Spring Trainings coming up fast

It's that time of year again! We have a full complement of trainings being scheduled for the upcoming spring semester. Undoubtedly many of you have already attended many of these, but we do have several new volunteers for the spring and if you feel like a refresher or have questions about a particular service these will be a great opportunity for you.

So far this spring we have the following trainings scheduled, with many more to come soon! Have a wonderful Holiday Break!

Reference Skills

Date: Wednesday, January 3^rd 2:00 - 3:00 pm in West 211

Trainer: Shaun Saxon

Trainees will be able to:

· Conduct a reference interview.

· Determine whether a question can be answered quickly or needs to be referred to the 3^rd floor Reference Desk or elsewhere.

· Make appropriate referrals to the Reference Desk or elsewhere.

Campus Knowledge

Date: Wednesday, January 3^rd 3:00 - 4:00 pm in West 211

Trainer: Missy Shoop

Trainees will be able to:

· Answer basic questions regarding where and how to access common student services, including: the registrar’s office, financial aid office, paying fees and fines, campus maps, computer labs, and bus routes.

· Direct patrons to online resources that show information on these services.

· Direct patrons to campus locations of these services using a campus map.

· Give patrons phone numbers and other contact information for these services.

Library West Building Information

Date: Friday, January 5^th 11:00 - 12:00 pm in West 211

Trainer: Lori Driscoll

Trainees will be able to:

· Explain how the Library West collections are arranged in the new library.

· Explain what services are available in Library West and how to utilize those services.

· Direct patrons to various staff offices.

· Communicate library hours (both regular hours and holiday hours).

· Communicate basic library policies regarding library usage and services.

· Computer services: software, equipment, areas, printing, etc.

Study carrels have finally been assigned!

Repairs have been completed on all but a few carrels, and the lucky individuals who were assigned a graduate study carrel have been emailed. The other 400+ applicants who did not receive a carrel were also sent an email notification. If anyone has questions about the assignments, please feel free to direct those to Lori Driscoll. Please remember that, in keeping with library privacy policies, the list of assignees is confidential.

Fires, Pagers and Parties

In case anyone was wondering, the procedure to follow when at the Information Point when the fire alarm goes off is to lock your computer, grab your stuff and leave the building. The circulation staff have their own procedures to follow which include locking the group study keys and laptop cart. Their instructions can be found in the Circ Manual online.

If anyone asks, in case of a fire alarm, patrons who have checked out an "in library use only" item should take it with them when they leave. This includes laptops! The items are checked out to them and they are responsible for them during the drill/emergency.

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On another note, the group study Gator Wait system has been working great! Students and staff alike really seem to appreciate the service. We have noticed that if patrons fill out the Gator Wait form on the clipboard it is usually filled out incorrectly. So to keep the service working smoothly we should all fill out the form ourselves using the patron's Gator 1 Card information.

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Finally, next week is our last week of staffing the desk. Friday December 15th will be the last Information Point staffing day of the Fall semester. I haven't gotten much feedback in the way of having a last meeting of the semester. Perhaps everyone would rather wait to have a Spring Orientation meeting when we return from the holidays? Please let me know via email or the Bulletin Board.

I hope to see many of you at the Holiday parties next week! We're having the evening party on Tuesday and the daytime potluck on Thursday. If you haven't RSVP'd please do email me and I'll make sure your name gets on the list! It's going to be a lot of fun!