Vol. 19, No. 13 August 25, 2000 Clemson University Libraries - Clemson, SC 29634

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1 Vol. 19, No. 13 August 25, 2000 Clemson University Libraries - Clemson, SC Gunnin goes 24 Twenty-four hours that is. The Architecture Library is now open 24 hours a day from Sunday at 2:00 pm until Friday at 5:00 pm for the Fall Semester Saturday hours are Noon - 4:00 pm. ***A Clemson University ID is required for entrance from 11:00 pm to 8:00 am. Library services during this time will be very limited (no check-out of materials, no scanning, no access to Slide Room).*** Intersession and Break hours will remain Monday - Friday, 8 am to 5 pm. Hey, have you heard about the book sale? Sarah McCleskey, Melissa Finley, Teri Alexander, and Steve Johnson welcome students back to Clemson at the Welcome Back Festival held Monday, August 21. They handed out bookmarks advertising the library book sale to be held September 29. If you d like to volunteer to help with the book sale this year a copy of the volunteer form is on page 5 of this issue of In Touch.

2 August 25, 2000 page 2 SCLA paraprofessional workshop was a hit! Diana Bourgeois, Laura Holden and Betty Cook traveled to the Headquarters of the Spartanburg County Public Library for an allday workshop on Friday, July 28, sponsored by the SCLA Paraprofessional Section. Paraprofessionals: Progressing as a Team was attended by more than 60 people from around the state. After some dripping delicious morning refreshments and a Let s Get Acquainted Game, Section President Syretta Compton gave a welcoming presentation followed by a short business meeting. Then the real fun began with a team building presentation by Dorothy Priester, Executive Director of Bethlehem Partners. The first exercise involved toilette paper..., the second involved communication without spoken language. For the the third one, she divided the group into five teams and gave each a complicated, real-life library situation that involved library ethics. It was up to each team to role play the situation providing a narrator, actors and dialogue to resolve the situation. The teams had ten minutes to prepare. The Clemson folks were in the group that was told that a student had just come into the library to check out a reserve item that was needed for class in ten continued on page 4 SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAYS 1 Tabitha Wright 3 Beth Helsel 4 Betty Carson 6 Ken Murr 13 Susan Conley 13 Suzanne Rook 19 Clare Davis 28 Betty Cook Thanks A quick note of thanks to everyone who called and sent cards and best wishes during my recent illness! It was very uplifting to hear from all of you! I ve tried to thank you all personally, please forgive me if I haven t gotten to you all yet! Gordon Cochrane Merry Christmas! Now you can make your holiday travel plans a little earlier in the year thanks to the early declaration of Christmas Eve as a holiday for state employees. The University s holidays for this year will now include December 22, 25, 26, and 27. Thanks Governor Hodges. Ty-ger Award Unlinked Magic A huge THANK YOU to Amy Armstrong who pulled off a miracle. Never did we imagine how many problems or quirks there could be in the unlinked item records for the current periodical use study. Amy took a HUGE project under her wing to check and re-check the records for any mistakes. Can you imagine reviewing over 5,000 records? Not only checked each one for accuracy, but resolved problems or mysteries and created brand new notebooks and scanned new barcodes into each record. Hats off to Amy! Teri Alexander

3 August 25, 2000 page 3 Yard Sale! Come by and come buy The Pickens County chapter of Concerned Citizens for Animals (CCA) will hold its annual yard sale on Saturday, August 26 at the Clemson Shopping Center (Garrett s) in the old Clemson Athletic Center building. Time is 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. This is the major fund raiser for money to sponsor the subsidized spay-neuter program. If anyone has any household items or children s clothing (no adult clothing) they would like to donate, please contact me and I can pick it up at the library or your home (if in Clemson or Central.) If you have any larger items such as furniture, arrangements can be made to pick these up at your home. CCA is a tax-exempt charity and tax receipts can be given for donations. Contact Maureen Harris at (leave message) or maureenharris@mindspring.com Also, be sure to come and BUY some stuff. You d be surprised what bargains show up! Last year our group made over $2000 all of which went for our spay-neuter and feral rescue projects. Maureen Harris Congratulations...to Alisha Maw on her recent graduation. Alisha graduated during the August commencement with a degree in Political Science and English. We're all so very proud of her! Fredda Mealor Did you hear?...steven Maw (brother of Alisha Maw, Reserves) was recently pictured in the sports section of the Greenville newspaper. He is the returning starting quarterback for the Liberty High School Red Devils. Read the entire story about the Red Devils and their new head coach in Greenville s Sunday, August 19, 2000 edition of The News....Javare Hamilton (son of Victoria Hamilton, RSCS) from Daniel High is named by South Carolina Prep Football as one of the Top 10 running backs in the Class of 2001 and a second team preseason Statewide All-State berth. Most colleges have made contact including Clemson, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Baylor, and West Virginia. Read the entire story at default.asp?sid=1076&p=2&stid=

4 August 25, 2000 page 4 minutes. The student had been told over the phone that it would be available when she arrived but it was not on the Reserve shelf when she got there. The person on the Circulation Desk at that time was unaware that the Reserve LTA had not put the item on Reserve as requested. To complicate the situation, the two LTAs had not been getting along recently. Diana was the assistant moderator in charge of organizing the minidrama. Betty was the LTA behind desk and Laura was one of the by-standing students. The young woman who played the part of the upset student had obviously encountered this situation in the past because she was very talented at giving Betty a hard time. When the Reserve LTA overheard the conversation she became scarce. The first thing Betty did was use the computer to determine that the item was not on Reserve like requested but instead was checked out like a regular book for a month. She sent a student worker to check the continued on next page Reducing Discomfort at Your Workstation Is your workstation design decreasing your productivity or causing you pain? If you work at a desk for long periods of time, you may eventually find yourself suffering from back, neck, writ or eye strain. However, a quick check of your workstation setup and daily work habits can yield some simple yet effective changes. Stress-Free Computing Make sure your computer screen is the proper distance 16 to 28 inches is usually about right. Position the computer monitor so it s perpendicular with your line of vision so you don t have to strain your eyes or neck to view the screen. Position your curtains and blinds so that your monitor doesn t pick up any glare from a brightly lit window. Use indirect lighting, such as task lights, if possible. Keep your hands in a straight, non-rigid position while typing so that you don t work with bent wrists. Use wrist rests only when taking a break from typing or mousing to avoid bending your wrists while working. Sitting Comfortably Majke sure your chair is adjusted properly. Position the seat so that you don t have to slouch while using your keyboard or phone. If your chair doesn t provide proper lower back support, ask your manager about purchasing a lumbar support, which can be attached to your chair back. Library Personnel News, Volume 13, Number 1-2, Spring/Summer 2000

5 August 25, 2000 page 5 regular shelf to make sure the item was not there and asked for the young woman s name, ID #, phone number and e- mail address and tried to calm her down. Once the student worker returned empty handed, Betty acknowledged that the book would not be available for the student s class that day and apologized for the mix-up. Although she could not give out the identity of the person who had it, she encouraged the student to call back or stop back later in the day to see if the current owner could be located and the item returned for her use. Betty then had to deal with Sandra, her fellow paraprofessional. Sandra reappeared, once the student had left, was quick to apologize for not putting the item on Reserve and thanked Betty for handling the situation. Ms. Priester asked for other suggestions on how to handle the problem and said that the group did an excellent job presenting this situation and resolving it ethically. The other groups did equally well with their presentations. After giving away some great door prizes, a delicious catered barbeque lunch was provided. Afterwards folks visited with one another, took a tour of the library or visited the Library Friends Gift Store. The afternoon presentation by A. Tony Fisher, Spartanburg Director of Public Safety, focused on Diversity and Achieving Goals as a Team. He emphasized the importance of being open, honest and dedicated employees and treating all people with respect and affection. He stressed that trust once broken is rarely restored. Change is good for any organization because it provides opportunities for new ideas. In addition, possessing core values such as ethics and integrity are important for government employees who provide a service and have an impact on others. He is a believer that any government employee who treats someone unfairly should be dismissed. All of these qualities are a hallmark of an exceptional organization. He encouraged those attending the workshop to enjoy or have a passion for what they did and to be open to organizing a team to get the job done. After a quick break and a light snack, more door prizes were given away and folks were encouraged to sign up for Section committees. The Clemson gang headed back to cow country with a renewed appreciation for the words team and diversity. Thank you Teri Alexander and Sarah McCleskey for your support and arranging the state car for the trip. This was an excellent workshop. Betty Cook

6 Eleventh Annual Clemson University Libraries Book Sale Friday, Sept. 29, 2000 R.M. Cooper Library Fountain Plaza Last year the Book Sale raised $6,000 for new library books, and we couldn t have done it without the help of over 50 volunteers who worked really hard and had a LOT of fun. Once again, we need your help. Cashiers, Book sorters, Book mover and removers, Poster hangers, Crowd motivators and Balloon inflators are needed! As in previous years, anyone who volunteers for two hours or more will be admitted FREE to the Preview Hour, from 9:00 10:00. Others will be charged $7.00 for this privilege. (Note: Your times worked must be other than the preview hour.) Volunteer Sign-up Name of Volunteer: Yes, I d like to participate in the 10 th Annual Book Sale! Below I have checked the times when I am available to help Pre-Set Up (Thursday, September 28 from 12:00 3:00) Transport books and materials from Acquisitions to the Staging Area Set Up (Friday, Sept. 29 from 7:00 am 10:00) Rope off sale area, post signs, set up tables, move books, unpack boxes, and put books on tables Sale (Friday, Sept. 29 from 10:00 6:00) Ring up sales, take money, make change, straighten tables, bring out new books Take Down (Friday, Sept. 29 from 5:00 7:00) Return all unsold books and materials to staging area I would like free admission to the preview Please return this form to Claudia Martin by September 8th (check with your supervisor first, please )

7 Service Philosophy Guidelines (for interaction with patrons and between library units) We are here to help. Be approachable. Treat each patron with courtesy and respect. This is an institution of learning. All questions are welcome. Listen to requests carefully and ask questions directed at finding what the person truly needs. There are no walls between us and our patrons. Use library policies as guidelines, not roadblocks. If there is something in the policies that unnecessarily keeps you from offering service, let your supervisor know. If you cannot help, find someone who can. If a request will take some time to complete, let the person know about when to expect its completion. Follow up at that time. If a request cannot be accomplished let the patron know of your efforts and suggest an alternative if possible. Remember that many patrons may feel ignored by the system and may become frustrated trying to get what they need. Use your knowledge and skills to guide them through the confusion. Be understanding and flexible when possible.