SLIS 5630: Reference for Science and Technology.

Well, all right. For the many who know me, I am not just a theater critic – now I am a librarian, too! Or, it seems that’s what I shall be after I graduate with an MLIS in about a month’s time.

Now, this term I am taking a class in reference for the fields of science and technology. One of our assignments this term is to create a Science Blog, or at least to create a blog that is going to be used to post a message or two on the topics near and dear to the class. I actually think that if I WERE a science librarian, I would probably create a science blog and fill it with useful information on resources for my target user group. This would, as I have learned, be as much about teaching the users about how to find the information they want, as it would be about marketing the library.

As it happens, I have had a blog here for quite some time! Actually, I have had several blogs – but this is the cleanest and most presentable, and so it earns the privilege of being “my class project.”

Back in my Advanced Management Class (can you imagine, I took a class with that title!), we discussed Advocacy and how making people remember the library is available and useful is one of the librarian’s prime duties. After all, what is to be done when budget cutting time arrives and all the library is appears to be a big pile of books in a room?

I expect that if I had the good luck to be hired as a science librarian, I would frequently update with posts about “how to use Web of Science!” to locate important information. Or maybe I would try to post frequent little tricks on general web searching – “10 Tricks You Can Do With Google” sort of things. My feeling is that a library blog should probably be half “corporate voice” and half “in flight magazine.” Lure em in with sugar and prove the library’s use.

As it happens, though, for the assignment for this class on Reference for Science and Technology, I have been given very specific instructions. Thus, over the next couple of days, you can expect to see some posts here that will be geared towards this class. So do join me for some fun and entertainment here on my glamorous big blog!