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RELATED
Research Assignment Evolves into Book Publication for Kathy Abromeit
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Kathy Abromeit, public services librarian, and Peter Tantsits, a junior reference assistant from Fogelsville, Pennsylvania help Scott Skiba, a sophomore from Bridgeville, Pennsylvania, with a reference question.
The first step is locating the call number of scores and recordings. If you don't know how to find a title on OBIS, Kathy Abromeit, public services librarian, and her library reference staff is trained to assist. They offer three kinds of reference service:
- Individual research help from the reference desk
- Personal reference appointments
- Group instruction (a.k.a., bibliographic instruction, or BI)
Abromeit clearly loves reference work. "The bulk of my day is spent mentoring reference assistants -- the reffies," she says. "During spring semester I train seven students in an extensive, semester-long seminar. I offer a series of research assignments, and they complete labs to solve the problems. We also discuss interview skills, conflict mediation, research methods and ethics of the profession. Another important aspect of the training is honoring and respecting patrons.
"If a patron comes in with a huge research project, I make a reference appointment and we methodically cover the resources and brainstorm process. I see some people several times over the course of a semester to help them in their process.
"I also visit classes for group bibliographic instruction (BI's) in basic functional skills, how to use OBIS and look at indexes. With the extraordinary rise of web sources, there's a huge palette of information to explore. It's like the sampler plate at a TGI Friday restaurant.
"The most valuable part of BI's is that students get to know me, our training and our offerings. I want them to understand that the Conservatory offers one of the finest libraries in the country. I continue to be amazed by the richness of our collection. Most importantly, when students graduate from Oberlin, they should feel confident in their library skills and be able to fully integrate library use in their daily lives. When faculty and librarians work together, this is achieved."
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