BA THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2004
KU info Student workers take on library reference responsibilities
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14
A rare service
WHAT ARE KU INFO'S HOURS?
Nationwide and among Big 12 Conference schools, a phone line like KU Info is rare, said Susan Elkins, director of KU Info. Many schools' offices and departments give out information, but a one-stop phone line is hard to find.
- Monday through Thursday: 8 a.m. to midnight
- Friday: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Saturday: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Sunday: 10 a.m. to midnight
Source: KU Info
Automated answering services are perhaps most common among Big 12 schools, but KU Info is different, Elkins said.
KU Info's automated service.
J-Talk, is used only when all lines are busy or when calls come in after KU Info is closed, she said.
Operating 24 hours a day in the 1980s, KU Info staff answered about 700 calls per day.
But starting in the 1990s, students began to find their own answers on the Internet and through University resources.
From 1991 to 1992, the number of calls fell to 410 per day, and to 277 per day from 2002 to 2003.
Since moving from the Kansas Union to the library in 2003, call intake has continued to decrease, with only 179 per day from 2003 to 2004. And now, as part of the library system, KU Info's structure has changed.
In the Kansas Union, KU Info workers answered the phones exclusively and were rarely lim
ited to what questions they could
answer. Workers found answers using index cards, resource books and the Internet.
When KU Info moved to the library in 2003, workers took on the role of "peer reference assistants." They were trained to answer reference questions and to help with computers and copy equipment. Elkins said. They still answer the phones, but they also handle walk-in traffic from library patrons, she said.
KU Info is part of the reference and information resource service, said Bill Myers, director of library development. It still maintains the KU Info identity, but it is integrated with the library, he said.
KU Libraries provide KU Info with a $60,000 annual budget, with almost all of the money going toward staff salaries, Myers said. Even though KU Info exists as a separate group, library administrators still want users to see it and the library as one service.
"We want the campus community to understand that KU Info and KU Libraries are one entity," he said.
New look,
new responsibilities
tradition will be lost as it becomes more integrated into the library structure, and that answering the phones could take a backseat.
Other student workers question the training they've gotten and their abilities to handle library and reference issues.
Many KU Info workers, such as Alisha Ashley, Halstad junior, said they didn't mind doing the library work. But they fear KU Info's
"A two-hour seminar once doesn't prepare you as well as someone should be when trying to provide service to patrons," White said.
Hanluen Kuo, Overland Park junior, has worked for KU Info since the summer. Kuo said the staff started library training a week after he was hired without mentioning extra responsibilities.
"They just kind of said, 'Oh, by the way, you've got to deal with this reference stuff, too,' he said, "and that's actually a pretty big deal."
Student workers are also concerned that they aren't kept up with what's happening
Having worked for KU Info for three-and-a-half years, Dan Beckmann said he was most upset by how often he thought KU Info was left out of the loop about past changes and the ones upcoming.
Top: Gordon Wood, grad. student, answers the phone for KU Info in 1987
"There are a lot of changes going on, and we are not included in the process," Beckmann, Roeland Park senior, said. "I feel like we've been specifically excluded."
The latest change that student workers have to deal with is the resignation of their director. In November, Elkins announced she would be resigning effective Jan. 5, 2005. She has the longest tenure as director of KU Info with 14-and-a-half years.
"A change in leadership will help the library," Elkins said. "I'm perfectly happy to give up the helm to someone else."
Photos contributed by University Archives
For many older students on campus, the changes at KU Info are noticeable.
Elkins wouldn't comment on
her exact reasons for resigning.
Right: A woman responds to questions during the 1976 school year.
"I hope they don't get rid of the phone service because that's the only number I know to call." White said.
"When I first came here, I'd call it for anything," Brian Labovitz, St. Louis senior, said of KU Info. "Now, they're too picky on what they answer."
pretty on his stomach.
As a freshman, Labovitz said,
he called KU Info at least a few
times each week. Now, he calls
about once a month.
Brynn White, Overland Park sophomore, said she didn't use KU Info that often, but would be disappointed if the service was not available when needed.
Photo contributed by University Archives Carla Dechant looks up information for KU Info caller on Aug.10, 1987.
Changes on a grander scale
Training KU Info workers to answer more questions and offer library service stems from a University effort to combine services that provide information to students in a one-stop approach.
From HVC$^2$ came the Integrated Student Information Services Implementation Task Force. ISIS is the main task force of the effort. A KU Info worker was also on the ISIS task force.
The effort was started last year by two groups: High Velocity Change through High Volume Collaboration, HVC2. and a group from the Office of Student Success.Membership in the two groups included representatives from Student Financial Aid, KU Libraries, Student Senate and Information Services.
The groups found that a majority of students, faculty and staff wanted information to be accessible and have a one-stop approach, said Michele Eodice, director of the KU Writing Center and ISIS co-chairwoman.
"We're trying to create a model or network where there is both a virtual or online help presence and some physical location." Eodice said.
Photo contributed by University Archives
Because KU Info is already part of the library system, Eodice said ISIS would primari-
it has to be a combination of services because that's how we're all functioning now," said Kathryn Nemeth Tuttle, associate vice provost for student success and ISIS sponsor.
ly focus on KU Info as a model for the call-in portion of the overall combined service. KU Info's peer help focus and its ability to find answers quickly are elements we want to include, Eodice said.
"How many midgets can you fit inside a blue whale?"
KU Info has gained a reputation over the years for being able to answer absurd questions. But, as student workers say, those questions don't represent KU Info's full range of services.
"People think we're some frivolous service that just answers silly questions," said Molly Tucker, Prairie Village junior. "But that's like only five to 10 percent of the questions we answer."
Most of the questions that workers answer are about academics, Elkins said. Students usually need help with topics such as enrollment issues, bus schedules and the hours of operation for various buildings and the Student Recreation Fitness Center, she said.
"Almost all of our calls are about issues affecting student life for KU students," she said.
As library administrators discuss changes behind closed doors, the workers say they are deciding whether to quit or stay. Most said they would more than likely stay
Beckmann said he would most likely stay to ensure that KU Info, in whatever form, is the best service it can be.
That duty and privilege of service is what White said would keep him at KU Info next semester.
"It's a huge honor to be a part of history." White said. "KU Info has been around a lot longer than I have, and hopefully I can say the same after I'm gone."
Edited by Jon Ralston and Janette Crawford
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