Meetings, Weedings, Development.. Oh My!

          Hello!! Since the last time I posted a lot has happened and so far, still good. That’s not to say I haven’t needed help on a few Reference Questions but things are going pretty well. I’ve had a few ‘RefWins’ where I've felt that I was particularly helpful, one was even over chat! Everything is going great thus far and I’m definitely learning, a lot.

            The last couple weeks I have had a couple of meetings with other integral members of the library staff. The first was with Jessica Howard, the Electronic Resources & Web Services Librarian.  This meeting was awesome because we discussed how she became a librarian when it wasn’t exactly her original plan.  We also talked about what she does for the library in terms of keeping the website up and functioning but we spoke at length about her part in deciding which databases get used.  We currently have several trial databases up and she explained how thorough the process is because she gets feedback from faculty, staff and students and how even though it may take longer, she generally finds pretty great databases that are super helpful.

            In my other meeting with Ronalee Ciocco, the Director of User Services, I got to talk to her about everything that is required of her job. Most of our discussion revolved around Inter Library Loan (ILLiad) and her thoughts on the eBook issue. We also talked about the the OneSearch function that GBurg has now, she mentioned that there has been a huge increase of requests because it searches so many databases that students use the Gett It button much more frequently. The most helpful part of my meeting with Ronalee was just getting advice on how to be a better librarian and she really emphasized that getting experience was the key because it would make getting a job after Graduate School a lot easier.

           Other than my meetings, I also had a fun week working with the collection in terms of weeding and development. I helped Clint, Stephanie and Kerri weed the science section of the reference collection. I thought it was helpful seeing librarians who don’t specialize in science make really thoughtful choices on what books to keep, weed, or move elsewhere.  Then, on the opposite side of the library spectrum, I helped Kerri with Collection Development.  I started with the browsing room which means I got to review a bunch of new fiction titles. It was so hard to pick and choose because they all seemed so interesting and fun in comparison to some of my school readings.  Who knows, spring break is soon, maybe I’ll have some time to read in a couple weeks!

Weeding. It ain't just for gardens.

  

Librarianship is Neat!

My name is Celia and I am the Spring 2014 Fortenbaugh Reference Intern! 

About Me: I'm a Senior History major with a minor in Africana Studies. I'm from outside of Harrisburg, PA, so just one step outside of being townie status. I was the Co-Captain for Bullets Cheer this past season and I am also on the Executive Board for Dance Ensemble (I'm not a very good dancer though, whoops!) and I really like cats and they will be featured on these blog posts.  Like this one... This is the cat version of me when I found out I got the Internship.

I've got a few weeks under my belt now with this Internship and so far, so good. I'll be totally honestly though, when I first started every time someone came near the desk I got a little nervous because after 3.5 years I thought I knew my way around the Library; nope. BUT, now with three weeks of perusing research guides, databases, asking a zillion questions and rereading everything in my training guide approximately three times, I feel confident that I can be helpful, and that's great! 

Otherwise, I'm not much of a chatty Kathy but I do to get hang out with Ronalee Ciocco, the Director of User Services and Jessica Howard, the Electronic Resources and Web Librarian, later this week! It should be exciting, and I shall report back next time!! 

ALSO; because of this weather lately.. this ECard is just too accurate!

Fortenbaugh Music Intern, First Post of the Semester

Hello Gettysburg!  I hope everyone had an enjoyable winter break and is doing great work so far this semester.  I am very excited to be the Spring 2014 Fortenbaugh Music Library Intern!

A little bit about me: My name is Alex Schweizer, and I am a first-year Music Education major, from Downingtown, PA.

My primary instrument is the euphonium, but I also play the trombone, piano, and guitar.  Here at Gettysburg, I am a member of the Bullets Marching Band, Gettysburg College Choir (GCC), the Wind Symphony, and Drop the Octave (DTO), our campuses only all-male acapella group.  I am also on the Sunderman Student Advisory Council, as a liaison for the students of the Conservatory to the faculty.

In high school, I was a part of the marching band, and marched in both the 2011 Tournament of Roses Parade, and the 2013 Citrus Parade.  I was also in the choir, men's choir, the musical, and on the varsity swimming and track teams.

When I'm not practicing, learning about, making, or writing music, I enjoy riding my unicycle around campus, going for a run on the battlefields, playing frisbee with my friends, or doing pretty much anything outdoors.

After my time at Gettysburg, I plan to become a high school band director, and eventually teach at the college level.  My ultimate goal is to be a member of the President's Own Marine Corps Band.

As the Fortenbaugh Music Library Intern, I will be working on several projects throughout the semester.  I plan to use the skills that I acquire during this internship when I am a band director, and need to know how to catalog and easily access music.  Currently, I am researching euphonium repertoire (both audio recordings and physical sheet music) to potentially add to the large collection of scores and CDs already in the Musselman Music Library.