Locating the Law Handbook for Non-Librarians

I love a freebie that comes from good stock. The Southern California Association of Law Libraries has a new edition of the Locating the Laws Handbook. If you are interesting in working in a law library or need to find a law source quickly this might be the publication you have been seeking in the stacks.

5th Edition of Locating the Law, A Handbook for Non-Law Librarians

There is much goodness to be found here. Chapter 3 has a guide to conducting a legal information search and interview techniques. This is a section of the handbook that talks about the legal information interview:

Regardless of how the question is phrased, the user is ultimately asking what law or laws apply to his or her situation. Your first task, as in any reference interview, is to analyze the information provided in order to identify the relevant facts and to weed out the irrelevant. To determine the relevant facts, you will usually need to ask additional questions. At this point, it is appropriate to briefly address concerns about the unauthorized practice of law.

Librarians conducting a reference interview should not be afraid to ask questions of someone seeking legal information. Asking questions in order to make recommendations about appropriate legal resources to consult does not constitute giving legal advice. 

The handbook is a Adobe PDF document. You can view by chapter or you can download the entire handbook and read it on your computer or with you favorite tablet or e-reader.

You definitely want this on your virtual resource shelf.

LIB 103 and Me

Today I had the opportunity to take the Page/At-Will test with the City of Pasadena. I had taken the Page test many years ago and vaguely recalled the type of questions that would be presented. Back then I knew librarianship was something was a field I wanted to go into, but I had not yet done the research on what was required at the level of library technician. As I sat there with the test I tried my hardest to sort numbers as quickly as possible, but it was not a task I was all that familiar with.

Fast forward a few years and the completion of my certificate is a little over a month away. Today, I felt much more confidant while taking the test. And I was very pleased at the recognition of some concepts that I learned in my Introduction to Circulation Services class. I could see how my concept of library service had changed this past year and a half of classes. Certain questions were viewed in a new frame of mind, especially those that related to customer service.

Introduction to Circulation Services taught me that what you think you know and what libraries require of their technicians may be two different things. I enjoyed my time in LIB 103, and though it was many months ago I still recall some of the finer points of the lectures clearly in my memory. Practicing with the ShelveIt program, reviewing some of the finer points of customer service particular to libraries, and an increased confidence of my own skills lessened my anxiety about this test.

I’m not sure where I may end up on the list of the pool of applicants, but the PCC Library Technician Program has certainly taught me skills that have boosted my confidence.

Library 103 Field Trip to Cal State Northridge Oviatt Library

On Saturday, May 7, 2011, the Library Tech Program's 103 class met at the Cal State North Oviatt Library. Mike Villalobos, Circulation Service Supervisor, gave us a tour of the Circulation Department and an overview of what he and his staff members do on a daily basis. We also got to see the Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) in action! It is the first use of an ASRS in the library field. The books, surprisingly, are in bins according to size, not call number.

Here's the ASRS retrieving a bin of books!

The Bin of Books Retrieved by the ASRS

Mike Villalobos Discusses the ASRS

(Thank you to Eva Rios for the pictures!)