Dan Brower Reflective Journal LI801 Information Transfer and the Knowledge ociet!

"e#ruar! $0% $00& Benevolent 'verlords Librarians are benevolent overlords of information. We are the ones who protect and give out information. Though we do not volunteer the information directly, we offer it to all of the patrons. Even though it is highly inaccurate, it reminds of a Star Trek episode. The Star Trek trio find themselves in an alien library of sorts, where all of the staff is the same person. Every time that Captain irk would attempt to ask a !uestion about the now desolate world, the librarian would direct them to another librarian and so on. "ll of them were fairly nice e#cept the final one, who was actually a $erk. %t is such a weird reference to libraries, but at the time was probably an accurate account of them. &owadays, % hope that more and more libraries are friendlier to their patrons. What is ironic is that we watched this episode in an "rchives class. Traditionally, archivists do not deal as much with customers as public librarians. Whether we are librarians or archivists though, we have a duty to protect and preserve information. We also have the duty to make it readily available for others' use. "ll of us are overlords of the information, but how we use that power determines our roles. (or this reason, librarians are the benevolent ones. With our good acts, and signs of good faith to the communities relevant to information, we can change the world, or if we cannot change it, we can at least protect the information that makes certain things constant.

(arch 10% $00& Li#raries) *n +n,uiet -istor! (irst, % must say that this book is poorly organi)ed. % felt that % could not read it very well because *attles $umped around so much. There were some really nice history parts in the book, but by comparison, Lionel Casson wrote much better in his Libraries in the Ancient World. %t could be because % am a history buff, but % liked Casson's book better. *attles gave some really great insight on library history as a whole though. % liked the descriptions of libraries all through history. % found it fascinating how libraries started out as very cold places where the +master of books, spent his life collected and arranging. " patron would come in with all of the book's information, and the almighty librarian would retrieve it. Then, with the innovations of -ani))i and .ewey, libraries became truly public, where a person could find a book on their own. Libraries became more user/friendly. &ow, however, they are even further along than that. They are not only user/friendly, but ultra/accommodating. &ow, as librarians, we try to cater to patrons' information needs, and hopefully they leave with either an answer or a way to get it. *attles' book mentions the book burnings and it brings into perspective 0although they have happened through history1 how important our roles are. We need to be able to e#press a freedom of information. %f tangible knowledge is destroyed, then we have failed as facilitators of it. 2ne cannot find information that is not there.

(arch $.% $00& The /ree0 Techie from the 'ld 1ountr! Every day that % am at the library, % am ama)ed. &o matter how % am feeling, % will always feel better at the library. There are a few patrons that we all hold dear, and one of those that % hold dear is a little old lady from 3reece. She asked me one day if % could help her out with her brand new 4ac*ook that she had saved years and years for. % said that % could, and from then on, she has come in for brush up courses regularly. She told me about how she used to be a librarian back before % was born 0of course1, and how she finally made it to college at age 56. She subse!uently graduated with basically a typing7computer literacy associate's degree. She is a pretty ama)ing lady, and she is such a !uick learner. % now that there are age stereotypes out there, but this little lady defies all of them. She learns !uickly, she is not afraid of technology, and she even puts trust in younger generations. 2f the many things that % have taught her through our few sessions so far, she has taught me more about the service of a library. She has now been on both sides of the desk. She, being a previous librarian, has now e#perienced what she can be taught by others. %t is really cool to see how the library has helped her. *eyond that, it is mind/blowing to think about all of the ways that my library has changed people's lives. They may not be huge changes, but even a small change is enough.

*2ril 3% $00& The (umm! % love this movie. Since it first came out, % have always tried to watch it whenever it has been shown on television. % love the way that Evelyn took charge in the movie, which was in sharp contrast to the way her character was portrayed in the library sense. The movie made librarians out to be very subdued and big nerds. 8owever, Evelyn was able to break out of that stereotype and take control of 9ick 2'Connell, or at least become a great influence on him. The movie could have been based on a very good book, or in fact, the movie could produce a good book as well. 8owever, the movie really e#pressed many of the events in a way that a book could not. The great thing about watching the movie was that things happened without words a lot. The great sandstorm and the way the scarabs crawled around were two e#amples of how the movie e#pressed its point. 8owever, the downside to movies is that 8ollywood gives them too much effect. 4ovies are seldom historically accurate, and The 4ummy was definitely not historical, but even the historical facts within the movie were not especially true. "gain, it may be because % am a history buff, but that is a glaring observation that % made. % like the choice of this movie for the class because the librarian's viewpoint is often overlooked in the movie. 4ost viewers relate the movie to *rendan (raser and obviously, the mummy itself, but it makes for such a fuller e#perience with Evelyn, :ohn, and their !uirky, nerdy lifestyles. "s farfetched as the movie actually is, the movie drives home the point that knowledge7information is a very powerful thing, and we can use the materials we have at our disposal to find our way out of predicaments.

*2ril 14% $00& 1ustomer ervice 1ham2ion5 ;esterday was a customer service training day for the entire 4id/Continent -ublic Library system. (or the first time ever, the entire system 0all <= branches1 has been closed to the public. % was chosen as a customer service champion for my local branch. 4y duties included going to a lengthy training session and subse!uently relaying that which % learned to the other branch employees along with the other champion of the branch. Throughout the day, we were in charge of organi)ing the information, and ensuring that our fellow staff members understood the concepts. This event pushed customer service and hopefully changed the way that some of the library employees approach patrons. This training not only helped the staff, but it really prepared me for the future of my career. % was able to learn how people would react to certain presentations of information, and % learned how to remain in control of a group of my peers, as if % was in charge. % think that this e#ercise, event, or whatever it can be referred to, was invaluable to me. % have learned how to deal with other employees, and % believe that % am now more prepared as an information professional in the library setting. 3ranted, this pro$ect does not relate especially well to >=?, but % feel that it relates to the 4LS program as a whole because of the leadership skills that it instills.

*2ril $6% $00& /rou2 7or0 with 892ert /rou2s This weekend was our second and final class meeting for L%>=6. We were re!uired to research some aspect of customer service and then present it to another group of our peers. The research group became +e#perts, on a specific topic 0mine was interpersonal communication1, and the group to which we presented became our local learning group. Within this learning group, people had distinct learning styles to which we had to cater out presentation. This was actually similar to the training that % received through 4id/Continent -ublic Library. The ma$or difference, though, was that we researched this pro$ect, while % merely listened and regurgitated the 4C-L information. Even though % despise group work, % found this e#ercise to be very helpful. % feel like it mirrored the environment of my library workplace. "s staff, we learn certain policies or procedures and then we relay the message to others who may have different learning styles than us. Through both of these e#ercises, information changed hands many times. (rom the actual primary source to the eventual learning groups, the information was diffused through our interpretations and edits, not to mention the noise that contributed to the interference during the entire process. The group work in >=6 gave me a good idea of the information change from both viewpoints. "s a researcher and teacher, % was able to cater to my group. "s a learner and patron, % was able to absorb the information and learn really great things about different library related topics.