Mission Accomplished

I haven't figured out if the warm fuzzies that I get when I help a patron who's really in a pickle come from the sheer joy of helping a fellow human being in need or from the selfish satisfaction that comes from the confirmation that I am indeed an information goddess who can find the answer to any inquiry. Whatever the reason, it's cool and I'm wishing I could give myself a big high-five right now.

A clearly flustered and sorta freaked out guy just came in looking for information about local bus schedules; while the specifics were unclear, he's been traveling across the country from San Diego for three months and somehow got separated from his gear and desperately needed to get to Cass and Lafayette and really didn't think he should go walking through the neighborhood anymore because he just figured out the hard way that Detroit isn't California.

My first thought was to panic. Crap, I know NOTHING about this - not even what the local bus line is called. (It's DDOT.) Then I remembered, hey, you ARE the information goddess, empowered with the means to tap into a vast network of information resources. After figuring out the difference between Smart and DDOT (you learn something new every day!) and coming to the realization that the DDOT bus schedule system works on Explorer, not Mozilla (f.y.i.), I was able to find the information, to the complete and utter relief of tired hippie dude in dire need of a serious bath and fingernail scrubbing.

Chances are, a few months from now I'll have dozens of stories like this and a minor information victory will seem just that - minor. But for now, I'll consider it a sort of newbie breaking-in. Welcome to the world of public service. I'm patting myself on the back and I'll go home knowing that my 8 hours here today made a difference to at least one person.

Updating the Blog

So this semester my job is to update the blog, which is great, because I occasionally convince myself that I have something witty enough to say that someone might find it mildly amusing. So expect the musings of a UGL newbie to start popping up here fairly frequently. I'm mulling over in my brain what direction I want to take this - since we rarely have a chance to see each other in person, hopefully the blog can promote a sense of camaraderie and allow us to share tips, ideas, and (of course) stories about what goes on in this house of fun they call the UGL.

It has been suggested to me that I also invite the GSAs from P/K and Science and Engineering to join our little online community, so that's on my list of blog-related things to do.

Hope everyone is off to a great start this semester!

Pay Phones Are Back! (and other things happening in or near the UGL)

There are pay phones in the library again. One is located in its usual spot down the hallway toward Lab A. The other is located in the 24-Hour Extended Study Center down the hallway that leads to the Women's restroom.

We now have access to a Patron Complaint Form. This is located on the desktop of the main Info Desk computer. This form can be given to patrons who wish to make a complaint. I gave one to a member of the Alumni Association this morning. She was disappointed that the only computer access she is allowed is at the Community Access Terminals.

Just an fyi: There will be a Farmers Market on campus at 5201 Cass Ave (in front of Prentice Hall) on Wednesday, August 27th and Wednesday, September 24th between 11:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Local farmers will sell produce and other handmade/grown products.

A New Policy and a New Policy Tool

There's some new stuff brewing at Club UGL. First, a new Textbook and Reserve Policy will be in place starting this fall. Be sure to read this over. Questions by students should be directed to the Checkout Desk.

Also, Annette Healy and the GSAs over at the Sci & Eng Library created this awesome new Library Policy wiki. This should help us do our jobs more efficiently and effectively. Check it out. Send Annette suggestions for updates, or just kudos!

Here's wishing everyone a happy and productive fall semester at the Club.