I just did some quick and not-very-precise calculations and realized that about 4.5% of the student body is in the reference room with me right now. Cool!
Comments closedLearning in Libraries and Loving It
Category: Carleton
Early this afternoon, MN-DOT closed parts of I-35 (which runs from the Twin Cities down to Northfield and on south toward Iowa). Mid-afternoon, the University of Minnesota closed. And then, at 4:15 in the afternoon, 45 minutes before most departments close down, our college president sent out an email that began:
Dear Carleton Staff, Faculty, and Students,
We have been notified that winter weather conditions are deteriorating rapidly. As a result, the College has decided to officially close for the remainder of the day. Essential services will be maintained.At this point, the College plans to be open tomorrow (Friday, March 2). If conditions overnight warrant a closure, announcements will be made on KYMN, DKHL, KSTP, KARE 11, and WCCO by 7:30 a.m., if possible.
This is the first time the school has closed since I started working here, but I’m kind of disappointed that they waited this long to do it. And tomorrow’s forecast calls for all of 2 inches of snow, so work will carry on as normal.
Meanwhile, the view out of my window reveals very little visibility, though the picture looks clearer than the reality because most of the visibility problems are from the blowing snow, and the picture makes all the flakes stand still. (The scale here is about 3 or 4 car-lengths of trees ending at the road that runs past the apartments, if that helps. Also, it’s supposed to be broad, afternoon daylight.)
In all fairness, it hasn’t been really and truly horrible in this town. The worst of it is swirling all around us but missing us. Still…
[Update: The campus is closing, but the library is staying open for normal operating hours, which means until 1AM. I guess we’ve just been upgraded to “essential services.”]
Comments closedOne of the things that makes Carleton Carleton is the nine and a half week term. Never have I heard a length of time so strenuously defended or so often blamed for any real or perceived short-fallings in teaching, learning, assignments, experimentation, or exploration.
Be that as it may, I can tell it’s 9th week because I’m sitting here tonight with over 90 students around me. There are over 20 groups of students working around piles of books, our computers, and their laptops, and the air is full of the hum of purposeful conversation. It’s definitely “Crime Scene Investigation Quiet” today. Every one of our 24 computers is in use (supplemented by at least that many laptops), every one of our tables is populated, and from where I’m sitting, I can’t see any open chairs. There are even couple of people sitting on tables. And that’s just the reference room.
I love it when the library is like this. Next week it’ll be just as full, but the noise level will drop significantly, and we’ll move carefully so as not to disturb anyone. The tension will be almost visible as everyone buckles down and studies for finals. This week is a lot happier than next week will be.
Comments closedAfter writing that last post, I did some more analysis of our reference desk stats (I do love having data dumps from our online knowledge base into Excel!). Did you know that over 7% of the questions we’ve fielded were answered while there was no scheduled desk coverage? Almost 2% of all questions were answered between 10 and 11 at night, and reference service ends at 10 on Sundays and Monday through Thursday. Another 2% were answered in the hour before reference services begin Monday through Friday.
These I can understand. But what’s with the average of one question per term week answered between midnight and 9AM? 9 of these 14 questions occurred between midnight and 4AM. I can tell you right now, those weren’t answered by me!
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