Meeting with Clinical Support Librarian

Today I met with Mark who is a clinical support librarian. He helps clinicians to get information for patients, helps people use technology, create information on Cds, and restructures the PDA page on the Yale website. After getting a masters degree in anthropology, he went to China where he worked for 2 years. He came back and realized that anthropology was not for him, so he applied for a job at a library. He was really inspired by the staff who seemed to like what they did and decided to get his masters degree in library sciences at Southern University. He worked at Saint Francis Raphael Hospital for 13 years, and came in as clinical support librarian 9 years ag0.

A typical day for him varies from day. The most challenging thing about his job is dealing with competing demands, and not having enough time to do all of the basic work. He communicates with people through web pages, emails, periodic classes, etc. He says that for one to be curious, flexible, and willingness to be open are key traits in the job. Though what keeps him happy in his job is the satisfaction of helping people, feeling that he has accomplished something, and the recognition from the supervisors. Currently he is working on redoing the PDA pages on the Yale website, working with the Yale Hospital to get money to support the Library, and teaching a Uganda doctor about the use of technology.

One of his memorable experiences is hearing from people that he has helped in the past, and being asked by a woman how long can you hear after death? He has been to conferences around the country and the world like San Francisco, Texas, Florida, and Sweden, where he was a key speaker to represent the Library. The achievements that he is most proud of' are having access in the clinical areas, and improving mobile devices. He hopes that 5 years from now that he would still be doing some of the stuff that he doing now.

Meeting with Historical Librarian

After my meeting with Jan, I met with Toby who is the head of the historical library. First she gave me tour of the historical library then sat with me to talk. She buys books either old or new, gives exhibits, anwers questions through email, teaches classes, and works on the digital library which is mainly about images. It is a challenge for her to work on so many things at once. She wishes that there was more time to work on collections. Everyday is different and never boring because she never knows who comes through the doors. She communicates with people through the classses that she teaches, letters, telephone, emails, online exhibits, and tour. She also meets and talks with people through meetings like the History of Science and the American Association of Historic Association. Important traits that one needs in her job is flexibity, knowing the materials, patience, and willingness to know new things.

Toby has a Phd in the History of Science and recieved her library degree from the University of Maryland. Some of her achievements are the various exibits she has done and getting them up, the Darwin exibits, and keeping the records of the bibliography of publications that used unique manuscripts of the medical library. Another achievement is being able to organize a lot of things in the past 15 years. She is currently working on the Bicentennial collection, which involves pictures of old doctors, the first building of the Yale Medical School and Medical Library, and donations of a student assistant of Harvey Cushing, who recently died at the age of 91.She is also helping to make changes on the website. She mentioned to me that technology in the future will be widely used in our libraries, but will take a long time for libraries to fully be vitual. Also she mentioned that there will be few librarians in the future. In five years she hopes to be retired but will volunteer at different places.

Meeting with Educational Services Librarian

Today I met with Jan who is the educational services librarian. She mentors others medical librarians, organizes educational program, and coordinates medical student librarians. She also teaches people how to use and find resources online. It is hard for her keep with technology and how to use it. Although she would like to have an administrator assistant because it would be much easier for everyone who finds it difficult to do perform all of the day's work. Her typical day involves reading emails, organizing classes, and making sure the content is adequate. She communicates with people through email, teaching, and meetings.

An important thing that one needs in her job is curiosity not because that one is loosing interest in the job but that it makes one learn more things. For instance she received an anonymous letter from California that asked the question: Does blood bounce off snow?, and she became so intrigued by the question that she herself wanted to know. She gave the individual a list of sources to contact his local hospital and ask the people of pathology. She says that it is one of her favorite questions. Her memorable experiences is recognizing the need before other people, and realizing that the product for which she felt would be huge became a great thing.

Some projects that she is currently working on is organizing orientations for the new medical students, and making sure that her list for which she will be using to teach is revised and ready for September 14. Next week she will be going to Australia for which she will be representing the library. She has also been to China in which she was a key note speaker for a meeting, and Darthmouth in which she supported the clinical library.

Jan received her masters in library sciences from Rhode Island University, and has been in the career for 35 years. She had always wanted to become a librarian since she was a teenager. So what is necessary for her to be happy in her job is doing the best to her ability with the time that she has. Some benefits the community receives from her job are teaching people how to find information, and helping school nurses by raising awareness. In 5 years she hopes to perform some garden work, volunteering at some places, and tutor students for English.

Meeting with Director of Public Schools(continue August 6, 2009)

After my meeting with Matt, I met with Claudia Merson who works in the New Haven and State Affairs as well as being the director of public schools. She is the contact person between Yale University and the school district, and approves a budget. She had been a teacher, and taught at an educational theater. She went to New York University for her undergraduate degree and Harvard for her graduate degree. She received a masters degree in education. After teaching for 21 years, she moved to Baghdad and taught for 3 years, then moved to Sweden for 11 years. Now as the director of public schools she communicates with people through phone, emails, Facebook, and meetings. Her typical day includes checking her emails, going to meetings, making phone calls, and tracking down old SCHOLARS members. SCHOLARS is a summer program for New Haven high school students which prepares them for their next year courses.

The important things that she does are speaking with faculty, and helping students connect with teachers and teachers with the library. Although the most challenging thing for her is not having enough time to do the things she wants to do. She is currently working on making a partnership with Cooperative Arts School. Her most memorable experience is the partnership between Career High School and Yale University. She also showed me a letter of congratulations from then President Bill Clinton. She loves her job and hopes to still be in the career.

Meeting with Public Health Librarian

Yesterday, August 6, I met with Matt who is the public health librarian. He had never thought about becoming a librarian for public health, he instead studied English Language at James Madison College in Virginia. His friend had inspired him where he was working in a library to become a librarian. He then decided to go the University of Illinois to receive a degree as a public health librarian. The important things that he does are helping people find information that they need, making sure that they need it and when they it. The challenging thing that his does in his job is never having enough money to go through the evaluation of what resources are to be received. He communicates with people through email, Facebook, Twitter, going to different places, and attending student orientations. In the students orientations he talks about the information that the public health library offers, and the availability of the resources.

A typical day for him is checking his email, dealing with people's problems through email, and meeting with medical students. He says that a key trait that one needs for his job is being curious about things. Some things that are necessary to keep him happy in his job are getting paid, having fun, and enjoyable colleagues. He is also working on a special project that let students, who perform certain requirements, be paid to the Public Health Association meeting. He says that it is an educational experience for them. His job has allowed him to travel around the country such as San Diego, Orlando, and Columbia where he trained people. The achievements his most proud of are making tough decisions and making them happen. Matt has been in this job for 11 years and hopes that he is still having fun in the future.

Meeting with Library Director(continue August 5, 2009)

After meeting with Denise I met Kenny, who is the library director and deals with public relations. She works to encourage her staff, and makes sure that they have enough funds. She went to Southerner Connecticut and Albertus Magnus College to get her degree in public relations. She also has a bachelors degree in history. Important things about her in her job is being a good listener, letting people to disagree with her, and recognizing people. She likes to see her staff happy and feel a satisfaction in what she does. Kenny mentioned to me that liking to work with people, listening to others, being a team player, having good communication skills including having good technical skills are important traits that one needs in her job.

Her typical day involves getting to work early, and going to meetings which could be faculty, university, or alumni affairs. Also she says that her favorite thing so far has been working on a project called MERCY which focuses on how to spend the collection budget and how people use the collection. She communicates with the users of the library by getting to know them, speaking with surgeons, and the Liaisons. She is currently working on planning a retreat for the historical library, looking at spaces in library, and is also thinking of creating a swipe system. Her proud achievements are hiring good people to work for the library, and the endowment for the historical library. Kenny has been in this career for 30 years and still loves the job, the people as well as the environment.

Meeting with Liaison Librarian

Yesterday, August 5, I met with Denise who is Liaison to the anesthesiology and cancer center. She connects with the faculty, promotes and markets the use of resources and new resources. She makes people know what tools they have to use, and by creating an online site she lets people use easier ways to locate the resources. The most challenging thing about her job is finding new ways to help other Liaisons within limited time. She also works with Holly who is a Liaison to the OBGYN department. They both work to find new resources for their departments. Denise had majored and had a Phd in American History because she had wanted to become a historian. However she didn't feel that it was her calling. She then applied for an internship at the catalog at the University of Massachusetts and received her librarianship degree at Southern Connecticut.

She downloads resources, searches through datalike tools to store resources, and visit operating rooms to speak with surgeons. Her memorable experiences include having worked with surgeons in the ER, attending a anthesisologist meeting, and telecommunicating. I asked her about her experience in Japan having been spoken by Charlie. She bascially said that she gets to go because of her husband's job and it is only temporal. She is still able to work through skype. She is currently working with a group of people to redo the library website. Everyday is different for her but what is necessary to keep her happy is learning new things, her colleagues, and the supervisors who support her. She still will like to be in the library in the next 5 to 10 years.