Before this assignment I had never used the "Know it Now 24x7" website or the "Ask a Librarian" tool through Kent State University. I was excited to try both services, in hope that this could be something that I start to use more often if I am satisfied with the results.
First I went to the "Know in Now 24x7" website found at http://www.knowitnow.org/. I really like the fact that this service is 24x7, because I often do my research and homework late at night. The fact that there is a staff member ready to chat at any time makes this service very flexible. Here is how my chat went:
Megan: What educational implications does muscular dystrophy have on children?
ad.pat: Hello. You've connected to your 24x7 online reference service staffed by librarians across the state. Please wait one moment while I take a look at your question.
ad.pat: hi
ad.pat: let me see what i can find for you
Megan: Hello! Thank you!
ad.pat: this may help: http://www.slc.sevier.org/miscdisa.htm
ad.pat: still looking
ad.pat: another: http://www.mnlowincidenceprojects.org/documents/PIdisabilityBriefAdmin.pdf
Megan: Ok great I will check out both of those...thank you!
The chat was very brief and I left the chat before checking out the websites to see if they had the information that I needed. This was a mistake and I will know better next time. The first website gave a small amount of information about physical disabilities such as MD, but was very general and didn't really give me the information I needed. Only a few sentences even related to MD. The second website was about common physical impairments and adaptations that can be made for these students. This website gave me more than the first, but both were pretty general. This information was not nearly as helpful as the information I collected through assignment 4. I think part of the problem was in the way that I asked the question through the chat. Next time I will try to be very clear in letting the librarian I am chatting with know exactly what I need. I also should have stayed in the chat and given the librarian feedback so that they could try again to find information I needed.
After being a little disappointed in the results from "Know it Now," I went to Kent State University website to try to chat with a librarian. However when I got to the library's page I saw that the chat is only open when Kent State's library is open. This was a little frustrating to me, because the summer hours for the library are not very flexible. I decided that I would wake up early the next morning to chat with a KSU librarian. The website stated that a KSU librarian is available to chat when the reference desk is open. I checked the calendar for the hours to make sure the library was open, but I still ended up waiting on the KSU librarian to go online. This was very frustrating for me and made me feel like it would be a lot easier to just start looking for the information myself.
After waiting some time I did get to chat with a KSU librarian. I made sure that this time I explained my situation with tutoring the child with MD in detail and asked what I should know about MD before starting. I also asked what kind of modifications I should be making. The KSU librarian gave me resources that were a lot more helpful than the resources given by "Know it Now." I still don't think these resources were as "on target" as the resources I found on my own, but I knew exactly what I was looking for.
How did the two IM services compare to each other? Well, I think I gave the KSU librarian an advantage by explaining my situation and describing in detail exactly what I was looking for. I think I would have received information that was more relevant to my topic if I would have done that with the "Know it Now" librarian. I was very frustrated with the hours of the KSU librarian chat. A librarian was not online at the time that the website had posted. If I had to pick one of these to use in the future I would probably choose the "Know it Now" website, because I wouldn't have to worry about whether they are online or not. I would just make sure that I really explain what I need to the librarian.
Chatting online with a librarian was an interesting experience and one that I had never done before. Do I think the information I received from this experience was better that the information I found in assignment 4? No, at least in this case I was able to find exactly what I needed in a shorter amount of time. I was able to research at any time of the day and I knew the key terms to use to get the information I needed. I don't see myself referring to the online librarians unless I am having trouble finding information on my own. This is just my personal preference. However, I do give the library credit for having this kind of service available. It shows that the library is changing with technology and trying to reach out to all users.
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