Um...what? And other things about the library.

So I work at my campus library as a technology assistant- this means I have to help people with all their little tech questions.

Today, I was instructing a girl how to print in color since only certain computers are actually networked to the color printer.

She asked if she had to email the pictures to herself since the files were on her laptop, I told her yes.

So, she pulled out her laptop, stuck her jump drive (flash drive, pen drive, I really don't care what you call it) in and proceeded to email it to herself.

...what?

Those files are not on your laptop, they are on your jump drive. Does she really not know this?

Unfortunately, I'm kind of inclined to believe that she did not, in fact, know those files weren't on her laptop.

I've noticed there are a couple types of people that use the library: the workers, the users, and the clueless.

The workers can generally walk in to any library, find what they need, and get out fairly efficiently. And they don't necessarily have to work there- they just seem more intuitive than the others.

These are also generally the kids that figured out Dewey Decimal system at a young age and read a lot.

The users learn to competently navigate the online catalog and the online databases- they might even know what "the stacks" are.

Then there are the clueless.

They come into the library three times a semester- once to find and check out a billion and a half books they don't need for papers that will probably suck, once to print off said papers, and once to return everything.

These are the ones I dread.

Now, I have to answer a lot of mindless questions- most of which I have typed up instruction signs for.

How do I scan?
You push button number 3 like the four signs all say to.

Where do I print?
At the printers? Those large box-like machines over there? No, not that, that's a plant.

Do you have a stapler?
Like the one sitting on the desk right in front of you?

Can I get a laptop?
I have three signs attached to the computer station and the desks, all of which say "I HAVE NO LAPTOPS TO GIVE YOU!!!!"

...Of course I don't snark like this IRL. But, oh, how I want to. Eight semesters of this has gotten a little old...

Basically, my hope in humanity has been greatly diminished by working here.

There has, however, been an upside to working here...

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SYSTEM!!!

It is the most amazing thing EVER.

Now, I was pretty die-hard DD (Dewey Decimal) until college. Then I had to start shelf-reading (we literally go through all of the bookshelves and make sure the books are in order- appreciate library workers!).

Shelf-reading in the one DD section of the library gets pretty ridiculous. The numbers just keep going up! Because they go based on subject and then last name. It's awful.

In LC, you get letters for the category, numbers for the subject, then numbers for the author, then year, then which number copy it is etc. But the first two: category and subject, narrow it down so you don't get 5 bajillion Andersons and Carlsons and Jensens all together.

Thank the Library of Congress!

As a testament to how long I've been here, and how my sanity has essentially evaporated due to it, here's a real life story:

I worked here this past summer and as a result shelf-read the reference room. This isn't difficult- it's all encyclopedias basically so I just make sure the big numbers just keep increasing set-to-set.

But it's super boring.

I was trying to fill time in order to justify keeping my full-time job. Normally, I could probably finish the room with a good hour.

I spent seven hours that week shelf-reading.

In order to do this: I began having conversations with fictional characters.

I know, it's crazy, but I had to. My iPod could only play 100 songs so many times before I feel like breaking it.

Anyway, I ended up pondering a lot of things. A lot of conversations revolved around the end of season five of Supernatural, many involved whether or not I should try to be a vegetarian (yeah...that's probably not gonna happen), sometimes I mentally ranted about people that annoy me.

My favorite? An hour long debate about why LC is better than DD. I try to ignore that my opponent was Sam Winchester- it makes me feel less crazy.

Also- people steal our staplers and pens all the time. I kind of don't understand it. We even tape plastic flowers to our pens to discourage this and it still happens!