Comments Off on Voice Mail: Reference Desk

By bmatthie, October 13, 2005 1:05 pm

Friendly reminder: If you answer a voice mail reference question be sure to delete the originating message.

Comments Off on CheckOut Survey

By Scott Pfitzinger, October 5, 2005 9:21 am

For all Library Staff: please add a comment to this post (click the
“Comments” link at the bottom) with your response to the following
question:

How should we inform each other when we’re unavailable or out of the office?
    A. Use CheckOut.
    B. Use an Instant Messenger.
    C. Use both.
    D. Find some other means.
    E. None of the above. We don’t need to inform each other about that.

Thank you.
Scott

Comments Off on Auto-Starting CheckOut

By Scott Pfitzinger, October 5, 2005 8:52 am

Now that we’ve had that CheckOut program running for a few months, I thought it time to evaluate its use.

7 or 8 people have been using it relatively frequently and keeping it relatively current.
About 10 have used it sporadically, and not in a while.
The rest (6 or 7) have not really used it at all.

The primary reason for using the program at all has been to let other
people know if you’re going to be out for a while, whether that’s days
(like Brad saying he’ll be on vacation until next Monday) or hours
(like Sheri saying she’s at a recital until 4:00). Six of our staff
members (including the Reference Desk) have been using an Instant
Messenger program, which, besides making it easy to ask quick questions
of co-workers, allows “Away Messages” to show if you’re out for a
while. They even come up automatically if you just leave your computer
for a few minutes.

If you just forget to go into CheckOut and update your status, it has
been suggested to me that I explain how to put CheckOut in your Startup
folder, so it will automatically start when you start Windows. Then you
could easily “check in” and close it. There is a shortcut in Library on
Ben (the G: drive for most of you). You can copy that shortcut and
paste it into your Startup folder (C:\Documents and
Settings\yourusername\Start Menu\Programs\Startup). If you’ve already
copied the shortcut to your desktop (I know many of you have), you can
just copy/paste (or click/drag) it to your Startup folder as in the
picture below. You can also get to your Startup folder by
right-clicking your Taskbar, selecting Properties, then the Advanced
tab and Advanced button.

Comments Off on MG 101 Individual Research Project

By bmatthie, September 29, 2005 6:46 pm

Reference Librarians –

• Economic Environment: Describe the
  prevailing and anticipated economic conditions that will impact the business.

• Industry/Competitive
  Environment: Describe broad industry trends.  Describe the nature of the competition in the
  industry.  Specifically identify key
  competitors, their strengths and weaknesses; and, the related threats and
  opportunities.

• Market/Customer
  Analysis: Describe the demographic and lifestyle trends that will
  impact demand for your product or service.

• Global
  Environment: Describe any prevailing global conditions that relate to
  the business such as foreign markets where the business may sell the product in
  the future or obtain resources such as supplies.

Jon can field any complicated
questions regarding the assignment, their Individual Project, or their
end-of-the-year Team Project until I get back.  I will return Oct. 12 at which
point you can refer students to me as well.  Many will likely want to talk to me
regarding questions about the IRP because I am the grader. 

So, feel free to encourage them to
seek me out starting on Oct. 12.

-Brad