October 29, 2008
In the news…
While we were in San Miguel de Allende the local newspaper did a story on our group. They interviewed me personally.. but I guess I didn’t say anything especially enlightening because I didn’t make the final edit. Oh well. It’s still cool. I can’t link directly to the page but here is the link to the local newspaper:
http://www.atencionsanmiguel.org/index.php?enghome
And here is the story copied in full:
Library students volunteer at Biblioteca
By Krishna Villena
| During the week of October 13, eight MSL (Master of Library Science) students visited the Biblioteca Pública to work as volunteers editing online catalog records. |  |
Gwen Alexander, dean of the School of Library Information Management, said that Hawthorne “arranged these activities in coordination with Robin Velte, a retired MLS librarian who volunteers as the English book collection librarian here.” Alexander visited the Biblioteca last spring and met Velte, and the two discussed the possibility of an October week of volunteerism. Travel expenses for the Emporia State visitors have been covered by a generous endowment left by a former Emporia State student in the MLS program.
Velte said that she and the chief librarians, Juan Manuel Fajardo and Rosario Muñoz listed the main needs of the Biblioteca collections: upgrading the cataloging, adding the entire musical score collection to the catalog and editing the authority file of authors and subject headings. The software company Baratz, which provides service to the library, assigned temporary passwords and access to the system, making extra administrative computer use possible.
Kathleen Ellsworth, who volunteers as a cataloging technician for the English book collection, spent the entire week teaching and guiding the visitors in the use of the Absys7 system. The visiting librarian candidates gave all their attention to upgrading the catalog, checking for errors and completing descriptions of individual items. The volunteers electronically downloaded up-to-date records on top of old, incorrect ones. By adding specific information such as contents and summaries of books, the volunteers enhanced over 600 existing cataloging records. The end result of their labor will make it easier for library patrons to execute meaningful searches in the catalog.
The visiting librarians left behind not only marked improvements in the catalog, but also their tools: six laptops that they brought with them and used during their week of volunteering. The much-needed computers are now library property. The Biblioteca librarians learned a great deal about procedures that can be used in the future to train volunteers who will continue to enhance the catalog.
October 13, 2008
Finally in San Miguel de Allende!
We arrived in San Miguel de Allende today without (much of) a hitch.
Our flights were all on time and customs was a breeze in Leon. The only problem came up when we went out to find that our pre-arranged transport was no where to be found. After a call to the company we found they had no record of our arrangements. Luckily one of the girls in our group speaks fluent Spanish and she was able to negotiate a reasonable deal with a transporter at the airport.
So.. after a long day of flying and driving, we finally arrived in SMA around 7:30 PM.
6 of us are staying in a vacation rental house we found on the www.vrbo.com website. The house is beautiful, like an old Spanish villa. It’s huge with lots of wood and tile work.
After we arrived at our house we took a taxi to La Jardine to meet the rest of our group for dinner. We dined on fabulous Mexican fare and of course we had a margartia to celebrate our arrival. After dinner we walked to the town square just in time to see the crowd exiting from a fireworks display. We were able to use our bank cards to withdrawl pesos at an ATM on the square with no problems.
Tomorrow we will start our work at the biblioteca. I am looking forward to helping the library in this amazing town. I just hope I can sleep through the barking neighborhood dogs!
September 3, 2008
Mexico or bust.
40 Day countdown!
This blog will give insight to my upcoming trip to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. I will be traveling with eight other library school students. During this trip we will work in a biblioteca publica for seven days. Our work will include cataloging and collection development. In preparation for this excursion we have been assigned readings from Serving Latino Communities, by Camila Alire and Orlando Archibeque, along with a number of journal articles. Upcoming posts will provide reflection for how these readings may influence the philosophies and service methodologies practiced during our stay in SMA.
I am excited to have been given the opportunity to put into practice the skills and experiences I have acquired during the last two years as a canadidate for a Master of Library Science degree. I know this experience will help me build a strong service foundation as a library professional.
San Miguel de Allende is a beautiful colonial town in the mountains of Mexico. The temperature stays around 76 degrees all year long. A large number of American and Canadian expatriates reside in SMA, and tourism is on the rise. In the center of town is the Jardin. It is bordered by a huge pink church, Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel, built in 1683. It looks like a pretty big deal, and I can’t wait to see it in person!
By PhotoDevWest
The Traveling Librarian 