New Technology in Libraries

     Well, it's been already been two years since I've had the chance to work in a library, I can't believe how time flies. At the library that I previously worked at back in high school, I'll be perfectly honest here, the staff there didn't exactly focus on updating technology as much as they should have. I'm not sure if it was just the library that I worked at, but it took them a number of years to clean up their website, it was a mess of HTML when I first started working there, and I'm not even sure if there are self checkouts there today. However, where I'm currently living in the Grand Rapids area, there recently was a new form of technology implemented to the Grand Rapids Public Library in the Fall of 2012. During this time, self checkouts were finally installed in the circulation part of the library where people checkout their books, which happens to be at the main entrance.
     The purpose of the self-checkouts were to reduce lines. Normally on a weekend the entrance would be incredibly crowded. I as well as other library patrons, were surprised at first to see the information desk having been moved to a different location of the library and in it's place a series of computers and scanners, however this did not affect library operations too much. There was a librarian there to specifically aid patrons with the self-checkouts, and to answer any of their questions about why the information desk had been moved to a different location.
     Usually a lot of college students, including myself, will come to this library, sometimes in between classes. Before they would be in a time crunch, and waiting in a line didn't help anything. Now they can find and check out a book in a matter of minutes and still have time to make it to their next class.

Search Skills Blog

     For this blog, I had to look up an article pertaining to a current trend in the Library Technology/Science field. After a little while of searching, I came across the article titled "RFID Standards" by Lori Bowen Ayre. This article was published in July of 2012. This article discusses the new trend of RFID tags on library books. I found this article using the EBSCOhost Academic Premiere online database provided by Ivy Tech. RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification. Many libraries in America are trying to make the switch to RFID tags for their books.
     Rather than having to put a magnetic strip in the books and use a large alarm system such as gates, libraries will be able to track the exact location of where the library book is at and when it was checked out. The main issues with RFID tags is that for a little while, there weren't  any standards for using them, and a lot of libraries trying to integrate them into their system before the standards were created, causing some disarray in the circulation department. Now that standards have been set, many libraries have decided to give RFID tags a shot. Currently, neither the library that I used to work at nor the Ivy Tech library has decided to use these to the best of my knowledge. Personally, I think this will be a very effective and innovative way to track library books.
     Right now this trend is off to a rough start, but that isn't uncommon for new forms of library technology. I remember as a kid when my library first got electronic gates, and that didn't take off right away either. I think now that standards have been put in place, this trend will become commonplace in all libraries in due time.

Core Competencies

     Alright, second blog for the day. After hastily trying to put together a presentable blog (that I think is coming together alright), I was presented with the task of having to take an assessment of some kind. It turns out this mysterious test was an assessment that was created by the University of North Texas. Through this, I had a chance to have my computer knowledge assessed. The assessment was broken into seven parts: Basics, Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Database, Presentation, Internet, and Web Development. I went ahead and post my results here as you can see:

Basics

You demonstrate a 95% comprehension in the Basics Knowledge area.
You demonstrate a 100% comprehension in the Basic Skills area.
You demonstrate a 97% in the Basics Assessment Group.

I'm not very surprised by this in the slightest. I am, after all, a part of the first generation that received the functional internet, and by functional I mean dial-up. However, that on top of numerous school computer classes have taught me plenty about Computer Basics.

Word Processing

You demonstrate a 100% comprehension in the Processing Knowledge area.
You demonstrate a 100% comprehension in the Processing Skills area.
You demonstrate a 100% comprehension in the Processing Assessment Group.

This once again comes as no surprise. I have been practicing using a word processor since the late 90's. A word processor is key to communication through a computer, especially in an online college.

SpreadSheet

You demonstrate a 63% in the Spreadsheet Knowledge area.
You demonstrate a 58% in the Spreadsheet Skills area.
You demonstrate a 59% in the Spreadsheet Assessment Group.

Now this one caught me off guard. It's been at least two years since I've used anything requiring a spreadsheet, so this is definitely something I want to come out of this class having improved.

Database

You demonstrate a  100 % comprehension in the Database Knowledge area.

You demonstrate a  78 % comprehension in the Database Skills area.

You demonstrate a  88 % comprehension in the Database Assessment Group.

I feel pretty glad that I remember databases. This will be one less hassle for me this semester.

Presentation

You demonstrate a  100 % comprehension in the Presentation Knowledge area.

You demonstrate a  100 % comprehension in the Presentation Skills area.

You demonstrate a  100 % comprehension in the Presentation Assessment Group.

Once again, growing up, Microsoft Powerpoint was the default program for group projects, so I've had a lot of experience with it. I'm happy to see that I knew everything there is to know about this though.

Internet

You demonstrate a  89 % comprehension in the Internet Knowledge area.

You demonstrate a  98 % comprehension in the Internet Skills area.

You demonstrate a  93 % comprehension in the Internet Assessment Group.

It's nice to see that I know quite a bit about the internet as well. I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but this is yet another tool that I've had years of experience with, starting in about 1999.

Web Development 

You demonstrate a  100 % comprehension in the Web Development Knowledge area.

You demonstrate a  100 % comprehension in the Web Development Skills area.

You demonstrate a  100 % comprehension in the Web Development Assessment Group.

I feel rather proud of myself for scoring a 100% on every area in web development. I remember teaching myself HTML when I was about  fourteen, I'm surprised at how much I was able to retain.

Introduction

     

Hello fellow classmates. This is my second introductions of sorts and an introduction to my blog. Right now it seems rather barren I'm sure. I plan on changing that by the end of the semester. As I said before, I was born in Columbus, Indiana, and now I'm living in a suburb of beautiful Grand Rapids. My current aspiration is to finish my Associate's in Library Technology, and then move onto getting my bachelor's degree in Music. I would love to experiment more with synthesizers during my piano career. I'm not currently employed, but in High School, I worked as a page for the Greensburg Public Library. My hobbies include playing video games, reading, and playing the piano as well as listening to music.