Reading List Project

I approached the Reference staff at the Library where I work and they were very surprised when I talked to them about the possibility of doing a reading list. The department head said it would be alright to work with one of her staff members and I was told that I could do anything I wanted. I asked if they had any recommendations and they still said I could do anything. This left me with a lot of choices but also very unsure of what to do.

I struggled at first to get more information to make a list that I thought would actually be used. After I talked to the Librarian that teaches most of the computer classes I thought about a computer book list for the first time. We talked again and we both felt that it would be a useful and we could use a list or partial list a few different ways.

I started with the most frequently asked technology questions and I also ran some reports to get some numbers. After some more discussion I felt I could focus on five categories from this section and cover topics that are frequently requested but sometimes difficult to point the patron in the right direction. I would concentrate on books for beginners in Office products (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), home computer networking, and web page creation/design.

I was told it could be difficult to find a book in these categories, especially networking and web design for beginners that would not be over their head. Someone suggested a shelf topper but after some thought I felt a tri-fold would be best. I also thought we might be able to reuse the content on the Reference section of the web page.

The next part was to explore Microsoft Office and similar products. Some books are for specific applications such as Word, PowerPoint and Excel where some other are an overview of the Office Suite. To determine the applications to concentrate on I went from patron requests as well as the most frequently checked out material. The books what were overviews were used in the tri-fold and the books on specific applications would be included in the handouts for the classes the Library offers on Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel.

To create this list I first checked the Library catalog to see what we had on the shelf. I sorted through the books and determined which would fit the categories that I select and then I sorted out the books that were not geared for beginners. I also used web resources such as amazon.com, Baker and Taylor and some publishers’ websites to research what other items were available. During the process I found a few items that were not available at the Library and I noted that they would be good to have in the collection. The Librarian I worked with was also the selector for this section and we were able to purchase a few items.

After looking at the list it may seem strange that I would include older versions of Microsoft Office products but after going through this process I found it was necessary. Just because there is a new version doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone or even some people will upgrade. In a lot of cases the new features in the most current version will not help the users already do or want to do.

In classes and at the Reference desk it was very common to have a patron request a book on an older version of Office. In many cases someone gave a computer to a patron and it had an older version of Office or they do not want to pay for the newest version. Most of the time the patron’s needs do not require the latest greatest version of Office or even Microsoft Office it at all. We have a number of patrons that use OpenOffice because it is free.

Overall, I learned a lot by doing this and realized how helpful this type of project can be. I ended up with a list of about 25 books in 6 different categories. The Microsoft Office and Open Office titles should be incorporated in the handouts for the computer classes offered at the Library starting in May and a brochure with Office, networking, and web page and site building titles for beginners will be available at the Information desk. The tri-fold also includes information about web based tutorials (customguide.com) and computer classes the Library offers.