A Lot To Learn At Beatley

Posted October 16, 2024 by Aurora Daniel

Prior to starting at Simmons I primarily worked with museum registrars and collections managers to catalog museum objects, organize storage space, and assist with install/de-install/shipping of works. While that type of work has different demands and expectations than working in an archive there is some overlap. The collections are unique meaning typically only one version of it exists or it’s very rare. They require attentive and gentle handling because conservation is expensive and you likely can’t replace the objects or collections themselves. While cataloging and ingesting the collections looks different depending on type of collection and the database your institution uses there is still the notion that preserving the order it came in with is important. All that being said, transitioning to archives from museums in grad school felt seamless.

Imagine my surprise when I hit the library learning curve. I began working as a library reference assistant at Simmons’ Beatley library this semester. I worked in a physical therapy office before starting my undergrad degree so the customer service aspect of the job was easy to pick up. In a typical shift I’ll engage with patrons by answering the phone, responding to reference librarian chats and emails, and assisting with walk-up library needs. In my office assistant job I also did things like scanning and copying documents, processing mail, and organizing inventory so learning the library-equivalent of those tasks has been easier to learn too.

So what’s been the big struggle? Learning the classification systems for the different collections and learning about Interlibrary Loan. Beatley uses two classification systems for its collections: Library of Congress Classification and Dewey Decimal Classification. Library of Congress call numbers are commonly used in academic libraries and at Simmons they use it for their main collection. Dewey Decimal call
numbers are used primarily for the juvenile collections at Simmons, which ranges from picture books through Young Adult novels.

These two classification systems work quite differently. I don’t do any cataloging in my role so I don’t have to worry about that end of using the systems. However, I do re-shelving and retrieving so I need to understand the distinctions between the two systems to ensure that materials are returned to the right location and put in the right order. After nearly two months on the job I feel mostly confident that I can do both correctly, but I still take some time out of one of my shifts each week to practice.

As for Interlibrary Loan (ILL), I’m learning something new each week. I help process borrowing requests for current students and lending requests from other institutions. This is often just making sure that we don’t already have a copy of the material onsite or digitally that patrons can use and then from there coordinating with the patron and another institution to get them the version that they need. As one might imagine there’s a lot of mail involved. When we get materials I help process them by either returning them to our shelves or putting them on the reserves shelf for patrons to pick up. I also pack outgoing mail too!

Despite there being a lot to learn it’s quickly become my favorite part of my job at Beatley. If you haven’t used ILL before it’s a great resource for getting course materials. Us Library Reference Assistants are always happy to help you put in a request so feel free to drop by the Beatley service desk if you’re on campus or shoot us an email or library chat if you’re an online student.

Library mascots Gordon (left) and Sachie (right) tucked away on the service desk
keeping me company while I’m on shift