For the past six years I have been employed as the Access Services Manager for the Charlotte School of Law Library, where I am in charge of Library Circulation and its related functions. This class, and the ones I have already completed have enhanced my understanding of how a library operates and introduced me to a wide range of ideas that I often use in my daily duties.
The Charlotte Law Library has recently relocated in downtown Charlotte and this has provided a number of challenges to continuing access services while also maintaining excellent customer services to our patrons. Many of the technology trends we have already discussed in class and those that we will investigate in the future are going to be extremely useful toward helping meet the needs of our patrons and the library.
QR codes are one of the trends we will be covering and is something we recently began to use in the Law Library. We have placed signs in the various areas of the physical collection along with an accompanying QR code related to the subject matter and a link to the online catalog. Most of our law students, who make up the majority of our patrons, use smart phones or tablet devices. Using QR codes is natural to these digital natives. By placing the QR codes throughout the law library collection we are providing an enhanced service for the students.
One of the 5th grade ELA teachers at my school and I have planned a project for this school year with QR codes and the library too. The students will read a book and write a short review in her class. Then they'll come to the library to create a podcast of their review. I'm going to place links to those in the OPAC so they're also accessible that way and teach the kids how to create QR codes to them. We'll print the codes and attach them to the shelves by each reviewed book. Others who are browsing the shelves can scan the codes with a school iPod and listen to the podcast. I can't wait! Hoping to get to it during this semester...
ReplyDeleteExcellent Sarah, if I may, I would like to steal that idea and suggest it to our Law Library staff. Having law students comment on particular materials would be useful. This could prove helpful in regards our Course Reserves and our study aid collections. We often have first year law students trying to find the best materials to help them with their studies. Having second and third year law student comment on the study aids they preferred (using the QR codes) and embedding those on the Law Library blog would provide another layer of service.
ReplyDeleteThat's an awesome idea. After tonight's class, I'm thinking that these can be considered "crowdsourcing" initiatives, right? Let me know how it goes!
ReplyDeleteI also agree that this is a great idea and incorporates technology into class learning. This is crowdsourcing and creating a wealth of personal thoughts about certain books that are open-access to classmates.
ReplyDeleteI use to work at High Point University (HPU) in the circulation department(as a graduate student), as well as in the reference (as a post-graduate) and technical services (as an undergraduate student)departments. I was there for a little over five years while working on my undergraduate and graduate degree(s). And, I agree with you that each of our classes adds more to our present job experiences, as well as our intended career objectives.
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