“Google can bring you back 100,000 answers. A librarian can bring you back the right one.” –Neil Gaiman
There’s a lot of information out there. It can be difficult and time consuming to sift through it all. What’s real? What’s fake? What’s outdated? What’s validated? Where can I find sources with the information I want at the level I want it? (No, you won’t catch me reading journals of theoretical physics, but give me a Neil Degrasse Tyson article and I might keep up.)
That’s where we come in. We, as library staff, are here to help guide our communities to factual, pertinent sources as we provide access to information, help with research, guide patrons in computer literacy, lend a hand with job search skills, lead in early literacy, and so much more.
“Librarians know EVERYTHING!!”—me, as a kid
But alas, we don’t know everything. We do, however, have resources and databases to help us find answers. A lot of them. When do we have time, in our busy day-to-day positions as library staff, to thoroughly investigate what those (often complicated) databases have to offer and how to use them effectively? Those moments of peace at the desk can be few and far between, and that time can easily by jeopardized by other projects.
My hope is that this blog will be a resource for you as you use and share these databases. So, a few short questions:
WHO?
I’m Kerri, the Capital Area Library District trainer. It’s my job to test, explore, and share the resources the district provides. I started in libraries as a Public Services Assistant on the front lines of Kline Library in Harrisburg, which colors what I find interesting and useful.
Also, you: this is the perfect place to comment, engage in discourse, and exchange tips and experiences. I’d love to see this evolve into a place of community for our district. Were you able to use something you read here? Did you run into a problem or have an additional idea? Share what works and what doesn’t!
WHAT?
I’ll be posting tips, tutorials, updates, content features, and additional links for you regarding the databases our district provides as well as useful free resources I discover in my research. I plan to keep it organized in a way that you can read along post by post or use it to search for information on a specific database or topic need.
If you’d like to write a guest post, I’d love for you to join me.
WHEN?
I’ll try to update regularly, but I have no set schedule. Basically, I’ll let you know when I find cool things!
WHERE?
Right here, or subscribe to blog updates via email in the sidebar. Also, join me at a face-to-face training some time!
WHY?
Not everyone has time or funding to attend a physical training. It’s impossible to fit all the interesting things I find in training sessions, anyway. Hopefully this blog is a way to brush up on the sheer enormity of what we have to offer.
Additionally, I’d like to leave you with a selection from John Green’s keynote to School Library Journal in October 2017:
I think we need to talk about information literacy online, and I think we need to fight to make algorithms work better, but I also think we need to empower an army of expert librarians and educators to make a future that is more information literate than our present…You know in Game of Thrones there’s that huge 700-ft-high wall separating the seven kingdoms from the army of the dead? I kind of feel like you guys are the wall between civil discourse and the forces that would destroy it. No pressure. I hope that you have other allies…but it is individuals working daily with our students, helping them understand how to interpret information and when to trust it, who are introducing kids to the idea of expertise—because in most cases teachers and librarians are the first experts kids meet.
This holds true not only for kids, but for many of the community members who come to us with a wide range of needs. Let’s empower ourselves through learning to help them effectively, accurately, and compassionately.
(Want to get in on the conversation? Comment below and tell me what databases you’d like to learn more about.)
CALD Resource Blog 