Comments for Points Of Reference - Reference Discussion for Librarians, from Booklist Online

Comment on Friday fun at the Reference Desk... by Dave Tyckoson

Dave Tyckoson — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 18:13:01 +0000

No actual library books were harmed in the filming of these commercials.

Comment on Teaching vs. fishing by M. Ashley

M. Ashley — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 02:28:21 +0000

This is a fascinating topic to ponder. The analogy of a mechanic was perfect. Still, we don't question the educators methods in teaching. An English teacher isn't expected to do the work for the student. Perhaps librarians should be likened more to educators than to mechanics. Or, maybe you're on to something. Maybe we actually *can* learn to fix our own cars. There should always be such opportunities for teaching/learning in this world. At any rate, thank you for encouraging me to contemplate out loud.

Comment on App of the Month: Hurricane - American Red Cross by Margarita Muriel

Margarita Muriel — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 15:57:17 +0000

Very good app

Comment on Banned Reference Books by eboni

eboni — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 18:51:33 +0000

Sue,

I'm wondering the same thing. I'm working on putting together a display of banned/challenged books for this year's Banned Books Week 2012 and would love to find more titles to include!

~eaj

Comment on Rethinking Your Print Reference Collection? by Lindsay Harmon

Lindsay Harmon — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 16:30:43 +0000

Justin, how will you identify the 3-day items? I like this idea, but I'm trying to move away from plastering stickers on everything (that's actually one of my motivations to do away with the reference section).

Comment on Rethinking Your Print Reference Collection? by Justin Lillard

Justin Lillard — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 15:15:59 +0000

We're considering an intermediate step in which some of our reference collection will go onto a more restrictive circulation scheduling (e.g., 3 days) while some will remain non-circulating. At the moment, the consensus thinking seems to be that indexes and some of the biblical commentaries (I work at a school where all undergraduates are required to take a certain number of bible credits) should remain non-circulating.

Comment on Rethinking Your Print Reference Collection? by Lindsay Harmon

Lindsay Harmon — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 18:06:12 +0000

That's a great point about the migration of "browsable" reference into the circulating collections. That's one of the projects I'm considering for the summer--to entirely do away with the dedicated, noncirculating reference section. I find that the books that are on those shelves don't tend to get much use, so there's little reason why a student who would find them useful couldn't take them home.

Comment on Rethinking Your Print Reference Collection? by Christopher Elliott

Christopher Elliott — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:49:12 +0000

As our reference collection gets smaller, what we consider reference is falling into 2 groups. Browsable reference (generally under $100, includes many Facts-on-File books as well as the Oxford Companion type books) we are making a part of our circulating collection. More expensive reference items like multi-volume sets were are purchasing as e-reference or part of a database.

This is a slow process, as we update large reference works, we are choosing e-reference only.

Comment on Web Site of the Week: Khanacademy.org by Joe Wagner

Joe Wagner — Mon, 21 May 2012 19:24:39 +0000

Khan Academy is not only great because of the education videos but also for the practice exercises where much of the real learning takes place. You can watch many of Sal Khan's videos along with those of other excellent teachers for free at Backpack TV (www.backpack.tv).

Comment on App of the Month: Seafood Watch by Select Aquariums

Select Aquariums — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 02:43:36 +0000

I'll have to download this app and put it to use.