Lakehead University School of Library Technology - Yearbook (Thunder Bay, Ontario Canada)

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NORTHWESTERN REGIONAL LIBRARY SYSTEM I got Jo know the technology students that worked at the Northwestern Regional Library last summer rather quickly. It was a necessity, because there we all were starting our first day of work together, filling out forms and vying for pens and desk space so that we could complete the necessary paper work before getting on to more interesting things. I had my hands full setting up the Centralized Processing Centre, so that I mis- sed out on having an on— the— job relationship with Nancy, Ann, Lois and Lyn- da, but as people watching is a favorite pastime of mine, I observed them per- forming their various assigned tasks confidently and with cheerfulness. They were a group who mixed well with the regular staff and proved to be generally useful and pleasant to have around. We also have had two technologists on our permanent staff this year. They have proved our expectations of them and have lost none of their cheerfulness and willingness. TRUDY WERLE

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FORT WILLIAM PUBLIC LIBRARY The second group of graduates from the technician ' s course are now almost ready to earn their living, and once again the Lakehead Libraries will be in the fortun- ate position of benefitting from this pool of trained help which is right on their door-step. For so many years we have complained that we are held back by the difficulties of attracting professional staff, and these difficulties are unlikely to be resolved until some unforseeable time when the Lakehead becomes a booming cultural centre, able to draw people from larger cities which are much more on the map . Now that we have the technicians, who are able to take on semi-pro- fessional duties, we need not feel quite so isolated. However it is difficult to to see how local libraries will continue to be able to absorb large numbers of technicians, and soon graduates will have to look further afield for employment unless the marriage and birth rate among those who have found work locally is remarkably high. The Fort William Library has benefitted immensely from the help it has received from the students. We have embarked on summer projects which could never have been completed without the additional help, and it would De impossible to open our doors to the public on Sunday, if it were not for our six hard working ' Techs. ' Union regulations do not permit clericals to work on Sundays, and the Technicians have taken over remarkably well, enabling us to offer the public a fully opera- tional service. We hope that it has been a fair exchange and that the students have learned something about librarianship at the same time. Monday afternoon is a practice period, and groups of students have spent about four hours with us; we attempt to create a learning situation for them, though we cannot always spare as much professional time as we would wish. I must close with a word of praise for the two technicians whom we hired last summer. They are working in our Reference and Children ' s Departments and they are doing an excellent job, providing testimony that the programme is a good one, and hope that future graduates will be equally efficient. MISS MARGARET HOLLINGSWORTH Upon receiving a request for a contribution to the class project by one of your more willowy statuesque students, I was only too willing to comply. Since your school began, Library Technologists have provided valuable help for us. A graduate is currently sharing the responsibility of the Boys and Girls ' department, and two years ago two students did a complete inventory as their summer employment. Also, in collaboration with our library, two second year students are organizing the Black Bay Public School Library. And I should not forget the slave labour which appears every Monday afternoon for practice work. As graduating Library Technologists, it should be your constant endeavour to refute a witty but disparaging statement made by Edward Young in 1728: Unlearned men of books assume the care, As eunuchs are the guardians of the fair. JIM ARNOT

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Experience Speaks A year has passed since I was preparing for my final exams and what a year it has been! Many of us have made new decisions and Dlans in our personal lives and our working hours are now occupied with a treasury of knowledge. The Librarv Technology Course can never create a full awareness of all the volumes that line your library wails and for many years you will be unaware 01 their contents. It is a fear to overcome! But, this was not the true purpose of our course, and last year I believe the administrators fulfilled their purpose, when as an experiment, we graduated and were readily accepted into the hungry world of librarianship. Most of us have put all that we were taught into practice to some degree but there are the exceptions who use very little in their different fields. A more specialized program might be the answer and yet I feel it is necessary to thor- oughly understand the basics before deciding on a particular phase. Being a reference technician has been quite difficult because of the severe crit- icism received. Some professionals are under the impression (without the experi- ence of working with one) that a Library Technologist has no place in giving an- swers to the queries of the public. It is quite true that these Questions can entail a certain amount of research but any difficulties at all are gladly aided by my superior. In this way we both find each other ' s assistance a great asset in the department and a necessary bond for accepting and accomplishing the changes in our field. Through the endeavour of the Technologist ' s hard work and interest a narrow path is being trod, only to be widened by future Technologists with identical ideals and an awareness to overcome obstacles which will most certainly block that path. All the best to the Graduates of ' 69 and may the years ahead prove fruitful and an i tilled with happiness. JOAN ZACHARY