Library day in the life: 27th July 2011

Today at work I:

• Was on the early shift (not very early). I went to get the money from the safe and took it down to my colleague who’d started opening up the library desk, then I went round the library, turning on the self-issue machines and OPACs, before settling down to catalogue some (more) donations.
• Took over from my colleague on the desk at 9.15 and helped a nun renew her books.
• Talked about the possible new procedure for processing and cataloguing accompanying items. We currently separate books and accompanying items (CDs, DVDs, etc) and process them and catalogue them separately. However, we are planning to now keep the accompanying item with its book, thus saving on processing costs and time, and the time it takes to create a separate catalogue record. Today, my supervisor was testing out an item processed in the new way, to make sure it can go through the self-service machines and be taken out without setting off any alarms! I’m pleased to report that the test was successful and no alarms were set off.
• Took lots of books  out of processing and put them on the relevant floor to be shelved.
• Asked to be re-instated as a member of the Web Pages group. I was on this group, but was taken off it when I left my assistant librarian post.
• Tried to find the instructions for the microfilm/fiche reader. There is only one person left in the library who (possibly) knows how to use the microfilm/fiche reader, and he is currently on leave. We found the instructions, but they only show what to do with fiche, so if anyone wants to read a microfilm we’re a bit stuck. I know, we should all learn how  to use the reader. I’ve been shown how to use it before, but it’s so rarely used that I always forget how to use it before the next person wanting to use it comes along.
• Processed some more donated items and catalogued them.
• Had lunch (mushroom soup and bread).
• Exchanged emails about catalogue records for books with accompanying items.
• Went on the desk. Helped someone use the scanner.
• Ate some chocolates.
• Got instructions from my supervisor about what to do with the periodicals now that she and the periodicals person are going to be away.
• Had some cataloguing training. Today, we were looking at an authority file. If this is set up correctly, it enables (e.g.) people searching for works by ‘Rowling’ to find works by not only J.K. Rowling, but also Newt Scamander, Kennilworthy Whisp,  and Joanne K. (Joanne Kathleen) Rowling.  Of course, these are all the same person, but the name ‘Rowling’ may not appear in the catalogue record if the book is, e.g. Quidditch Through the Ages, by Kennilworthy Whisp. However, thanks to this authority file, the seeker will still find this item if he or she types in ‘Rowling’. Sorry if this makes no sense at all…
• Made some labels for some interesting religious education items – a “Water Storybag”, a four-in-one Easter doll (which I found slightly disturbing), a Zacchaeus doll and a “Lost Storybag”, which contained some wooden sheep, among other things. I then catalogued the four-in-one Easter doll and Zacchaeus, and put them on the shelf to be processed.