date, otherwise access will be denied. Please be aware that ERIC is not the only database you can use, try some of the other education related databases or any of the General/Multidisciplinary databases to maximize your results.
ERIC and other related databases are quite sophisticated and offer many search options. You will want to employ search terms from your previous book search, and apply those same terms to your journal search. We cannot give you a full list of all options that you could employ here, so we recommend that you visit us at the Vera Bracken Library’s Information Desk (or your closest library) for assistance with these resources. Each database will also provide “Help”
pages and some, such as ERIC, will have video tutorials in the help section.
If the article is not available on line, consider using the Interlibrary Loan Service or the Find It services to acquire the article.
Thank you again for using the Ask A Question service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library (Phone #: (403) 529-3867; Toll Free Phone #: 1 (866) 282-8394 (Ext. 3867)).
AAQ #: 39418
Hello and thank you for using the Ask A Question service.
You are inquiring about how to make sure that students, in their learning groups and in the classroom environment, can reach an academic goal.
We cannot give you an absolute solution for this inquiry, since there are many different paths to success, but we can direct you to resources that might assist you in discovering a method that suits your needs.
The first step would be to build a list of keywords that could be used to perform searches. Since we are looking to maximize performance in the student, then we could employ terms such as: student (pupil, learner), education (academics, teaching, instructing, etc.), classroom, goal (performance, achievement, success, maximization, achievement, motivation, etc.), manage (direct, lead, supervise, organize, etc.) and group (team, “group dynamics”, etc.). Please note that our primary terms are listed and followed by alternate terms in parenthesis. We will mix and match these different terms to maximize the possibility of locating the best possible set of resources.
A good place to start would be the library catalogue. You can select Books and Audiovisuals from our homepage, or go to: http://eureka.uleth.ca/search~S2. The best search option to begin with is the Basic Keyword search. If we were to enter the: “classroom and success”, “classroom and achievement”, or “classroom and management” [each in a different search], you are sure to find a number of titles that might assist you in answering your inquiry. To discover more about maximizing success in groups, you might also want to search for titles that are related to managing group dynamics. Though they might be related to business or management fields, the theories/methods could also be applied to the academic setting.
If you need additional resources, you can also employ our large collection of online databases/periodical indexes. These tools will search journal, magazine, and newspaper articles for the latest articles related to your search parameters.
From our homepage, select Journal, Magazine, and Newspaper articles. The best place to start would be the databases under the Education heading – ERIC is the most comprehensive of that list to start. You will need to select the On Campus or At Home link to access the resource – if you are at home, be sure that your library privileges are up-to-date, otherwise access will be denied. Please be aware that ERIC is not the only database you can use, try some of the other education related databases or any of the General/Multidisciplinary databases to maximize your results.
ERIC and other related databases are quite sophisticated and offer many search options. You will want to employ search terms from your previous book search, and apply those same terms to your journal search. We cannot give you a full list of all options that you could employ here, so we recommend that you visit us at the Vera Bracken Library’s Information Desk (or your closest library) for assistance with these resources. Each database will also provide “Help”
pages and some, such as ERIC, will have video tutorials in the help section.
If the article is not available on line, consider using the Interlibrary Loan Service or the Find It services to acquire the article.
Thank you again for using the Ask A Question service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library (Phone #: (403) 529-3867; Toll Free Phone #: 1 (866) 282-8394 (Ext. 3867)).
AAQ #: 39418
Friday, November 2, 2007
MHC Library Quotes #4
A discussion about the state of modern stamps...
"Did you see that the U of L is on a stamp?" - male staffer #1
"No, really?" - male staffer #2
"Yes, they have a picture of the main building."
"Oh, the old U-Hall?"
"Yeah, that's the one."
"I heard that you can get custom stamps made in the States now. You can send in a photo and you will get a book of stamps that you can use. There might be something like that in Canada even."
"Really? Ooo, you can pretend your the Queen."
"Umm..., or not."
[Laughter]"Oh, that's right sorry."
By the way, you can can get custom made stamps made to order in Canada. Navigate to: http://www.picturepostage.ca, and begin creating your custom stamps.
"Did you see that the U of L is on a stamp?" - male staffer #1
"No, really?" - male staffer #2
"Yes, they have a picture of the main building."
"Oh, the old U-Hall?"
"Yeah, that's the one."
"I heard that you can get custom stamps made in the States now. You can send in a photo and you will get a book of stamps that you can use. There might be something like that in Canada even."
"Really? Ooo, you can pretend your the Queen."
"Umm..., or not."
[Laughter]"Oh, that's right sorry."
By the way, you can can get custom made stamps made to order in Canada. Navigate to: http://www.picturepostage.ca, and begin creating your custom stamps.
Friday, October 26, 2007
AAQ: Facebook's Revenue
Hello and thank you for using the “Ask A Question” service.
You are inquiring about how Facebook makes its money.
Facebook’s primary revenue appears to be from advertising via “Facebook Flyers”, “Facebook Polls”, and banner advertising. You can find more information about these services at: http://www.facebook.com/advertise.php. Additional sources of revenue come from strategic partnerships that Facebook makes with other companies such as Microsoft. You can read the latest press releases from Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/press.php. The company’s Factsheet lists additional investors in the business, though neither the Factsheet nor the Statistics profiles of the company list any financial data.
At present, Facebook is still a privately owned company, and as such, is not obligated to disclose any financial information to the public. The company has not, to our knowledge, released any sort of financial information, so any revenue earnings are speculative – though their recent partnership with Microsoft suggests that the company is valued at $15 billion. Two recent articles from the Wall Street Journal Online suggest that this price/valuation is over inflated: http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2007/10/24/facebooks-stratospheric-earnings-multiple/; http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119323518308669856.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library (phone #: (403) 529-3867).
AAQ #: 38146
You are inquiring about how Facebook makes its money.
Facebook’s primary revenue appears to be from advertising via “Facebook Flyers”, “Facebook Polls”, and banner advertising. You can find more information about these services at: http://www.facebook.com/advertise.php. Additional sources of revenue come from strategic partnerships that Facebook makes with other companies such as Microsoft. You can read the latest press releases from Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/press.php. The company’s Factsheet lists additional investors in the business, though neither the Factsheet nor the Statistics profiles of the company list any financial data.
At present, Facebook is still a privately owned company, and as such, is not obligated to disclose any financial information to the public. The company has not, to our knowledge, released any sort of financial information, so any revenue earnings are speculative – though their recent partnership with Microsoft suggests that the company is valued at $15 billion. Two recent articles from the Wall Street Journal Online suggest that this price/valuation is over inflated: http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2007/10/24/facebooks-stratospheric-earnings-multiple/; http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119323518308669856.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library (phone #: (403) 529-3867).
AAQ #: 38146
Monday, October 22, 2007
AAQs - X2
Two AAQs greeted me upon my return, and here they are...
AAQ 1 - EVENTS PLANNING AND NAICS
Hello and thank you for using the “Ask A Question” service.
You are inquiring about how many people spend money on events planning in Medicine Hat, Alberta, and what the NAICCS code for events planning?
Admittedly we are stumped by your first question. We are not sure what you mean by “events planning”. Are you referring to private, public, corporate, or governmental affairs? Are you referring to catering companies, concert promotion, etc.? To our knowledge, there is no statistical source that would tell how many people spend money on events planning in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada.
We will also assume that you are referring to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) when you are inquiring about an events planning code. Unfortunately we could not find a sufficiently generic term that would encompass “events planning”. For example, “Promoters of arts events, with facilities” has a code of 711311, “Promoters of sports events, with facilities” has a code of 711319, “Promoters, sports events, without facilities” has a code of
711329, “Catering for dining room and banquets” has a code of 72232, and “Wedding planning services” has a code of 81299. All of the aforementioned services technically fall under the broader heading of “events planning”. Perhaps you need to refine your terminology or focus on a specific planning service. To this end, we suggest that you discuss this matter with your instructor.
For more information on the NAICS, refer to the “North American Industry Classification System” book in the Vera Bracken Library’s reference collection – call number: HF 1041.5 N67 2007.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library (phone #: (403) 529-3867).
AAQ #: 37913
AAQ 2 - BOOK REVIEWS FOR THE BLACK DONNELLYS BY THOMAS P. KELLEY
Hello and thank you for using the “Ask A Question” service.
You are inquiring about how to locate books reviews for “The Black Donnellys” by Thomas P. Kelley.
The library has created a handout to assist you in this very matter. If you go to the Vera Bracken Library’s homepage (www.mhc.ab.ca/library), you will find a link that says “How to Guides & Handouts” – under the “Online Assistance” heading on the right-hand side of the page. Under the “Classroom Handouts” section of this page, you will find a link that says: History 231 – Canada, Origins to 1867. Review this document and follow some of the suggested tips and tricks. There are a number of books, online databases, and websites for you to review in this document. Consider consulting your instructor or a library Information Clerk for assistance.
Additionally, if you are not sure how to write a book review, read the “How to Write a Review” handout for some ideas. This handout is also located on the “How to Guides & Handouts” Web page – under the “Essay Writing Guides” heading.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library (phone #: (403) 529-3867).
AAQ #: 37920
AAQ 1 - EVENTS PLANNING AND NAICS
Hello and thank you for using the “Ask A Question” service.
You are inquiring about how many people spend money on events planning in Medicine Hat, Alberta, and what the NAICCS code for events planning?
Admittedly we are stumped by your first question. We are not sure what you mean by “events planning”. Are you referring to private, public, corporate, or governmental affairs? Are you referring to catering companies, concert promotion, etc.? To our knowledge, there is no statistical source that would tell how many people spend money on events planning in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada.
We will also assume that you are referring to the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) when you are inquiring about an events planning code. Unfortunately we could not find a sufficiently generic term that would encompass “events planning”. For example, “Promoters of arts events, with facilities” has a code of 711311, “Promoters of sports events, with facilities” has a code of 711319, “Promoters, sports events, without facilities” has a code of
711329, “Catering for dining room and banquets” has a code of 72232, and “Wedding planning services” has a code of 81299. All of the aforementioned services technically fall under the broader heading of “events planning”. Perhaps you need to refine your terminology or focus on a specific planning service. To this end, we suggest that you discuss this matter with your instructor.
For more information on the NAICS, refer to the “North American Industry Classification System” book in the Vera Bracken Library’s reference collection – call number: HF 1041.5 N67 2007.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library (phone #: (403) 529-3867).
AAQ #: 37913
AAQ 2 - BOOK REVIEWS FOR THE BLACK DONNELLYS BY THOMAS P. KELLEY
Hello and thank you for using the “Ask A Question” service.
You are inquiring about how to locate books reviews for “The Black Donnellys” by Thomas P. Kelley.
The library has created a handout to assist you in this very matter. If you go to the Vera Bracken Library’s homepage (www.mhc.ab.ca/library), you will find a link that says “How to Guides & Handouts” – under the “Online Assistance” heading on the right-hand side of the page. Under the “Classroom Handouts” section of this page, you will find a link that says: History 231 – Canada, Origins to 1867. Review this document and follow some of the suggested tips and tricks. There are a number of books, online databases, and websites for you to review in this document. Consider consulting your instructor or a library Information Clerk for assistance.
Additionally, if you are not sure how to write a book review, read the “How to Write a Review” handout for some ideas. This handout is also located on the “How to Guides & Handouts” Web page – under the “Essay Writing Guides” heading.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library (phone #: (403) 529-3867).
AAQ #: 37920
I am back...
Well, I have returned and it is time to review e-mails and other assorted goodness. Fortunately there were only 87 e-mails waiting for me – excluding regular notices that I set to be automatically deleted.
My goals this week include: (a) complete the History 331 pathfinder, (b) finalize the APA presentation for Health Studies 210 and its complementary Classroom Performance System (CPS) component, and (c) design signage for our upcoming Halloween event. All this while juggling the everyday components of my job – AAQs, staff communications, information/public services, troubleshooting, and Web work.
No small tasks here, now back to work.
My goals this week include: (a) complete the History 331 pathfinder, (b) finalize the APA presentation for Health Studies 210 and its complementary Classroom Performance System (CPS) component, and (c) design signage for our upcoming Halloween event. All this while juggling the everyday components of my job – AAQs, staff communications, information/public services, troubleshooting, and Web work.
No small tasks here, now back to work.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Holidays! Whoo Hoo!
Well, I am off for holidays. See you all back on the 22nd - where health studies, history, and political science classes will be waiting for me!
In the meantime, enjoy these holiday songs from the 1980s! [I could not pick out one, so I posted them all.] Cheerio!
Holiday (1986) - The Other Ones
Holiday Road (1983) - Lindsey Buckingham
Vacation (1982) - The Go-Go's
In the meantime, enjoy these holiday songs from the 1980s! [I could not pick out one, so I posted them all.] Cheerio!
Holiday (1986) - The Other Ones
Holiday Road (1983) - Lindsey Buckingham
Vacation (1982) - The Go-Go's
Friday, October 5, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving
It is the Thanksgiving Weekend in Canada and what would this weekend be without a classic clip from WKRP in Cincinnati (@imdb.com; @wikipedia.org). Click the play button and enjoy - at least until the video is pulled for violating copyright.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
AAQ - Citing a Telephone Book (APA Style, 5th ed.)
UPDATE (17 February 2012): An update of this entry has been post. Click here for the revised 6th edition version.
ORIGINAL ENTRY:
This is the latest AAQ that I answered. Unfortunately it is one of those questions that has no absolute answer - as you might read.
Hello and thank you for using the “Ask A Question” service.
You are inquiring about how to cite a local telephone book.
Given the nature of your program, I am assuming that you will be using the American Psychological Association (APA) system of citation. Unfortunately, the 5th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA Manual) does not specify a means of citing a phone book.
To this end, we can suggest that you use the following information:
AUTHOR: -leave blank-
– Since the author is not explicitly given, use the title instead. The directory (as a whole) is written by many individuals, companies, and organizations – as demonstrated by some of the subsections and advertisements. We do not believe that the Yellow Pages Group can be attributed as the author – though editorial credit could arguably be given to that group.
TITLE: Yellow pages: 2007/2008 Medicine Hat and area [Telephone directory].
– Since this “book” is not a book that has been published in the traditional sense (i.e., providing copyright date, proper title and publisher’s pages), provide the title of the publication (as disjointed as it seems) and display the “medium” in brackets. This description of the medium is not officially noted in the APA Manual, but it should clear up any confusion that might plague your audience – review section 4.12 (p. 228) of the APA Manual for details. The title is italicized, but the descriptor is not.
PUBLICATION DATE: n.d.
– Though we can reasonably assume that it was released in 2007, no explicit copyright date is given, so use “n.d.” for “no date”.
PLACE OF PUBLICATION: Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
– The Yellow Pages Group has many offices across Canada, but the Burnaby address is given near the front of the book.
PUBLISHER: Yellow Pages Group.
– This much seems (somewhat) clear.
So your basic reference might be ordered as:
Yellow pages: 2007/2008 Medicine Hat and area [Telephone directory]. (n.d.). Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada: Yellow Pages Group.
– Be mindful of properly employing the hanging indent, double-spacing, and italicization of title.
NOTE: If you use a particular subsection of the book or advisements, etc., then everything we have written thus far, might be thrown out the window. We suggest that you visit the Information Desk of the Vera Bracken Library for further assistance.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library (phone #: (403) 529-3867).
AAQ#: 37241
ORIGINAL ENTRY:
This is the latest AAQ that I answered. Unfortunately it is one of those questions that has no absolute answer - as you might read.
Hello and thank you for using the “Ask A Question” service.
You are inquiring about how to cite a local telephone book.
Given the nature of your program, I am assuming that you will be using the American Psychological Association (APA) system of citation. Unfortunately, the 5th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA Manual) does not specify a means of citing a phone book.
To this end, we can suggest that you use the following information:
AUTHOR: -leave blank-
– Since the author is not explicitly given, use the title instead. The directory (as a whole) is written by many individuals, companies, and organizations – as demonstrated by some of the subsections and advertisements. We do not believe that the Yellow Pages Group can be attributed as the author – though editorial credit could arguably be given to that group.
TITLE: Yellow pages: 2007/2008 Medicine Hat and area [Telephone directory].
– Since this “book” is not a book that has been published in the traditional sense (i.e., providing copyright date, proper title and publisher’s pages), provide the title of the publication (as disjointed as it seems) and display the “medium” in brackets. This description of the medium is not officially noted in the APA Manual, but it should clear up any confusion that might plague your audience – review section 4.12 (p. 228) of the APA Manual for details. The title is italicized, but the descriptor is not.
PUBLICATION DATE: n.d.
– Though we can reasonably assume that it was released in 2007, no explicit copyright date is given, so use “n.d.” for “no date”.
PLACE OF PUBLICATION: Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
– The Yellow Pages Group has many offices across Canada, but the Burnaby address is given near the front of the book.
PUBLISHER: Yellow Pages Group.
– This much seems (somewhat) clear.
So your basic reference might be ordered as:
Yellow pages: 2007/2008 Medicine Hat and area [Telephone directory]. (n.d.). Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada: Yellow Pages Group.
– Be mindful of properly employing the hanging indent, double-spacing, and italicization of title.
NOTE: If you use a particular subsection of the book or advisements, etc., then everything we have written thus far, might be thrown out the window. We suggest that you visit the Information Desk of the Vera Bracken Library for further assistance.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library (phone #: (403) 529-3867).
AAQ#: 37241
Saturday, September 29, 2007
E-Journal and Form Updates
I have been working on updating our Electronic Journal Service (EJS) holdings with Terry. We are trying to reconcile the list that the vendor has given us versus our serials management list - which we manage. Once the list is reconciled, then we will send it to TAL, with our updated journal holdings, and add them to our Find It A-Z List.
Additionally, the Report Feature Films in Class Form was also updated. More than 70 film production companies were added to the list.
Additionally, the Report Feature Films in Class Form was also updated. More than 70 film production companies were added to the list.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
AAQ - Medicine Hat Convenience Stores & Gas Stations
The following is my latest response to an "Ask a Question":
Hello and thank you for using the “Ask A Question” service.
You are inquiring about how many convenience stores and gas stations there are in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
To find these numbers, we referred to the “Alberta Business Directory” in the Reference Collection of the Vera Bracken Library – call number: HF 5072 A4 A63 2007/08. This directory will list most businesses in Alberta by city or by business category.
We looked up the convenience stores (naturally under the “Convenience Stores” category) and found that there are 15 convenience stores – refer to page 772 of the directory. On page 1299 of the directory, you will discover that there are 29 businesses in Medicine Hat that fall under the category of “Service Stations-Gasoline & Oil”. There is some overlapping between the two lists.
You can also refer to: www.infocanada.ca. This site is the online version of the printed directory, though you might have to pay for some information that you would find for free in the print version.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library (phone #: (403) 529-3867).
AAQ#:36945
Hello and thank you for using the “Ask A Question” service.
You are inquiring about how many convenience stores and gas stations there are in Medicine Hat, Alberta.
To find these numbers, we referred to the “Alberta Business Directory” in the Reference Collection of the Vera Bracken Library – call number: HF 5072 A4 A63 2007/08. This directory will list most businesses in Alberta by city or by business category.
We looked up the convenience stores (naturally under the “Convenience Stores” category) and found that there are 15 convenience stores – refer to page 772 of the directory. On page 1299 of the directory, you will discover that there are 29 businesses in Medicine Hat that fall under the category of “Service Stations-Gasoline & Oil”. There is some overlapping between the two lists.
You can also refer to: www.infocanada.ca. This site is the online version of the printed directory, though you might have to pay for some information that you would find for free in the print version.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library (phone #: (403) 529-3867).
AAQ#:36945
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
New Calendar Live
After some tinkering, the new calendars have gone live in the Hours (@Vera Bracken Library; @ Brooks Campus Library) sections of the library websites. The calendar will default to displaying the hours for each library, one week at at time. There are tabs to display a month or an agenda view. The hours of operation, until the end of April 2008, are posted.
The calendar was created by embedding code from Google Calendars into our Web pages.
The calendar was created by embedding code from Google Calendars into our Web pages.
Monday, September 24, 2007
AAQ - Canadian Business Tax
The following is my latest response to an "Ask a Question":
Hello and thank you for using the “Ask A Question” service.
You are inquiring about the tax rate for Canadian business.
A good source to check is the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). This government body’s website contains a great deal of information about the application of personal and business taxes. There are a couple of sections that you might wish to refer to:
Admittedly, we are not experts in the application and interpretation of Canadian taxation rules. If you do not find sufficient data from the CRA website, consider consulting a chartered/professional accountant. There are a great number of nuances to Canadian tax applications/laws that these professionals would be more familiar with.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library (phone #: (403) 529-3867).
AAQ#:36804
Hello and thank you for using the “Ask A Question” service.
You are inquiring about the tax rate for Canadian business.
A good source to check is the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). This government body’s website contains a great deal of information about the application of personal and business taxes. There are a couple of sections that you might wish to refer to:
- FOR TAX RATES: CRA homepage > select: All Rates (link under “Key Information” heading) > select: “Corporation Tax Rates” link > This page will display the tax rates for Canadian corporations and small businesses at the federal and most provincial levels – click here to go directly to the tax rates.
- NOTE: From the CRA homepage, consider reviewing the individual sections on small/medium-sized business, and corporations under the “Business” heading. Each section offers greater detail about each type of business size, and potential tax models.
Admittedly, we are not experts in the application and interpretation of Canadian taxation rules. If you do not find sufficient data from the CRA website, consider consulting a chartered/professional accountant. There are a great number of nuances to Canadian tax applications/laws that these professionals would be more familiar with.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library (phone #: (403) 529-3867).
AAQ#:36804
Saturday, September 22, 2007
"Request" Authentication Page Updated
After the UofL implemented its new LDAP server authentication system, one of our OPAC authentication pages went a little wonky. The page in question was the "Request" item authentication page which is used to request holds or transfers of materials between the Vera Bracken a Brooks Campus libraries. [Click here to read more about the request feature.]
The previous page offered authentication via LDAP or the III library system. Without a clear explanation of the authentication methods, our patrons were somewhat confused when presented with the two different options. The new page eliminates the LDAP login for MHC patrons and now offers an example of how to authenticate in to the library system.
After some toiling, the page has been recoded and is working properly for the book and periodical requests. Slowly, but surely I am getting more confident in employing the system generated tokens as opposed to pure HTML. Most of my Web work is WYSIWIG designed, so employing a pure code view is somewhat consternating. The inability to see the product in a preview/design view, before uploading it to the test server bothers me, but it is getting easier with each successful implementation. So a little, "Whoo hoo!" - for now.
The previous page offered authentication via LDAP or the III library system. Without a clear explanation of the authentication methods, our patrons were somewhat confused when presented with the two different options. The new page eliminates the LDAP login for MHC patrons and now offers an example of how to authenticate in to the library system.
After some toiling, the page has been recoded and is working properly for the book and periodical requests. Slowly, but surely I am getting more confident in employing the system generated tokens as opposed to pure HTML. Most of my Web work is WYSIWIG designed, so employing a pure code view is somewhat consternating. The inability to see the product in a preview/design view, before uploading it to the test server bothers me, but it is getting easier with each successful implementation. So a little, "Whoo hoo!" - for now.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Of Classes and Calendars, etc....
CLASSES
Well, Hell Week has been booked (October 29th-November 5th) - 8 classes with 250+ students divided amongst them. This is the title that I have given the Health Studies (HST) 210 orientation to APA citation style classes. Not that I dislike teaching in classroom environment, but teaching the same thing time-and-time-again gets a little boring. Thankfully the more confident students try to take me/the citation method to task - this makes for some enjoyable debate/discussion. Over the last couple of years, I moved the presentation from overheads to PowerPoint - which was interesting for 5 minutes. Now it is time to try something new.
If time permits, I hope to employ our new Classroom Performance System (CPS) software for the APA sessions. It is a lightweight student response/feedback system, but hopefully it will make things more interesting for the students and myself.
To compound things this year, my regular history and political science information literacy sessions will overlap at the same time. Thankfully, nothing conflicts, but it will be a hectic week with some classes beginning at 8 a.m., while others begin at 6 p.m. on the same day - it is all over the board this year. It should be interesting. After the manic pace of this week, everything else for the remains of the semester will look extra mundane.
CALENDARS
I have been trying to deliver a more robust display for the libraries' hours. To this end, I have employed Google Calendar to deliver this service. By using Google's Calendar API, I embedded the hours for the Vera Bracken and Brooks Campus libraries in our site. You can preview the Vera Bracken Library's calendar by clicking here, and the Brooks Campus Library's by clicking here. This is not quite the final product, but is the direction that I would like to go in.
I am exploring other options for delivery and hope to employ a locally housed/maintained calendar service, but that is a larger project for another day.
OPAC & COMMUNITY STATIONS' WALLPAPER
I also modified the desktop wallpaper for the OPAC and community access stations. The wallpapers are variations on the preexisting generic student version that I created. The colours and text have been modified to display their differentiation from one another. You can view samples of each below (click on each thumbnail for a larger image):
Generic Student Wallpaper:
OPAC/Research Station Wallpaper:
Community Access Station Wallpaper:
Well, Hell Week has been booked (October 29th-November 5th) - 8 classes with 250+ students divided amongst them. This is the title that I have given the Health Studies (HST) 210 orientation to APA citation style classes. Not that I dislike teaching in classroom environment, but teaching the same thing time-and-time-again gets a little boring. Thankfully the more confident students try to take me/the citation method to task - this makes for some enjoyable debate/discussion. Over the last couple of years, I moved the presentation from overheads to PowerPoint - which was interesting for 5 minutes. Now it is time to try something new.
If time permits, I hope to employ our new Classroom Performance System (CPS) software for the APA sessions. It is a lightweight student response/feedback system, but hopefully it will make things more interesting for the students and myself.
To compound things this year, my regular history and political science information literacy sessions will overlap at the same time. Thankfully, nothing conflicts, but it will be a hectic week with some classes beginning at 8 a.m., while others begin at 6 p.m. on the same day - it is all over the board this year. It should be interesting. After the manic pace of this week, everything else for the remains of the semester will look extra mundane.
CALENDARS
I have been trying to deliver a more robust display for the libraries' hours. To this end, I have employed Google Calendar to deliver this service. By using Google's Calendar API, I embedded the hours for the Vera Bracken and Brooks Campus libraries in our site. You can preview the Vera Bracken Library's calendar by clicking here, and the Brooks Campus Library's by clicking here. This is not quite the final product, but is the direction that I would like to go in.
I am exploring other options for delivery and hope to employ a locally housed/maintained calendar service, but that is a larger project for another day.
OPAC & COMMUNITY STATIONS' WALLPAPER
I also modified the desktop wallpaper for the OPAC and community access stations. The wallpapers are variations on the preexisting generic student version that I created. The colours and text have been modified to display their differentiation from one another. You can view samples of each below (click on each thumbnail for a larger image):
Generic Student Wallpaper:
OPAC/Research Station Wallpaper:
Community Access Station Wallpaper:
Monday, September 10, 2007
Yes, I Am Still Here
This blog has not been abandoned. It has been a hectic two weeks, and there has not been enough time to make a satisfactory entry. As my coworkers might attest, I have been running around frantically trying to come up with solutions to the various issues that plague us.
Some updates on various outstanding issues:
RELAIS INTERLIBRARY LOAN
Hooray, the never-ending project has been completed! We can now move it to simple maintenance keeping mode. The best part was that we were able to launch it on time for the start of the new semester – September 4th.
Among some of the achievements with this project included:
START OF THE SEMESTER BLUES
We are happy that the school season is in full swing, but we are plagued by the start of the semester growing pains. The college has modified many aspects of how computer services are delivered this year, and this led to some confusion about the access of those various services.
PASSWORDS GALORE. Students must now know not less than 5 user name/password sets to access resources. To clear up confusion about the various logins, I created a new handout that demonstrates the various user name/password sets. You can view the document by clicking here.
Additionally, I also created a “pocket guide”. The pocket guides are printed on a standard business card and present examples of all 5 user name/password sets.
SLOW LOGINS. For some reason, computers around the campus are very slow at logging-in. Wait time for logins can take 10-15 minutes. Naturally this hobbles the library, since it is a main hub in the institution. Students popping in to check e-mail between classes are leaving before their machines full authenticate. Library staff have been graciously shutting these machines down for students.
NO NETWORK DRIVE SPACE. Students were originally going to get up to 1GB of drive space on the network servers. Due to technical difficulties, those personal drives are not presently mapping. The sneakernet is alive and well for the time being.
WIRELESS NETWORK.
The wireless network remains unavailable. Many returning students are somewhat annoyed by this development, and all we can ask for is patience. Computer Services has set this as a high priority, and we hope to be able to offer this service again.
There are scads more, but am I too short on time and recollection to make a record at the moment. Stay tuned.
Some updates on various outstanding issues:
RELAIS INTERLIBRARY LOAN
Hooray, the never-ending project has been completed! We can now move it to simple maintenance keeping mode. The best part was that we were able to launch it on time for the start of the new semester – September 4th.
Among some of the achievements with this project included:
- We performed customization of the self-registration forms from the source code that Relais provided.
- Relais went beyond the call of duty and customized the login and patron forms pages. They employed our desired colour scheme – which was a bonus that we did not expect.
- The training session that we underwent was most helpful, and put the ILL staff at ease with the new system. A couple of Lethbridge College staff members also attended the session.
- The trainer from Relais said that we were the first group that completed the generic system testing without training and with very little intervention by them. A real feather in our cap, and a testament to the high level of determination and skill of our ILL staff – Jason and Valarie can take a bow.
- The trainer was also surprised to see that we installed and began to use the new Relais Reports product. This new module is definitely an improvement over the previous ILL system.
- TAL targeting of Find It/SFX has moved from the older Innovative Millennium ILL system to the new Relais system – thanks to Weiwei for her promptness in honouring our request.
START OF THE SEMESTER BLUES
We are happy that the school season is in full swing, but we are plagued by the start of the semester growing pains. The college has modified many aspects of how computer services are delivered this year, and this led to some confusion about the access of those various services.
PASSWORDS GALORE. Students must now know not less than 5 user name/password sets to access resources. To clear up confusion about the various logins, I created a new handout that demonstrates the various user name/password sets. You can view the document by clicking here.
Additionally, I also created a “pocket guide”. The pocket guides are printed on a standard business card and present examples of all 5 user name/password sets.
SLOW LOGINS. For some reason, computers around the campus are very slow at logging-in. Wait time for logins can take 10-15 minutes. Naturally this hobbles the library, since it is a main hub in the institution. Students popping in to check e-mail between classes are leaving before their machines full authenticate. Library staff have been graciously shutting these machines down for students.
NO NETWORK DRIVE SPACE. Students were originally going to get up to 1GB of drive space on the network servers. Due to technical difficulties, those personal drives are not presently mapping. The sneakernet is alive and well for the time being.
WIRELESS NETWORK.
The wireless network remains unavailable. Many returning students are somewhat annoyed by this development, and all we can ask for is patience. Computer Services has set this as a high priority, and we hope to be able to offer this service again.
There are scads more, but am I too short on time and recollection to make a record at the moment. Stay tuned.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Relais: Updates, Reports, and Self-Registration
Some very positive movements in the development of the Relais ILL system this morning. Some of the developments include:
SOFTWARE UPDATE
We updated to v2006 P1 of Relais ILL, which went smoothly. We seem to have less lag time on the startup and the interface generally feels snappier.
REPORTS
I installed the new ILL reports module. The reports were suitably impressive to both the ILL staff and myself. The new module also includes a number of export features that will give us greater flexibility when analyzing data.
SELF-REGISTRATION
Relais was able to address our concerns and questions regarding the last version of the self-registration module. I made a few more tweaks to the code and we will try to create a couple of test accounts once the update has been posted to the test server.
I will be installing the Relais packages in the library classroom in anticipation of our training session next week. We should be ready to launch the service by the beginning of the Fall semester.
SOFTWARE UPDATE
We updated to v2006 P1 of Relais ILL, which went smoothly. We seem to have less lag time on the startup and the interface generally feels snappier.
REPORTS
I installed the new ILL reports module. The reports were suitably impressive to both the ILL staff and myself. The new module also includes a number of export features that will give us greater flexibility when analyzing data.
SELF-REGISTRATION
Relais was able to address our concerns and questions regarding the last version of the self-registration module. I made a few more tweaks to the code and we will try to create a couple of test accounts once the update has been posted to the test server.
I will be installing the Relais packages in the library classroom in anticipation of our training session next week. We should be ready to launch the service by the beginning of the Fall semester.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Go Simpsonize Yourself!
Have a little fun and get yourself Simpsonized! Go to: http://simpsonizeme.com/.
Here is what my image came out as:
Here is what my image came out as:
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Relais & News Feeds
We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for the Relais ILL self-registration project. The last version was the best yet, but it still needs a little refinement. I am still unsure of how (or if) the self-registration page “talks” to Relais’s Table Maintenance module. I am hoping that Relais can clarify this issue for me.
We are also set to receive training from Relais on the 29th of August. Our ILL staff have been working with the system, but have yet to refine their work flow. Hopefully the training will smooth out some of the rough edges that we have encountered.
I also distributed a handout that introduces “news feed” (a.k.a., RSS or Atom) technology to library staff members. It looks denser than it really is; the line spacing was condensed for the purpose of page/printing conservation. You can view a PDF of this document by clicking here.
Other time has been filled with an assortment of administrative-type duties – composing communications, interviews, meetings, etc.
We are also set to receive training from Relais on the 29th of August. Our ILL staff have been working with the system, but have yet to refine their work flow. Hopefully the training will smooth out some of the rough edges that we have encountered.
I also distributed a handout that introduces “news feed” (a.k.a., RSS or Atom) technology to library staff members. It looks denser than it really is; the line spacing was condensed for the purpose of page/printing conservation. You can view a PDF of this document by clicking here.
Other time has been filled with an assortment of administrative-type duties – composing communications, interviews, meetings, etc.
Friday, August 10, 2007
General Update - Relais & Handouts
A few quick notes on a couple of my ongoing projects…
RELAIS. Our main technical contact from Relais is away on vacation and I have not heard from their support team regarding the last version of the patron self-registration pages that I sent. I hope to hear from them by the 15th – the never-ending project is starting to grate on me. I have also contacted Computer Services with regards to configuring the library classroom’s instructor station for the Relais training session on the 29th of August. This should be a relatively minor hurdle.
HANDOUTS. I am reasonably satisfied with the changes/updates that I have made to our main How-to-Guides. The guides that deal with writing and academic writing styles have been sent to the presses. You can see the latest updates by clicking here. Once our new display stand arrives, we will be able to host most of our current guides, as well as have more space for existing guides.
RELAIS. Our main technical contact from Relais is away on vacation and I have not heard from their support team regarding the last version of the patron self-registration pages that I sent. I hope to hear from them by the 15th – the never-ending project is starting to grate on me. I have also contacted Computer Services with regards to configuring the library classroom’s instructor station for the Relais training session on the 29th of August. This should be a relatively minor hurdle.
HANDOUTS. I am reasonably satisfied with the changes/updates that I have made to our main How-to-Guides. The guides that deal with writing and academic writing styles have been sent to the presses. You can see the latest updates by clicking here. Once our new display stand arrives, we will be able to host most of our current guides, as well as have more space for existing guides.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Assorted Computer Woes
As some of you are all too well aware of, we have been dealing with some minor computer related annoyances of late. The issues that I have collected and been given answers for are as follows:
OUTLOOK ACCOUNTS. *ONGOING*
Some of you have been getting a security warning from your Outlook e-mail accounts (the non-Web version). The issue regards the issuing of a security certificate. The certificate is for the webmail.mhc.ab.ca address, but the actual server name is accio.mhc.ab.ca. The warning is the consequence of the security certificate and the server having two different names. Computer Services (CS) is working on a solution, so do not be alarmed.
REFERENCE E-MAIL ACCOUNT. *RESOLVED*
The Outlook account at the Information Desk will not be moved to the Exchange server or updated to Outlook 2007. Reference e-mail will have to be accessed via Outlook Web Access (OWA; https://webmail.mhc.ab.ca/owa). At this time, however, the account cannot be accessed via OWA. A similar situation occurred for the Audiovisual and Interlibrary Loans accounts, but has been resolved. CS is looking into this issue.
RELAIS FOR INTERLIBRARY LOANS. *ONGOING*
The ILL department has been experiencing an issue with accessing their Relais ILL applications via the network folder. Every time they try to access the application, they are prompted with a security warning about an unknown publisher. The application can be accessed after acknowledging the warning prompt. It will, unfortunately, continue to annoy - it is a Windows XP issue, and CS cannot resolve this matter.
I think these are the major issues to date. Anne has made me aware of a problem with our shared catalogue with the U of L. I will be communicating the anomaly to them today. *RESOLVED*
As with most computer related annoyances, these are grin and bare it situations. Oddly enough, I am using Windows 200o and its related Office package (both of which are much older than anything that the rest of you are using) without any issue. Sucks to be the rest of you using Windows XP.
OUTLOOK ACCOUNTS. *ONGOING*
Some of you have been getting a security warning from your Outlook e-mail accounts (the non-Web version). The issue regards the issuing of a security certificate. The certificate is for the webmail.mhc.ab.ca address, but the actual server name is accio.mhc.ab.ca. The warning is the consequence of the security certificate and the server having two different names. Computer Services (CS) is working on a solution, so do not be alarmed.
REFERENCE E-MAIL ACCOUNT. *RESOLVED*
The Outlook account at the Information Desk will not be moved to the Exchange server or updated to Outlook 2007. Reference e-mail will have to be accessed via Outlook Web Access (OWA; https://webmail.mhc.ab.ca/owa). At this time, however, the account cannot be accessed via OWA. A similar situation occurred for the Audiovisual and Interlibrary Loans accounts, but has been resolved. CS is looking into this issue.
RELAIS FOR INTERLIBRARY LOANS. *ONGOING*
The ILL department has been experiencing an issue with accessing their Relais ILL applications via the network folder. Every time they try to access the application, they are prompted with a security warning about an unknown publisher. The application can be accessed after acknowledging the warning prompt. It will, unfortunately, continue to annoy - it is a Windows XP issue, and CS cannot resolve this matter.
I think these are the major issues to date. Anne has made me aware of a problem with our shared catalogue with the U of L. I will be communicating the anomaly to them today. *RESOLVED*
As with most computer related annoyances, these are grin and bare it situations. Oddly enough, I am using Windows 200o and its related Office package (both of which are much older than anything that the rest of you are using) without any issue. Sucks to be the rest of you using Windows XP.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
AAQ - Retrieving a Journal Article Online
Hello and thank you for using the “Ask A Question” service.
You are inquiring about how retrieve a journal article that is online from a Medicine Hat College Library Services database resource. There are several different methods to accomplishing this task. Despite this wordy explanation, it is a fairly intuitive process (though not without pitfalls) and there is assistance from the library’s Information Desk.
It should be noted that many of these functions are only available to registered patrons of the Vera Bracken or Brooks campus libraries. The resources are available to staff and students from on campus and at home, but the general public can only access the resources from on campus. You will have to check with Library Services (403-529-3867) to ensure that your privileges are up-to-date and applicable to your search needs.
Given your initial question, we are assuming that you have an article/citation in mind.
METHOD 1 – Article at Database Level
From the library’s main webpage (http://www.mhc.ab.ca/library):
From the library’s main webpage (http://www.mhc.ab.ca/library):
If you have exhausted all other methods of online access and still want the article, you will have to retrieve it via interlibrary loan (ILL). If you know what you want to order, navigate to: http://eureka.uleth.ca/screens/illreq_s2.html, and place your order. If you need more information about the service, go to: http://www.mhc.ab.ca/library/interlibraryloans.html. ILL is available to all patrons, but costs might be incurred – it depends on what type of patron you are (i.e., community member, staff, or student).
Though it might seem daunting at first glance, it really does get easier as you become more experienced with this type of online resource. Additionally, learning these services (their benefits and quirks) are necessary in the pursuit of modern academics. The contemporary online tools are still faster that using old print methods.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library (phone #: (403) 529-3867).
AAQ#:30632
You are inquiring about how retrieve a journal article that is online from a Medicine Hat College Library Services database resource. There are several different methods to accomplishing this task. Despite this wordy explanation, it is a fairly intuitive process (though not without pitfalls) and there is assistance from the library’s Information Desk.
It should be noted that many of these functions are only available to registered patrons of the Vera Bracken or Brooks campus libraries. The resources are available to staff and students from on campus and at home, but the general public can only access the resources from on campus. You will have to check with Library Services (403-529-3867) to ensure that your privileges are up-to-date and applicable to your search needs.
Given your initial question, we are assuming that you have an article/citation in mind.
METHOD 1 – Article at Database Level
From the library’s main webpage (http://www.mhc.ab.ca/library):
- Select the “Journal, Magazine, and Newspaper Articles” link.
- Select the appropriate subject heading and the title of the database that you used that you used to perform your initial search. [NOTE: Select the appropriate “On Campus” or “At Home” link. The “At Home” link only works for staff and students – not community users.]
- Locate the article that you initially found.
- Once you have located the article, check to see if it says “Full Text”, “Full Text HTML”, “Full Text PDF”, or “Linked Full Text” – or anything else to that effect (in some cases icons might be present). If so, then the article is simply a click away – select either the HTML or PDF link to access the complete article.
- Perform the same steps that you did in METHOD 1 up to step 4.
- If you do not see a link that says “Full Text”, then look for an icon that says “Find It” and click on it.
- The Find It service tries to connect you from one database without the article to another database with the article (despite being from a different company).
- A new window/tab will open and present you with a number of options. If the article is present in another database that the library subscribes to, it will present the name of the database under the “Find It Online” heading (all you have to do is click on the database name (opening another window/tab), login (applicable to staff and students off campus only), and read the article). Other wise, you will see under the “Find It at Another Library” heading, click on the “Request document via Interlibrary Loan Service” link and login. Hopefully the interlibrary loan request form will fill itself out – requiring you to login with a user name and campus ID combination. [NOTE: There is a cost of $.10/page for students and $.25/page for community users to order the article in – it usually takes 7-14 days to get article to the library via this method.]
From the library’s main webpage (http://www.mhc.ab.ca/library):
- Select the “Journal, Magazine, and Newspaper Articles” link.
- Select the “Citation Linker” link – under the “MHC Library Journal Holdings” heading near the top right-hand side of the page.
- A new window (or tab) will open and then it is a matter of filling in the blanks. Provide as much detail as possible, noting that periodical title and ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) are among the most critical – capitalization does not matter. Once you have entered the data, click the “Find It” button.
- If it is available online via our resources, it should present you with a list of online databases that have the article. Once you select a suitable database, click on its title.
- Another window/tab will open that prompts you to login – again only staff/students can access this off campus will up-to-date accounts, community members will be denied access.
- In perfect world, you should be taken directly to the article. If not, you might be taken to the journal’s online holdings. Locating the article should be a few clicks away – select the year, volume, and issue where available and select the article title from the list. [NOTE: This will differ depending on the database you enter, but they are all fairly similar to access at this level.]
If you have exhausted all other methods of online access and still want the article, you will have to retrieve it via interlibrary loan (ILL). If you know what you want to order, navigate to: http://eureka.uleth.ca/screens/illreq_s2.html, and place your order. If you need more information about the service, go to: http://www.mhc.ab.ca/library/interlibraryloans.html. ILL is available to all patrons, but costs might be incurred – it depends on what type of patron you are (i.e., community member, staff, or student).
Though it might seem daunting at first glance, it really does get easier as you become more experienced with this type of online resource. Additionally, learning these services (their benefits and quirks) are necessary in the pursuit of modern academics. The contemporary online tools are still faster that using old print methods.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Medicine Hat College Library (phone #: (403) 529-3867).
AAQ#:30632
Friday, August 3, 2007
Handouts & Self-Registration
This has been a relatively quiet week. My primary focus has been updating some of our handouts. Most are ready for press, but I will delay that until next week. An error of some fashion is always there to be found and nothing irritates me more than a little typo after printing 250 copies. When I return next Tuesday, I will review them again (hopefully with fresh eyes) and send them to the printers. The latest updates have been posted on the Web in the meantime at: http://www.mhc.ab.ca/library/howtoguides.html.
Jason and Valarie decided to run with the idea of creating a folded leaflet for issuing student identification cards in. The leaflet will deliver information on the functions of the ID card, but also promote library services. The idea was inspired by the type of leaflet you get with a pass card when you check into a hotel. They did a nifty job, and hopefully we will get fewer students saying, "I thought I got new card every semester." [Students tend not to like the $5 replacement fee.]
Finally, I continue to muck around with Relais's self-registration source code. I am 90% of the way there, but a few issues confound me on the actual registration page. A consultation with our Webmaster was informative, but he thinks that it would take him a couple of days to understand what all the Java scripts' functions are. In the meantime, I took a different approach and hopefully it will be successful.
Jason and Valarie decided to run with the idea of creating a folded leaflet for issuing student identification cards in. The leaflet will deliver information on the functions of the ID card, but also promote library services. The idea was inspired by the type of leaflet you get with a pass card when you check into a hotel. They did a nifty job, and hopefully we will get fewer students saying, "I thought I got new card every semester." [Students tend not to like the $5 replacement fee.]
Finally, I continue to muck around with Relais's self-registration source code. I am 90% of the way there, but a few issues confound me on the actual registration page. A consultation with our Webmaster was informative, but he thinks that it would take him a couple of days to understand what all the Java scripts' functions are. In the meantime, I took a different approach and hopefully it will be successful.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Bad Ideas: Good Riddance To...
The Library Marketing Committee continues to develop the brand for the instant messenger (IM) system that we intend to launch in the fall. The theme has been established, but we did discuss alternatives. One, that I am glad never saw the light of day, was: Digger, The Information Mining Gopher.
Click the image of Digger for a larger view:
The idea behind Digger was to create the absolute last thing that any of us would like to see. You know, present the worst possible ideas to the boss and hopefully he/she will pick the one you actually want. I hate myself for co-conceiving the little 5|-|17. My original notion was the iconic southern Alberta miner and relating it to "data mining" (which I did like); my co-worker (Valarie) suggested the gopher to add a cutsie-poo factor into the equation - this equals nausea and self-loathing.
Though I dislike the concept, it was not entirely without thought. The concept is based on two southern Alberta themes - the Richardson's Ground Squirrel (a.k.a, the gopher) and miners (since coal mining is still prevalent in the region) - and the notion of data mining. Despite the thought process that went in to it, the concept is still better off dead.
Another concept that I floated included a lighthouse theme. The obvious connotations include: illuminating the darkness to locate information, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria - where the famous Library of Alexandria was located.
As for the actual theme, well you will have to wait and see. It is, as the British might say, a little sexier.
Click the image of Digger for a larger view:
The idea behind Digger was to create the absolute last thing that any of us would like to see. You know, present the worst possible ideas to the boss and hopefully he/she will pick the one you actually want. I hate myself for co-conceiving the little 5|-|17. My original notion was the iconic southern Alberta miner and relating it to "data mining" (which I did like); my co-worker (Valarie) suggested the gopher to add a cutsie-poo factor into the equation - this equals nausea and self-loathing.
Though I dislike the concept, it was not entirely without thought. The concept is based on two southern Alberta themes - the Richardson's Ground Squirrel (a.k.a, the gopher) and miners (since coal mining is still prevalent in the region) - and the notion of data mining. Despite the thought process that went in to it, the concept is still better off dead.
Another concept that I floated included a lighthouse theme. The obvious connotations include: illuminating the darkness to locate information, and the Lighthouse of Alexandria - where the famous Library of Alexandria was located.
As for the actual theme, well you will have to wait and see. It is, as the British might say, a little sexier.
Monday, July 30, 2007
General Update - Relais & Website
I have uploaded the latest revisions to the Relais self-registration pages. The last version went horribly wrong somehow, and turned out looking worse and less functional than the first. I do not know when they will be uploaded to Relais's servers and ready for testing, so it is a matter of being patient. If this version fails, I will call Grant and hopefully we can sort out what is going wrong.
I finished a few minor tweaks on the Vera Bracken Library's homepage. Changes include:
I finished a few minor tweaks on the Vera Bracken Library's homepage. Changes include:
- Google site search has been removed and replaced by a widget that searches the OPAC. I developed several different versions, but went with the advanced drop box version for now.
- The XML [
] icon for our news feed has been replaced by the more common RSS icon developed by Microsoft - this icon [
] has become the default icon for all manner of web news feeds (e.g., Atom, RSS, etc.). - A new link (Site Map/Search) has been posted as well. The site search feature that was previously on the homepage has been moved under this link's location. A site map was also added - I would call it less than pretty.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
General Update - Relais & E-Books
The latest communication from Relais tells us that our last revision of the Relais self-registration pages will be posted tomorrow. We wait with bated breath.
I finished correcting the 70+ e-book URLs in the catalogue. Patrons (faculty, staff, and students) now have the ability to access e-books from their homes. Additionally, I also created a tool that will search exclusively for e-book titles. You can find out more about our e-book content at: http://www.mhc.ab.ca/library/ebooks.html. The search tool can also be found on this page.
I finished correcting the 70+ e-book URLs in the catalogue. Patrons (faculty, staff, and students) now have the ability to access e-books from their homes. Additionally, I also created a tool that will search exclusively for e-book titles. You can find out more about our e-book content at: http://www.mhc.ab.ca/library/ebooks.html. The search tool can also be found on this page.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
ID Computer & Wireless Woes
STAFF ID MACHINE
We are having some issues with our designated staff photo ID machine. It appears that the image/profile has become corrupted. The consequence is that previous system settings have been lost and cannot be reconfigured to our original specifications. Computer Services did inspect the machine and managed to restore our POISE connections, but little else. They will continue to explore the issue.
Here is what you CAN do:
WIRELESS NETWORK
The entire wireless network is down across campus. The cause is still being determined. This is not uncommon considering the campus wide power outage over the previous weekend, and the unexpected power outage that we faced from last night's storm. Computer Services continues to investigate, but no time has been given for completion.
We are having some issues with our designated staff photo ID machine. It appears that the image/profile has become corrupted. The consequence is that previous system settings have been lost and cannot be reconfigured to our original specifications. Computer Services did inspect the machine and managed to restore our POISE connections, but little else. They will continue to explore the issue.
Here is what you CAN do:
- issue staff ID cards
- view student information in POISE
- shut down and log out via Ctrl+Alt+Delete
- issue student ID cards (of any sort - standard and intern)
- shut down and log out via START menu
- retain changes to settings that you made
- warning about corrupt profile
- camera tries to reinstall itself (not required)
- unnecessary icons on desktop (cluttered)
- clutter in PhotoID Production module - all windows (including card previews) are open
WIRELESS NETWORK
The entire wireless network is down across campus. The cause is still being determined. This is not uncommon considering the campus wide power outage over the previous weekend, and the unexpected power outage that we faced from last night's storm. Computer Services continues to investigate, but no time has been given for completion.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Student Information System Meeting - 28 June 2007
In the category of Things Should Have Taken 5 Minutes to Do...
I attended the Student Information System (SIS) meeting on 28 June 2007. The meeting was scheduled from 9:oo a.m. to 10:30 a.m., but barely lasted 20 minutes.
The major points were that: (a) more than 160 processes are performed by the current SIS and need to be performed on the new system, (b) representatives from Campus Management are now on campus and working on data and systems migration to the new SIS, (c) maintaining the working time line is important - failure to meet objectives will impact future events in terms of coordinating personnel, (d) the SIS is scheduled to go live on 1 July 2008, and (e) progress can be tracked online.
You can track information on the SIS's development by clicking here. [I am not sure if is accessible from home. It is on the Blackboard server and has the HTTPS protocol.]
I attended the Student Information System (SIS) meeting on 28 June 2007. The meeting was scheduled from 9:oo a.m. to 10:30 a.m., but barely lasted 20 minutes.
The major points were that: (a) more than 160 processes are performed by the current SIS and need to be performed on the new system, (b) representatives from Campus Management are now on campus and working on data and systems migration to the new SIS, (c) maintaining the working time line is important - failure to meet objectives will impact future events in terms of coordinating personnel, (d) the SIS is scheduled to go live on 1 July 2008, and (e) progress can be tracked online.
You can track information on the SIS's development by clicking here. [I am not sure if is accessible from home. It is on the Blackboard server and has the HTTPS protocol.]
Friday, July 20, 2007
General Update - Bowker's Book Analysis System & Computer Systems
We made some progress in the Bowker's Book Analysis System. It has been at the low end of my priority list, but the system seems to be working. Thanks to their technical support staff for locating the error of my ways - I did not manually enter the .csv extension to the files that I was naming. At any rate, the Medicine Hat Campus's AV, Circulating, Reference, and Complete LC [Medicine Hat and Brooks Campuses] collections holdings have been uploaded and processed. They are ready to be sifted through by the librarians.
I am not a huge of fan of Excel 2007, but it did come in handy when creating a CSV file for Bowker's. You really have to love it when it goes from having 65,536 rows of information that can be addressed to 1,048,576 rows. This will make next year's inventory a breeze.
Most of the issues involving the Millennium LIS have been resolved. There are a few minor issues still, but they will be cleaned up in short order. We should see little impact on library operations.
Speaking of "impact" - staff will be preparing to "pull the plug" on computer systems in the library this afternoon. We will have to unplug all electronic machinery in preparation for the annual power outage that we were initially led to believe was last weekend. It would suck to return Monday morning and discover our computers fried from a power surge; it is good thing that we are so conscientious.
I am not a huge of fan of Excel 2007, but it did come in handy when creating a CSV file for Bowker's. You really have to love it when it goes from having 65,536 rows of information that can be addressed to 1,048,576 rows. This will make next year's inventory a breeze.
Most of the issues involving the Millennium LIS have been resolved. There are a few minor issues still, but they will be cleaned up in short order. We should see little impact on library operations.
Speaking of "impact" - staff will be preparing to "pull the plug" on computer systems in the library this afternoon. We will have to unplug all electronic machinery in preparation for the annual power outage that we were initially led to believe was last weekend. It would suck to return Monday morning and discover our computers fried from a power surge; it is good thing that we are so conscientious.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
General Update - Relais and Millennium LIS
We did get some good news with regards to our system today. The public side of things seems to be functioning properly now. The catalogue, ILL, and home authentication seem to be working properly as of this writing.
The bad news is that some staff functions are still not fully operational. We are limping along and awaiting a system back-up. It sounds as though everything is being rebuilt from scratch at the UofL. Thanks to a very regimented backup process our core information has been preserved. It now appears to be a matter of tweaking systems until the new parameters are inline with the previous parameters.
We did get a chance to see the latest version of our Relais ILL self-registration pages and they are coming along nicely. I made a few more changes and resubmitted it to Relais. It looks like we will be able to go live in the next couple of weeks with the service. We are about 3 months overdue and everyone is eager to tear into the service.
The bad news is that some staff functions are still not fully operational. We are limping along and awaiting a system back-up. It sounds as though everything is being rebuilt from scratch at the UofL. Thanks to a very regimented backup process our core information has been preserved. It now appears to be a matter of tweaking systems until the new parameters are inline with the previous parameters.
We did get a chance to see the latest version of our Relais ILL self-registration pages and they are coming along nicely. I made a few more changes and resubmitted it to Relais. It looks like we will be able to go live in the next couple of weeks with the service. We are about 3 months overdue and everyone is eager to tear into the service.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
THE GOOD NEWS
The most recent edits were made to the Relais ILL self-registration pages. A problem with the CSS and JSPs has hopefully been resolved. The package was zipped and transmitted to Relais for posting on the test servers.
THE BAD NEWS
A clerical error led us to believe that the previous weekend was the Medicine Hat Campus's scheduled annual power outage. This was not the case - it will now occur from the 20th-22nd of July. Campus-wide services are expected to return to normal by Monday morning. [I think I heard that last week. Which lets me nicely segue to...]
MORE BAD NEWS
Day 5. The Millennium LIS continues to be inaccessible. There is still no end in sight. Stay tuned.
The most recent edits were made to the Relais ILL self-registration pages. A problem with the CSS and JSPs has hopefully been resolved. The package was zipped and transmitted to Relais for posting on the test servers.
THE BAD NEWS
A clerical error led us to believe that the previous weekend was the Medicine Hat Campus's scheduled annual power outage. This was not the case - it will now occur from the 20th-22nd of July. Campus-wide services are expected to return to normal by Monday morning. [I think I heard that last week. Which lets me nicely segue to...]
MORE BAD NEWS
Day 5. The Millennium LIS continues to be inaccessible. There is still no end in sight. Stay tuned.
General Update - System Down and Shopping
We continue to slog along as our Millennium LIS remains down for the 5th straight day. The UofL's technicians continue to work on the problem, but we are getting conflicting messages. We were initially informed that the problem was with the LIS's operating system, and later that it was a combination of hardware and software; however, their website suggests that it has to do with renovations being done in the server rooms. Whether one caused the other is unclear at this time. What we know is that this all began on Friday, July 13th.
I am not superstitious, but if Friday the 13ths cause such a flap amongst the populace, then perhaps we should do away with it - not unlike how some buildings omit the 13 from their elevator buttons and floor numbering scheme. What would we use in place of the 13? Perhaps 12a, 12th -the-Sequel, 14th-the-Prequel, Pre-14th. Perhaps we should just omit the number - 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, etc.; so months having 30 days will end on the 31st, while months with 31 days will end on the 32nd.
In the meantime I was able to perform some administrative tasks, Web work, and AV shopping with Barb. Shopping for AV equipment is not as much fun as I hoped. You have to try and keep the technology "cutting edge", accessible enough for students and staff to use, as well as cost effective. The fun really starts as you haggle with sales people and shop around for the best prices. Once you have have the products picked out, then you have to arrange for Finance to create purchase order number for the selected vendor. Yes, shopping really can be work; but I still get to play with cool new toys in the process - things that I could not afford otherwise.
Admittedly, Barb and I took a detour through Tim Horton's [the drive through was on the road we were traveling] for an Ice Cap - after all, we have to beat these mid-30°C temperatures somehow. I think we were the envy of the college's Center Core as people salivated and inquired where we got them from - in the past Tim Horton's has served coffee on campus. We were not without hardship though, the vehicle we were driving in did not have cup holders. What auto manufacturer builds a vehicle without cup holders? I will not say the name of the company, but honestly, what were they thinking? Or is that not thinking?
Time to get back to working on Relais. We are making some headway in developing the online self-registration pages, and updated pages will be posted by the end of this week - I hope.
I am not superstitious, but if Friday the 13ths cause such a flap amongst the populace, then perhaps we should do away with it - not unlike how some buildings omit the 13 from their elevator buttons and floor numbering scheme. What would we use in place of the 13? Perhaps 12a, 12th -the-Sequel, 14th-the-Prequel, Pre-14th. Perhaps we should just omit the number - 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, etc.; so months having 30 days will end on the 31st, while months with 31 days will end on the 32nd.
In the meantime I was able to perform some administrative tasks, Web work, and AV shopping with Barb. Shopping for AV equipment is not as much fun as I hoped. You have to try and keep the technology "cutting edge", accessible enough for students and staff to use, as well as cost effective. The fun really starts as you haggle with sales people and shop around for the best prices. Once you have have the products picked out, then you have to arrange for Finance to create purchase order number for the selected vendor. Yes, shopping really can be work; but I still get to play with cool new toys in the process - things that I could not afford otherwise.
Admittedly, Barb and I took a detour through Tim Horton's [the drive through was on the road we were traveling] for an Ice Cap - after all, we have to beat these mid-30°C temperatures somehow. I think we were the envy of the college's Center Core as people salivated and inquired where we got them from - in the past Tim Horton's has served coffee on campus. We were not without hardship though, the vehicle we were driving in did not have cup holders. What auto manufacturer builds a vehicle without cup holders? I will not say the name of the company, but honestly, what were they thinking? Or is that not thinking?
Time to get back to working on Relais. We are making some headway in developing the online self-registration pages, and updated pages will be posted by the end of this week - I hope.
Friday, July 13, 2007
AAQ - Databases & Learning Difficulties in Children
Hello and thank you for using the “Ask A Question” service.
You are seeking alternative search terms, methods, or database resources that can assist you in locating journal articles related to difficulties that children have learning to reading. If possible, we suggest that you visit the Vera Bracken Library in person, but we can try and help you fill in some blanks in the meantime. Admittedly, your home institution has a deeper resource well than our own, but we will try to answer your inquiry in a more universal context.
You have developed a good list of terms, but we might be able to broaden them further. Our initial keywords are: children, reading, and difficulties. For children, we can use terms and phrases such as: child*, kid*, adolescent*, youth*, juvenile*, etc. You could also try specifying specific age categories/groups as well (i.e., “age 5”, “6 years old”, “grade 1”, preschool, kindergarten, etc.).
You might notice the asterisk (*) symbol trailing some words (or incomplete words) in the previous paragraph. The * (and sometimes a question mark (?)) is often used in search truncation. The idea is to broaden your search as much as possible with this system. So when you enter:”child*”, the database will locate variations such as: child, children, child’s, childhood, childlike, etc. This could potentially save you a lot of time searching for variant terms.
Additionally, you could use a Boolean operator such as OR to locate terms that are alike. For example, you could enter: (child* OR kid* OR adolescent*) [between parenthesis] and most databases will be able to understand this search logic. Again, the idea is to make shorter work of all your search terms.
Phrase searching is also important; by encapsulating two or more words between quotation marks, most search engines (i.e., library catalogues, databases, and Web searches (e.g., Google, Yahoo, etc.)) will look for those word groupings. Some search engine (such as EBSCOhost databases) assume phrase searching if AND, OR, and NOT (Boolean Operators) are not used between words.
Additional terms that you can employ in place of reading are: read*, literacy, cognition, “cognitive development”, “mental development”, comprehen*, understand*, education*, etc. Terms that we can employ for difficulties include: disability*, problem*, hard, hardship*, hinder*, trouble*, etc. These terms could be used in a more general search. Also consider focusing your search on specific conditions such as: dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, “auditory processing disorder”, etc.
Additional phrases and terms that you could use are: “learning disabilities”, “reading disability”, “language disorders”, “school children”, “short-term memory”, “literacy interventions”, “neurological disorders”, or “child development”.
It will be important to mix and match terms from each of the three categories. Start simple, using one word at a time. Add and substitute additional terms as desired. You will be sure to get more diverse results lists by doing so. If you want to focus on geographic locales, consider using terms such as: canada, alberta, united states, north america, etc. [NOTE: Capitalization of proper nouns is not necessary.]
Since you are familiar with EBSCO databases, we can offer the following suggestion to save you some time. Once you are in one of their databases, select the “Choose Databases” tab near the top of the page. Once you are in there, you can select whichever databases will best suit your particular search by selecting each database’s associated checkbox and clicking “Continue” (at the top and bottom of the list) to proceed. From the EBSCO resources available from the Vera Bracken Library (Medicine Hat College) we selected: Academic Search Complete (big brother of Academic Search Premier), ERIC, Child Development & Adolescent Studies, Humanities International Complete, and Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection – the U of L will naturally have more available. You will return to your search window, at which point we selected the “Advanced Search” tab near the top of the page.
In the “Advanced Search” window, we filled out the form as follows: SEARCH BOX 1: child*; SEARCH BOX 2: (literacy or read*); SEARCH BOX 3: difficult*; selected the “Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals” checkboxes under each database’s heading (if available); select the “Also search for synonyms and plurals” checkbox (under the “Expand your search to:” heading near the bottom of the page; NOTE: the additional expanded search options). If you click the “Search” button, you should retrieve over 3,800 abstracts/citations. How relevant they are will vary, so select the “Relevance” option under the “Sort by:” drop-box at the top of the results list. Hopefully the more relevant articles will appear closer to the top.
View the articles and redo the search as desired. If you need the articles “here and now”, select the “Full Text” option at he initial search page. If you do this, you will not have to look any farther than the databases to locate articles. If you need articles ordered in, consider using your home library’s Interlibrary Loan Service (http://www.uleth.ca/lib/borrowing/display.asp?PageID=51). Medicine Hat College and the Medicine Hat Public Library also offer this service, but you might have to pay additional fees to retrieve this information. Medicine Hat College Library Services does have some advanced tools that you can take advantage of (which are not offered by the local public library) but you will have to be on campus to take advantage of them. Ask the Information Desk about the “Find It” service (“Find It” is analogous to the U of L’s “Find Full Text” icon link that you might see in some of their ESBSCO databases).
Additional databases that you use (other than those provided by EBSCO) include: CBCA Education & ProQuest Education Journals, Project MUSE, OmniFile Full Text, Mega Edition, Academic OneFile, and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). All of these are available in the Vera Bracken Library at Medicine Hat College.
There are probably some additional tips and tricks that we can offer, but this should be sufficient to get you started. Please consider visiting the Vera Bracken Library (http://www.mhc.ab.ca/library/) at the Medicine Hat College campus for additional assistance, or try these tips in available databases offered by the U of L. Many of the other major database vendors (Gale, ProQuest, and Wilson) offer excellent resources that offer similar functionality to EBSCO, even if they appear slightly different.
For future reference, please do not type your name in the “Ask A Question” box. This is to protect your privacy.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Vera Bracken (Medicine Hat College) Library (Phone #: (403) 529-3867; Toll Free #: 1 (866) 282-8394 ext. 3867).
AAQ#: 31601
You are seeking alternative search terms, methods, or database resources that can assist you in locating journal articles related to difficulties that children have learning to reading. If possible, we suggest that you visit the Vera Bracken Library in person, but we can try and help you fill in some blanks in the meantime. Admittedly, your home institution has a deeper resource well than our own, but we will try to answer your inquiry in a more universal context.
You have developed a good list of terms, but we might be able to broaden them further. Our initial keywords are: children, reading, and difficulties. For children, we can use terms and phrases such as: child*, kid*, adolescent*, youth*, juvenile*, etc. You could also try specifying specific age categories/groups as well (i.e., “age 5”, “6 years old”, “grade 1”, preschool, kindergarten, etc.).
You might notice the asterisk (*) symbol trailing some words (or incomplete words) in the previous paragraph. The * (and sometimes a question mark (?)) is often used in search truncation. The idea is to broaden your search as much as possible with this system. So when you enter:”child*”, the database will locate variations such as: child, children, child’s, childhood, childlike, etc. This could potentially save you a lot of time searching for variant terms.
Additionally, you could use a Boolean operator such as OR to locate terms that are alike. For example, you could enter: (child* OR kid* OR adolescent*) [between parenthesis] and most databases will be able to understand this search logic. Again, the idea is to make shorter work of all your search terms.
Phrase searching is also important; by encapsulating two or more words between quotation marks, most search engines (i.e., library catalogues, databases, and Web searches (e.g., Google, Yahoo, etc.)) will look for those word groupings. Some search engine (such as EBSCOhost databases) assume phrase searching if AND, OR, and NOT (Boolean Operators) are not used between words.
Additional terms that you can employ in place of reading are: read*, literacy, cognition, “cognitive development”, “mental development”, comprehen*, understand*, education*, etc. Terms that we can employ for difficulties include: disability*, problem*, hard, hardship*, hinder*, trouble*, etc. These terms could be used in a more general search. Also consider focusing your search on specific conditions such as: dyslexia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, “auditory processing disorder”, etc.
Additional phrases and terms that you could use are: “learning disabilities”, “reading disability”, “language disorders”, “school children”, “short-term memory”, “literacy interventions”, “neurological disorders”, or “child development”.
It will be important to mix and match terms from each of the three categories. Start simple, using one word at a time. Add and substitute additional terms as desired. You will be sure to get more diverse results lists by doing so. If you want to focus on geographic locales, consider using terms such as: canada, alberta, united states, north america, etc. [NOTE: Capitalization of proper nouns is not necessary.]
Since you are familiar with EBSCO databases, we can offer the following suggestion to save you some time. Once you are in one of their databases, select the “Choose Databases” tab near the top of the page. Once you are in there, you can select whichever databases will best suit your particular search by selecting each database’s associated checkbox and clicking “Continue” (at the top and bottom of the list) to proceed. From the EBSCO resources available from the Vera Bracken Library (Medicine Hat College) we selected: Academic Search Complete (big brother of Academic Search Premier), ERIC, Child Development & Adolescent Studies, Humanities International Complete, and Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection – the U of L will naturally have more available. You will return to your search window, at which point we selected the “Advanced Search” tab near the top of the page.
In the “Advanced Search” window, we filled out the form as follows: SEARCH BOX 1: child*; SEARCH BOX 2: (literacy or read*); SEARCH BOX 3: difficult*; selected the “Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals” checkboxes under each database’s heading (if available); select the “Also search for synonyms and plurals” checkbox (under the “Expand your search to:” heading near the bottom of the page; NOTE: the additional expanded search options). If you click the “Search” button, you should retrieve over 3,800 abstracts/citations. How relevant they are will vary, so select the “Relevance” option under the “Sort by:” drop-box at the top of the results list. Hopefully the more relevant articles will appear closer to the top.
View the articles and redo the search as desired. If you need the articles “here and now”, select the “Full Text” option at he initial search page. If you do this, you will not have to look any farther than the databases to locate articles. If you need articles ordered in, consider using your home library’s Interlibrary Loan Service (http://www.uleth.ca/lib/borrowing/display.asp?PageID=51). Medicine Hat College and the Medicine Hat Public Library also offer this service, but you might have to pay additional fees to retrieve this information. Medicine Hat College Library Services does have some advanced tools that you can take advantage of (which are not offered by the local public library) but you will have to be on campus to take advantage of them. Ask the Information Desk about the “Find It” service (“Find It” is analogous to the U of L’s “Find Full Text” icon link that you might see in some of their ESBSCO databases).
Additional databases that you use (other than those provided by EBSCO) include: CBCA Education & ProQuest Education Journals, Project MUSE, OmniFile Full Text, Mega Edition, Academic OneFile, and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). All of these are available in the Vera Bracken Library at Medicine Hat College.
There are probably some additional tips and tricks that we can offer, but this should be sufficient to get you started. Please consider visiting the Vera Bracken Library (http://www.mhc.ab.ca/library/) at the Medicine Hat College campus for additional assistance, or try these tips in available databases offered by the U of L. Many of the other major database vendors (Gale, ProQuest, and Wilson) offer excellent resources that offer similar functionality to EBSCO, even if they appear slightly different.
For future reference, please do not type your name in the “Ask A Question” box. This is to protect your privacy.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Vera Bracken (Medicine Hat College) Library (Phone #: (403) 529-3867; Toll Free #: 1 (866) 282-8394 ext. 3867).
AAQ#: 31601
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Is this really me?!
If you work in a library, then you might be familiar with Unshelved. It offers unflinchingly humourous insights into what it is like to work in a library. I have been told that the following strip eerily represent me (to some degree).
Click on the images for a larger view:
Click on the images for a larger view:
Yes, anything to get out of a meeting.
No, I would not even think of doing that. Would I?
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
MHC Library Quotes #3
During a birthday celebration, an odd exclamation could be heard...
"Penises!" - female staffer
This was said by one female staffer to another during the photo sessions - foregoing the traditional, "Say:'Cheese!'" Laughter was had by all.
P.S., I have the video to prove this.
"Penises!" - female staffer
This was said by one female staffer to another during the photo sessions - foregoing the traditional, "Say:'Cheese!'" Laughter was had by all.
P.S., I have the video to prove this.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
General Update - Relais and Web Work
I have been busy again today. The New Materials lists were created and posted for this month, and I have been working on cleaning up e-book URLs in our catalogue. Soon we should have our full collection of 3,500+ e-books available for home access by faculty, staff, and students.
Relais posted our initial test pages for the ILL patron self registration system. They turned out better than I thought, but I see there is still work to be done. I will be working on those files tomorrow and hopefully have them uploaded a day or two after.
Relais posted our initial test pages for the ILL patron self registration system. They turned out better than I thought, but I see there is still work to be done. I will be working on those files tomorrow and hopefully have them uploaded a day or two after.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Blog & OPAC Modifications
It is the start of the work week and it is off to a mad rush. I made a couple modifications to my personal blog (the one you are reading) and the Medicine Hat College Library Service Blog. A weather widget, courtesy of Environment Canada, was added to each. If you want to build a WeatherLink for your website, click here [sorry, Canada only].
To make OPAC entries clearer in the browse-results lists, the results' numbers were aligned right, highlighted in a light green with a dark green right-hand border. You can view a sample by clicking here. I was hoping to create a different effect, but the CSS does not allow for it. My hope is that this new highlight will make it easier for patrons to see where an entry begins and ends. A couple of other minor changes were made, but they are minutia and not worth discussing.
A couple of minor fires were put out along the way - information desk questions (two if you can believe it - one of which was a complex question about wireless networking in the college) and we discovered how to edit PDFs with Adobe Acrobat Standard and Professional.
And so the day continues...
To make OPAC entries clearer in the browse-results lists, the results' numbers were aligned right, highlighted in a light green with a dark green right-hand border. You can view a sample by clicking here. I was hoping to create a different effect, but the CSS does not allow for it. My hope is that this new highlight will make it easier for patrons to see where an entry begins and ends. A couple of other minor changes were made, but they are minutia and not worth discussing.
A couple of minor fires were put out along the way - information desk questions (two if you can believe it - one of which was a complex question about wireless networking in the college) and we discovered how to edit PDFs with Adobe Acrobat Standard and Professional.
And so the day continues...
Friday, July 6, 2007
Relais Self-Registration & Bowker's Book Analysis System Progress
This week was a busy one for me - if you call three days a "week".
I modified the Relais ILL source code for the ILL self-registration. It employs a combination of CSS, HTML, and JSP. I am familiar with two of the three, but JSP is new to me. The college Webmaster tells me that I am on the right track, but I am not so sure. The folders were zipped and transmitted to Relais. We should know if my work was successful later this week - Relais will post the modified code to its test server. In the meantime, I will keep my fingers crossed.
My technical contact with Bowker's Book Analysis System tells me that one of the two files I uploaded was formatted correctly. Their system tells me that the files are still being processed. I suspect that something is amiss, since it has been processing a relatively small file for more than a week. I will be contacting them later today and find out if this is normal. Perhaps I did not map the categories/headings properly, but I doubt that. It is probably a case where pulling data from MARC fields was not as "clean" as either of us desired.
The Circulation Clerks finished my desired modifications to the NetLibrary holdings' URLs in the catalogue. The next step for me is to build a custom interface to search for e-books from our library pages. This is a low priority, since the OPAC can handle that chore for now.
Next week will be busy. Thankfully there will be five days to accomplish some tasks.
I modified the Relais ILL source code for the ILL self-registration. It employs a combination of CSS, HTML, and JSP. I am familiar with two of the three, but JSP is new to me. The college Webmaster tells me that I am on the right track, but I am not so sure. The folders were zipped and transmitted to Relais. We should know if my work was successful later this week - Relais will post the modified code to its test server. In the meantime, I will keep my fingers crossed.
My technical contact with Bowker's Book Analysis System tells me that one of the two files I uploaded was formatted correctly. Their system tells me that the files are still being processed. I suspect that something is amiss, since it has been processing a relatively small file for more than a week. I will be contacting them later today and find out if this is normal. Perhaps I did not map the categories/headings properly, but I doubt that. It is probably a case where pulling data from MARC fields was not as "clean" as either of us desired.
The Circulation Clerks finished my desired modifications to the NetLibrary holdings' URLs in the catalogue. The next step for me is to build a custom interface to search for e-books from our library pages. This is a low priority, since the OPAC can handle that chore for now.
Next week will be busy. Thankfully there will be five days to accomplish some tasks.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Spell Check in OPACs is Active
I activated the Spell Check feature in our OPACs this morning. It has been on the staging/test server for the last 4-6 weeks. I did not find it aesthetically pleasing and could not make alterations without the UofL's consent. We experienced some delays in activation because many of my contacts at the UofL were on sabbatical or vacation in June. Fortunately they returned and agreed with my assessment, and I consequently made the alterations and activated it on the live/public servers.
Give the new feature a spin and let me know what you think - it is active on the Basic Keyword Search (@Vera Bracken Library/Brooks Catalogue; @Brooks Catalogue) and Advanced Keyword Search (@Vera Bracken/Brooks Catalogue; @Brooks Catalogue) pages. It is not quite Google, but it is a much improved first step. The activation of this feature should be last of the major OPAC upgrades for a while. It will mostly be a matter of house keeping and refinement of the CSS.
All that I have to do is hope that I will not have to revise the OPAC for a few more years.
Give the new feature a spin and let me know what you think - it is active on the Basic Keyword Search (@Vera Bracken Library/Brooks Catalogue; @Brooks Catalogue) and Advanced Keyword Search (@Vera Bracken/Brooks Catalogue; @Brooks Catalogue) pages. It is not quite Google, but it is a much improved first step. The activation of this feature should be last of the major OPAC upgrades for a while. It will mostly be a matter of house keeping and refinement of the CSS.
All that I have to do is hope that I will not have to revise the OPAC for a few more years.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Happy Canada Day - Mr. Canoehead
In honour of Canada Day, I wish to resurrect the memory of a long lost Canadian hero - Mr. Canoehead; our unofficial aluminum crime fighter.
Mr. Canoehead is the product of the comedy troupe known as The Frantics. For a brief time in the mid-1980s, The Frantics had a sketch comedy show on the CBC called Four on the Floor (@IMDB.com; @Wikipedia). Mr. Canoehead was one of their reoccurring characters that highlighted this quintessentially Canadian group/program.
Though the program was short lived, members of The Frantics have gone on to influence other great Canadian programs such as: The Red Green Show, History Bites, and Puppets Who Kill.
You can view the first installment of Mr. Canoehead below [NOTE: Press the play button, otherwise you will be redirected to the clip's YouTube page.]:
You can view more Mr. Canoehead videos at: http://www.youtube.com/user/Ransolix
Enjoy! Happy Canada Day!
Mr. Canoehead is the product of the comedy troupe known as The Frantics. For a brief time in the mid-1980s, The Frantics had a sketch comedy show on the CBC called Four on the Floor (@IMDB.com; @Wikipedia). Mr. Canoehead was one of their reoccurring characters that highlighted this quintessentially Canadian group/program.
Though the program was short lived, members of The Frantics have gone on to influence other great Canadian programs such as: The Red Green Show, History Bites, and Puppets Who Kill.
You can view the first installment of Mr. Canoehead below [NOTE: Press the play button, otherwise you will be redirected to the clip's YouTube page.]:
You can view more Mr. Canoehead videos at: http://www.youtube.com/user/Ransolix
Enjoy! Happy Canada Day!
Friday, June 29, 2007
Farewell to Lilian
After four years as the library's Information & Technology Librarian, we bid farewell to Lilian Li. We wish her well as she moves on to her new post.
If you read this blog and are interested in a job with Medicine Hat College Library Services, you can view our latest openings by clicking here.
If you read this blog and are interested in a job with Medicine Hat College Library Services, you can view our latest openings by clicking here.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Bowker's Book Analysis System
I believe that I figured out how to perform the processes for Bowker's Book Analysis System for collection development. Not that they are overly hard, but some of the system and required formatting tricks were new to me.
Since getting MARC records from our system was a tricky affair, I decided to upload specific MARC fields in a CSV file. Whether or not it is formatted correctly is another matter. At any rate, two different files were uploaded and are now processing. We will know tomorrow whether or not the procedure was successful.
If the test is success, other collection areas will be uploaded. The Reference Collection was the test file, so other significant areas (AV and Circulation Collections) will follow. Then it is on to Relais ILL form customization.
One cool thing that I played with is using an FTP extension in my Firefox Web browser. FireFTP proved to be an easy and successful FTP client.
Since getting MARC records from our system was a tricky affair, I decided to upload specific MARC fields in a CSV file. Whether or not it is formatted correctly is another matter. At any rate, two different files were uploaded and are now processing. We will know tomorrow whether or not the procedure was successful.
If the test is success, other collection areas will be uploaded. The Reference Collection was the test file, so other significant areas (AV and Circulation Collections) will follow. Then it is on to Relais ILL form customization.
One cool thing that I played with is using an FTP extension in my Firefox Web browser. FireFTP proved to be an easy and successful FTP client.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
General Update - MHCLS Blog and My Work
I made a few changes to the Medicine Hat College Library Services Blog. The changes include:
- LINKS
They are now underscored for easier visibility, however, the underscore will disappear when rolled-over. This adds, in my mind, a more animated/interactive approach to linking. - BANNER
I created a custom banner that employs the college's crest/logo. This replaces the default text banner that is provided by Blogger. - BACKGROUND
The background color has been changed to a dark sage green color. Previously it was pure white and looked too dull/stark.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
AAQ - Conception with Tubaligation & Partial Hysterectomy
Hello and thank you for using the “Ask A Question” service.
You are inquiring whether or not a woman who has had a tubaligation and a partial hysterectomy can conceive.
Unfortunately we are not medical experts and cannot offer any authoritative advice or interpretation in such matters. We suggest that you consult a medical doctor, nurse or medi-clinic in your area.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Vera Bracken (Medicine Hat College) Library (Phone #: (403) 529-3867; Toll Free #: 1 (866) 282-8394 ext. 3867).
AAQ#: 33242
You are inquiring whether or not a woman who has had a tubaligation and a partial hysterectomy can conceive.
Unfortunately we are not medical experts and cannot offer any authoritative advice or interpretation in such matters. We suggest that you consult a medical doctor, nurse or medi-clinic in your area.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Vera Bracken (Medicine Hat College) Library (Phone #: (403) 529-3867; Toll Free #: 1 (866) 282-8394 ext. 3867).
AAQ#: 33242
Sunday, June 24, 2007
AAQ Coordinators’ Meeting Report
The following is my report from the Ask A Question Coordinators’ Meeting that was held in Edmonton, Alberta on June 22, 2007 at the Greenwood Inn. I was there in my capacity as the Acting AAQ Coordinator for Medicine Hat College Library Services.
After the initial call to order, some of the following things were discussed:
STATISITICS. Since its re-launch in October 2006, there has been a significant increase in the volume of questions being submitted. From January to May 20007, there was an increase of 102%. The numbers for the specific service groups were broken down as follows: (a) post-secondary questions – up 45%, and (b) public libraries – up 105%. Of the latter group, there was a 13% increase in Alberta-based questions, and 181% in “Guest” questions (all of those from outside Alberta). 36% of the guest questions were referred to similar services in the home region of the questioner.
STUDENTS & VOLUNTEERS. The students in the Information Management and Library Technology program at Grant MacEwan College (GMC) participated in Ask A Question. The 29 students were tasked to complete 1 question per week over a 10-week period. Some were keener than others and a total of 361 questions were answered.
Twenty-two students at the University of Alberta’s (U of A) School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) also participated. They were tasked to complete 3 questions over as many months. This group answered fifty-seven questions.
Some of the students were hoping to continue their participation in the program, but it was not possible at this time for everyone to continue. SLIS students were allowed to continue, but their supervisor would still monitor them. The experience was positive for the service and students, with one notable exception. [One student took exception to the feedback and their reaction was less than positive – that particular issue was referred back to the instructor.]
POLICY MODIFICATIONS & REMINDERS. We were all reminded about the importance of safeguarding our patrons’ person information – we are not to archive questions (make information publicly accessible) that contain names of individuals or other personal details. Some of the other issues include: inclusion of licensed information in answers (we are not to copy/paste information from databases into our answers), and referrals (whenever possible, refer non-Alberta-based questions to similar regional services). [There are a variety on tools built into the AAQ management system, including “canned” answers and links to related regional services.]
SERVICE COMMITTEE. This is the working committee that oversees the AAQ service. It is composed of the Chair (TAL’s AAQ manager), and 4 reps (2 from the public library sector, and 2 from post-secondary). There is currently a vacancy in one of the post-secondary positions. AAQ is not my first love and my position is merely as acting-coordinator, though it is tempting.
2007 AAQ WORK PLAN OVERVIEW. AAQ will continue to refine and review: answering procedures, customer satisfaction, policies, and surveys. One project that was on the horizon was an instant messenger (IM) style of AAQ. It did not appear as though there were many interested parties at the table, though MHC Library Services is launching its own service in the Fall of 2007. AAQ will continue to try and employ the services of students from GMC and the U of A.
WEBSITES. We reviewed the website and some of its features – particularly, how it assists administrators/facilitators in answering questions. MHC staff did have training in this area a few weeks prior, so it should be relatively fresh in our minds. The main things for us to remember were the aforementioned canned/template responses, and the list of referrals to similar services (http://del.icio.us/aaq).
PRESENTATIONS. We had presentations from two organizations – the Centre for Suicide Prevention and the Kids Help Phone. Both groups presented us with information packages and resources that we can employ. Fortunately we are, as a post-secondary institution, somewhat insulated from some of the more difficult social issues that public libraries have to deal with. The public libraries have been known to get some rather sensitive questions related to abuse, suicide, and other legal and medical matters. AAQ does have policies in place with regards to dealing with such matters. If such a case were to be entered into our queue, we should refer them to the AAQ coordinator/administrator – typically they will be left to TAL’s Virtual Reference Librarian to deal with.
ITEMS FOR DECISION/DISCUSSION. This portion of the meeting was dedicated to an assortment of housekeeping duties. Some of the issues discussed included: our social responsibility, branding, staffing, and system upgrades.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. The issue of the increased question volume was raised again. AAQ currently receives as more than 800+ questions per month. The volume is almost too much – a consequence of its own success. The service was meant for Alberta citizens, but there is a significant amount of traffic coming from India and the Middle East. Whenever possible external questions are referred to regional services that perform a similar AAQ function. [We are able to determine location based on IP address or postal code.] There were more than 1,400 referrals in the 6 months prior to this meeting. There was also discussion about blocking IP addresses from areas – something I rejected, because I have answered legitimate questions from out-of-province patrons related to Medicine Hat College. With the exception of one individual, it was agreed that referrals were the best course of action. [The contrary person felt that we -- as Albertans, in the richest province, in one of the most prosperous nations -- should serve the world’s interest. This was quickly kiboshed by others that were already overwhelmed with AAQs.] This led directly to the next issue, which was…
If you have any further questions, please feel free to make inquires of me. You can read more about AAQ by visiting:
After the initial call to order, some of the following things were discussed:
STATISITICS. Since its re-launch in October 2006, there has been a significant increase in the volume of questions being submitted. From January to May 20007, there was an increase of 102%. The numbers for the specific service groups were broken down as follows: (a) post-secondary questions – up 45%, and (b) public libraries – up 105%. Of the latter group, there was a 13% increase in Alberta-based questions, and 181% in “Guest” questions (all of those from outside Alberta). 36% of the guest questions were referred to similar services in the home region of the questioner.
STUDENTS & VOLUNTEERS. The students in the Information Management and Library Technology program at Grant MacEwan College (GMC) participated in Ask A Question. The 29 students were tasked to complete 1 question per week over a 10-week period. Some were keener than others and a total of 361 questions were answered.
Twenty-two students at the University of Alberta’s (U of A) School of Library and Information Studies (SLIS) also participated. They were tasked to complete 3 questions over as many months. This group answered fifty-seven questions.
Some of the students were hoping to continue their participation in the program, but it was not possible at this time for everyone to continue. SLIS students were allowed to continue, but their supervisor would still monitor them. The experience was positive for the service and students, with one notable exception. [One student took exception to the feedback and their reaction was less than positive – that particular issue was referred back to the instructor.]
POLICY MODIFICATIONS & REMINDERS. We were all reminded about the importance of safeguarding our patrons’ person information – we are not to archive questions (make information publicly accessible) that contain names of individuals or other personal details. Some of the other issues include: inclusion of licensed information in answers (we are not to copy/paste information from databases into our answers), and referrals (whenever possible, refer non-Alberta-based questions to similar regional services). [There are a variety on tools built into the AAQ management system, including “canned” answers and links to related regional services.]
SERVICE COMMITTEE. This is the working committee that oversees the AAQ service. It is composed of the Chair (TAL’s AAQ manager), and 4 reps (2 from the public library sector, and 2 from post-secondary). There is currently a vacancy in one of the post-secondary positions. AAQ is not my first love and my position is merely as acting-coordinator, though it is tempting.
2007 AAQ WORK PLAN OVERVIEW. AAQ will continue to refine and review: answering procedures, customer satisfaction, policies, and surveys. One project that was on the horizon was an instant messenger (IM) style of AAQ. It did not appear as though there were many interested parties at the table, though MHC Library Services is launching its own service in the Fall of 2007. AAQ will continue to try and employ the services of students from GMC and the U of A.
WEBSITES. We reviewed the website and some of its features – particularly, how it assists administrators/facilitators in answering questions. MHC staff did have training in this area a few weeks prior, so it should be relatively fresh in our minds. The main things for us to remember were the aforementioned canned/template responses, and the list of referrals to similar services (http://del.icio.us/aaq).
PRESENTATIONS. We had presentations from two organizations – the Centre for Suicide Prevention and the Kids Help Phone. Both groups presented us with information packages and resources that we can employ. Fortunately we are, as a post-secondary institution, somewhat insulated from some of the more difficult social issues that public libraries have to deal with. The public libraries have been known to get some rather sensitive questions related to abuse, suicide, and other legal and medical matters. AAQ does have policies in place with regards to dealing with such matters. If such a case were to be entered into our queue, we should refer them to the AAQ coordinator/administrator – typically they will be left to TAL’s Virtual Reference Librarian to deal with.
ITEMS FOR DECISION/DISCUSSION. This portion of the meeting was dedicated to an assortment of housekeeping duties. Some of the issues discussed included: our social responsibility, branding, staffing, and system upgrades.
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY. The issue of the increased question volume was raised again. AAQ currently receives as more than 800+ questions per month. The volume is almost too much – a consequence of its own success. The service was meant for Alberta citizens, but there is a significant amount of traffic coming from India and the Middle East. Whenever possible external questions are referred to regional services that perform a similar AAQ function. [We are able to determine location based on IP address or postal code.] There were more than 1,400 referrals in the 6 months prior to this meeting. There was also discussion about blocking IP addresses from areas – something I rejected, because I have answered legitimate questions from out-of-province patrons related to Medicine Hat College. With the exception of one individual, it was agreed that referrals were the best course of action. [The contrary person felt that we -- as Albertans, in the richest province, in one of the most prosperous nations -- should serve the world’s interest. This was quickly kiboshed by others that were already overwhelmed with AAQs.] This led directly to the next issue, which was…
- BRANDING. AAQ is a strong, but generic brand. It was felt by some that it was not strongly, or implicitly, targeting Albertans. This leaves us open to international inquiries. It was motioned that it be rebranded as “Alberta Ask A Question”, or something to that effect. The idea is to create a stronger brand that more directly targets Albertans – our primary market/responsibility.
- SYSTEM UPGRADES. Several staffers from TAL’s technical team were present to hear suggestions from coordinators about desire upgrades. Some of the suggested upgrades included: better cross-browser compatibility, single interface for answering questions, maximize use of screen space, spell checker, spam protection, formatting control, ability to attach files, and “do not archive” option on multiple pages.
- STAFFING. TAL has been faced with some shortages in the technical arena, but has hired several new talents – including a user interface specialist. All present technical staffers were very positive and receptive to suggestions.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to make inquires of me. You can read more about AAQ by visiting:
Thursday, June 21, 2007
AAQ Coordinators Meeting
I am off to Edmonton tomorrow for the AAQ Coordinators Meeting. For two days I will be living that jet setting librarian lifestyle. I am not looking forward to the 5:45 AM takeoff time.
AAQ - Bylaw Enforcement Officer Salaries
Hello and thank you for using the “Ask A Question” service.
You are inquiring about the salary of a bylaw enforcement officer. We will attempt to answer this question posthaste.
If you were inquiring about the wage for an officer in Medicine Hat, a call to the city’s Human Resources department would clear this up. Their website can be found at: http://www.city.medicine-hat.ab.ca/City%20Government/Departments/Human%20Resources/. We took the necessary steps and contacted them on your behalf.
According to their office, bylaw enforcement officers are known as “Community Peace Officers” in the city. Those officers are in Range 20 of the CUPE Local 46 Collective Agreement pay scale (http://www.city.medicine-hat.ab.ca/City%20Government/Departments/Human%20Resources/CUPECollectiveAgreement.pdf). This means that, as of 18 January 2007, they will start at a wage of $24.50/hour and that will increase to $26.72/hour once they have reach 4000 hours of service.
For more general information about bylaw enforcement officers, you can locate a career profile at: http://www.alis.gov.ab.ca/occinfo/Content/RequestAction.asp?aspAction=GetHTMLProfile&format=html&OCCPRO_ID=71003113. This article (produced by the Government of Alberta) documents things such as duties, educational requirements, employment/advancement, and salary. You will find that salaries range between $20,100 and $86,500 per year. The average salary was $43,500. All numbers are according to the “2005 Alberta Wage and Salary Survey”.
You can locate print versions of various career profiles in the Vera Bracken Library’s Reference Collection. The “Occupational Information Monographs” have the call number: HF 5381 O22 (Vols. 1-3).
A similar online resource can be found at: http://www.alis.gov.ab.ca/occinfo.
If you are looking for more local information though, feel free to contact the employer and make inquiries of their Human Resources department. Good luck.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Vera Bracken (Medicine Hat College) Library (Phone #: (403) 529-3867; Toll Free #: 1 (866) 282-8394 ext. 3867).
AAQ#: 33092
You are inquiring about the salary of a bylaw enforcement officer. We will attempt to answer this question posthaste.
If you were inquiring about the wage for an officer in Medicine Hat, a call to the city’s Human Resources department would clear this up. Their website can be found at: http://www.city.medicine-hat.ab.ca/City%20Government/Departments/Human%20Resources/. We took the necessary steps and contacted them on your behalf.
According to their office, bylaw enforcement officers are known as “Community Peace Officers” in the city. Those officers are in Range 20 of the CUPE Local 46 Collective Agreement pay scale (http://www.city.medicine-hat.ab.ca/City%20Government/Departments/Human%20Resources/CUPECollectiveAgreement.pdf). This means that, as of 18 January 2007, they will start at a wage of $24.50/hour and that will increase to $26.72/hour once they have reach 4000 hours of service.
For more general information about bylaw enforcement officers, you can locate a career profile at: http://www.alis.gov.ab.ca/occinfo/Content/RequestAction.asp?aspAction=GetHTMLProfile&format=html&OCCPRO_ID=71003113. This article (produced by the Government of Alberta) documents things such as duties, educational requirements, employment/advancement, and salary. You will find that salaries range between $20,100 and $86,500 per year. The average salary was $43,500. All numbers are according to the “2005 Alberta Wage and Salary Survey”.
You can locate print versions of various career profiles in the Vera Bracken Library’s Reference Collection. The “Occupational Information Monographs” have the call number: HF 5381 O22 (Vols. 1-3).
A similar online resource can be found at: http://www.alis.gov.ab.ca/occinfo.
If you are looking for more local information though, feel free to contact the employer and make inquiries of their Human Resources department. Good luck.
Thank you again for using the “Ask A Question” service. If you need more help, please use the service again or see the Information Desk in the Vera Bracken (Medicine Hat College) Library (Phone #: (403) 529-3867; Toll Free #: 1 (866) 282-8394 ext. 3867).
AAQ#: 33092
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Relais ILL Update
We have opted to employ patron self-registration as a means of enrolling community, faculty/staff, institutions, and students in our new interlibrary loan system. To this end, we are hoping that the vendor, Relais, can customize some of the forms' appearances. You can view our desired preferences for the front-end forms at: http://www.mhc.ab.ca/library/relais/.
Current Relais ILL patron login page:
[Click image to enlarge.]
Desired [?] Relais ILL patron login page:
[Click image to enlarge.]
Current Relais ILL patron login page:
[Click image to enlarge.]
Desired [?] Relais ILL patron login page:
[Click image to enlarge.]
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