Learning More at the Library

 Log 11

Learning More at the Library

Student: Austen Esch

Supervisor: Shelley Barba

 

March 24, 2025, 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

I'm once again sitting in my workspace, completing subject headings. Now that I'm back working at Tech, Shelley can arrange for me to meet with other librarians to learn from them.

Today was another productive day working through my subject headings at the library. I’ve gotten into a good rhythm again now that we’re back on campus, and I’m steadily making progress with reviewing and correcting the entries based on the Library of Congress Subject Headings. While I was working, Shelley and I had a really interesting conversation about her past experiences conducting job interviews at Texas Tech. She shared a few stories about applicants who might have shared a little too much personal information during their interviews. One woman, for example, mentioned that she collected haunted dolls, which ended up leaving a strange impression. Another applicant admitted to illegally scanning a book at a previous job, which raised immediate red flags. Most shocking of all was a man who shared that he had once pulled out a pocket knife in response to a patron he felt threatened by. Needless to say, that did not reflect well on him.

Shelley laughed a little while telling me these stories, but made a serious point about how important it is to be thoughtful and professional in interviews. As she put it, there’s no need to share every detail of your life, especially if it’s something that might concern your potential employer. It was a good reminder for me as I begin to think more seriously about future job interviews in library positions. Knowing what kinds of things leave a good impression versus what can hurt your chances is valuable insight. Later this week, I’ll finally be meeting with the reference librarian I was originally scheduled to speak with before the fire incident disrupted our plans. I’m looking forward to learning more about reference work and how it compares to the technical services side I’ve been focused on during this internship. It’ll be a good chance to broaden my understanding of the different roles within an academic library.

 

March 26, 2025, 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

I'm sitting in front of the window in this room. I enjoy having the natural light behind me as I work.

I continued making progress on my subject headings project. I’ve noticed that this particular batch of theses and dissertations is significantly easier to work with than the previous group I worked on. The students in this batch submitted subject headings that are much closer to official Library of Congress Subject Headings, which means I’m spending less time correcting or replacing terms. It’s encouraging to see examples of students who followed the guidelines more carefully. It also gives me a better idea of what a good submission looks like. Even with the improvements, I’m still double-checking every heading to ensure it aligns with the official list, but the process is going much more smoothly. It also makes me feel like I’m building confidence and efficiency in navigating the LCSH database.

While I was working, Shelley introduced me to a few tools used in academic libraries: LibGuides, LibAnswers, and Springshare. These are all platforms that support information sharing and reference services. Shelley showed me some of the LibGuides she’s created over the years, including ones that help students navigate theses and dissertations. It was interesting to see how much effort and thought goes into creating clear, helpful guides for students and faculty. Out of curiosity, we also checked to see if South Plains College, where I hope to work after graduation, uses LibGuides as well. Sure enough, they do—just like Texas Tech. It was great to see that the tools I’m learning about now will also be relevant in my future workplace. I’m starting to understand just how interconnected academic libraries are in the systems and platforms they use.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Summation Entry

  Summation Entry As I reflect on my practicum experience at the Texas Tech Library, I feel incredibly grateful for the wide range of learning opportunities I had. I came into the internship expecting to learn more about subject analysis and Library of Congress Subject Headings, and I certainly did. Working through two full batches of subject headings gave me valuable, hands-on experience in critically evaluating metadata, correcting errors, and understanding the nuances of cataloging. Shelley’s guidance through this process was immensely helpful, and I now feel far more confident in my ability to work with subject access points in a real library setting. It was a challenge at times to keep track of all the changes I made, but this eventually turned into an opportunity as I compiled a workflow and even developed a presentation to help future librarians learn how to navigate similar challenges. One thing that surprised me was just how diverse the roles and experiences of academic li...
Read more

Digitalizing Posters

Image
  Log 16 Digitalizing Posters Student: Austen Esch Supervisor: Shelley Barba   April 16, 2025, 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. I take a photo as I walk to see Nathan, who is in charge of digitalization at Texas Tech. I find the digitalization process fascinating, and it was an enjoyable experience for me. During my final week, I had the chance to meet again with Nathan, who is in charge of digitization at the library. Shelley wanted to make sure I experienced the digitization process firsthand and even gave it a try myself. She took me over to Nathan’s area, where I watched him digitize a few posters that had been made by students many years ago. After walking me through the process a couple of times, it was my turn to try. I began by placing the poster on the digitization table and switching on the built-in vacuum that holds the paper in place using small holes across the tabletop. Then I used magnets on each corner of the poster to secure the edges that weren’t getting held d...
Read more

Creating a Presentation

Image
  Log 14 Creating a Presentation Student: Austen Esch Supervisor: Shelley Barba   April 7, 2025, 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. I'm taking a walk around the room and looking at the posters on the walls. I'm getting prepared to create a presentation that I will give to Shelley. I started putting together a record of all the changes I’ve made while fixing subject headings. The goal of doing this is to use this information to create a presentation. The purpose of the presentation is to demonstrate how to correct subject headings in a way that aligns with Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). Shelley told me it could eventually be used as a training tool for new librarians at Texas Tech. I’ve been noting down different kinds of issues I’ve encountered, like headings that are not authorized, incorrect formatting, or vague terminology, and how I resolved each one. This way, the presentation can serve as a guide for navigating the trickier parts of subject heading cleanup. I s...
Read more