Desk Statistics

We have started recording additional statistics at the Desk. Harvey and I will give you individual instruction on how to update the statistics. It is important that you are diligent about recording statistics so that we have accurate data. Here's an explanation of the categories for which you will be recordings stats.

Total Patrons- This is the total number of actual people that come to the desk. It doesn't matter why they come to the desk. We just want a total headcount for this column.

Directional- This is for direction questions. When someone asks for directions, put a mark in this column. IE - the bathroom, the copiers, the copy card machine, the reference section.

Current Periodicals Checkouts- When someone checks something out from behind the desk, mark either "Newspaper" or "Non-newspaper." Put a mark for each periodical taken out. If one person takes out five periodicals, put five marks.

Periodicals Questions- This column is for when someone asks you where to find a certain periodical. If you refer them to a print title in the stacks, put a mark in the print column. If you refer them to an electronic version of the title, put a mark in the electronic column. If you refer them to microform, put a mark in the microform column.

Referrals to Other Desks- This is for when you get a question innapropriate for the Periodicals Desk. Put a mark in the column corresponding to the desk to which you refer the patron.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask me or Harvey. We would rather you ask us than take a guess as to where a mark goes on the sheet.

Blog Quiz #1 Answers

Thanks to those who answered the Blog Quiz questions. You showed that you are committed to learning all that you can about your job, and that is a good thing. Any future quizzes given by Harvey or myself will be mandatory, and you will be expected to answer them promptly (within a week). The purpose of these quizzes is to get you thinking about questions you might get at the desk. We want you to have a thorough knowledge of the workings of the library - that is, we want you to know more than enough to perform your jobs. This way, we can be sure that we're providing the best service possible to our patrons.

So, without further ado, here are the answers to the quiz.

A patron asks for Jane's Defence Weekly, v. 42, no. 46 (2005 November 16). What do you tell him?

When I first published the blog quiz, this issue had not yet arrived. If you see that an issue is missing from the folder and it should be there, please let me know about it. I claimed this particular issue twice before it finally arrived last week. Always mention the options of Consortium Loan or Inter-library Loan. Make sure the patron knows to put a note in their request saying that the issue is missing.

A patron is looking for an article from 2001 by George Gilboy. She knows we have it because she has read the article before, but she doesn't remember where the article appears. It deals with China. What do you tell her?

You can use Article First or Google Scholar to find this. If the patron has a relatively simple request like this one, feel free to try to find the answer before sending them to the reference desk. There is an article from 2001 called "China's Coming Transformation" in Foreign Affairs.


On what date did the Times (of London) first mention Abraham Lincoln? To which political party did the paper say he belonged?
[update] This question is flawed. Don't worry about finding the FIRST reference - just find a reference to Abraham Lincoln from the 1860s.

This question ended up being harder than I first thought. There are any number of references to "Lincoln" in the Times of London. But the point of this question was to make you aware of the Times Digital Archive. This is a full-text database covering the Times of London from 1785-1985. You can access it from the list of databases on the library website. You need not do the patrons' research for them. But you should be able to tell them that we have this resource in addition to print and microfilm.

Stay tuned for the next quiz.