I recently got on "Know it Now 24x7" as well as Kent's similar offering, "Ask a Librarian," to see if the librarians could offer any alternatives to getting married in an expensive church. I know this is not like the typical reference questions they get asked, but I was hoping they could help nonetheless.
When I approached the librarians, I was unsure if they would actually try to research a solution to my question or draw from their own background and experiences. I didn't really have a preference; any help would be appreciated. I just hoped they didn't think I was crazy for coming to them with this type of a problem.
The first place I went was Kent's "Ask a Librarian". I was cooking dinner at the time, but I did not know the library's summer hours and wanted to make sure I asked before they left for the night. I quickly asked what time they were they were leaving and got a prompt response of 7:00. After I finished eating at about 6:00, I logged back in to seek their advice; their status was set to "away." I went ahead and pinged them anyway and let them know that I was hoping to find some help and to let me know when they got back to their desk. And then I waited. And waited. And they never returned. Their status went from being "away" to offline with no in between.
Now this was quite frustrating because I had specifically asked what time they would be answering question till so avoid such a situation. In hindsight I realize they were probably helping a patron who was physically in the library, but at the time I was just annoyed. Perhaps the library should have one dedicated virtual librarian to avoid this very happenstance.
The next morning I logged back in at about 8:00 to find the librarian still offline. Wondering how long I would be kept waiting, I found a link (connected by another link) that told me the virtual reference service was open the same time as the main reference desk; however, the library did not have their many reference hours posted on that page. Instead, I had to be redirected twice again to find the library's physical hours--and not even that was helpful at first. I found hours for the main building, for interlibrary loan, for the archives, and for about 10 other services. It was not until about 5 minutes of looking did I realize reference services was lumped together with government documents. But at last--I discovered that the reference desk opened at 9.
At 9:15 the librarian was still not online. At 9:30, the librarian was still not online. By 9:55 I thought maybe the posted hours were wrong. Surely they would come online at 10:00. Unfortunately, 10:00 came and went without the librarian coming online. Finally, as I was about to call it quits, at 10:34 the librarian came online.
When I posed my question, the librarian asked if we had found a venue for our reception yet. I told her yes, we had found one and were very excited about it. She suggested checking with the site coordinator because many venues rent places hold both ceremonies and receptions. (Which, of course, is what we had decided to do.) She (he?) then also suggested checking into metroparks because they typically have lower fees. She then told me congratulations and that was the end of our conversation.
Perhaps it was because I was already annoyed by waiting around so long, but I had hoped for more from Kent's "Ask a Librarian" service. Although she did technically give me good ideas and information, I left feeling slightly underwhelmed. She talked in abbreviations (for example, she replied "NP" -no problem- when I thanked her) and did not seem quite as professional as I expected.
With "Know it Now-24x7," I had a much different experience. After being asked a few questions (zip code, preferred library), I was redirected to a librarian in my physical proximity. The website was neatly laid out so you were not searching for the box to type your questions into. My only complaint was that you had to limit your questions to 250 characters; I was trying to provide some context to the situation and easily could have used twice the space. However, one the librarian accepted your question, a chat box appeared and there were no major constraints.
When I explained to the librarian that I was looking for alternatives to spending $1000 for a wedding ceremony at a church where I was not a member, the librarian was able to draw on her own experience. She let me know that her daughter was married in a park in the summertime. She said that costs were reasonable and that the backdrop was gorgeous. She didn't even mind when I asked a somewhat personal question (did anyone think it was taboo to get married outside of a church?). Instead, she explained that they still had their home pastor officiate the ceremony and adopted the normal Christian script.
All in all, the librarian with "Know it Now 24x7" was very courteous and helpful. She seemed to truly care about finding a solution to my problem and didn't bat an eye at the odd request. Instead went to work offering possible solutions for my situation and reassured me that I did not have to be limited to an expensive church. On the whole, my experience with "Know it Now 24x7" was much more helpful than with "Ask a Librarian." In the future, I would choose "Know it Now 24x4" over Kent's offering.
Because my information search was a little different, I was surprised by the good suggestions the librarians provided. I really thought that my friends and family and the other planning brides on The Knot would have much better advice because they know me and understand my personality and appreciate my predicament. I was wrong.
Furthermore, chatting online did not seem to cause a barrier (once Kent's librarian actually signed on). Perhaps though the fact that I am already used to this form of communication is probably the reason it did not pose a challenge. After all, this is more helpful than the message board on The Knot where I might have to wait several hours for a response. It should be noted though, that an older patron on a patron and a patron who has a technology phobia would not find this service as helpful as I did.
I hope to have more experiences like the one I had with "Know it Now 24x7." I left feeling extremely satisfied. Even Kent's service saved me more time than actually driving to the library because while I was waiting around for the librarian to log on, I was multitasking by doing the dishes and sending emails. Overall, I would recommend this service to friends and family as a good starting place when doing research or stuck on a question.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Information Awareness Report
I recently got engaged to my boyfriend of four years. We both knew we didn't want to get married in the town where we grew up because we have lived in Columbus for the past two years and now think of it as home. The only problem is that we are still members of our churches back home and have not joined a new church since moving. Unfortunately, many churches charge high fees ($1000 or more) for non-members to hold a ceremony there.
We knew that we did not want to spend a lot of money on the ceremony venue which meant rolling up our sleeves to find other available options. The first step was to talk to our friends in Columbus. Where did they get married? If it was in a church, were they members? What were the fees? What did the fees include (officiant, lighting, sound, janitorial work, rehearsal, counseling, etc.)? Did they have any other recommendations for possible ceremony sites? Unfortunately, most of our friends are younger and have not yet walked down the aisle. The few who are already married, were either members of the church already, weren't members of the church but did not mind paying large fees, or got married in their back yard.
None of this was very reassuring to me. I trusted my friends' information, but I still had not found a good solution to our problem.
After turning to our friends didn't pan out, I searched the website The Knot. The Knot has regional sections with vendor information listed. I noticed that the ceremony and reception venues were not separated out into two different lists. In fact, there was not a single church listed in the ceremony/reception venue category. This got me thinking--who said we had to get married in a church? Just because it had always been done in my family didn't mean that a church was the only option.
In fact, there could be many advantages of not getting married in a church. If our reception venue could double as our ceremony site, we could bring in our own officiant (aka one of our pastor's from our childhood church) which is an idea we love. Elderly guests wouldn't have the added stress of traveling to another venue. Out of town guests wouldn't have to worry about getting lost driving to the reception. We wouldn't have to hire separate musicians for the ceremony and reception. And, of course, it could save us money.
However, I still wasn't sold on the idea. After all, what would people think? I logged into a local wedding message board and posed the idea to the other planning brides there. As it turns out, a large number of brides are doing the same thing! In fact, many age old traditions are being thrown out the window--which I love. Why do you have to start your ceremony on the half hour? Who says a groom can't see the bride before she walks down the aisle? And do you really need to play the Chicken Dance??
This was all the push I needed. I talked with the event coordinator at our reception site if she could send me any information about holding a ceremony there too. She was only too happy to oblige! She had numerous pictures of past layouts which she sent to me and let me know that I could rent out the space for an extra hour for only $200.
My fiance and I forwarded on the information to our parents who wholeheartedly approved of the plan. And just like that, all of the stress about finding a church for the ceremony evaporated. From the people I talked with (both in person and online), I am confident that we made the right decision and everything will turn out beautifully.
Through this process, I really learned how valuable an online community can be. I had never thought of myself as the type of person who would post on message boards, but when my friends and family were unable to help, I was able to turn to a group of strangers to find the advice that I needed.
Additionally, this process reaffirmed that I am a a thorough information seeker. I am not going to be satisfied with the results until I have exhausted all of the search possibilities. If that were not the case, I would've settled for a costly church after talking with my friends. Fortunately, I like to dig deeper and look at multiple angles of a situation.
Now I just have to wait until next year to see how the big day turns out!
Websites:
We knew that we did not want to spend a lot of money on the ceremony venue which meant rolling up our sleeves to find other available options. The first step was to talk to our friends in Columbus. Where did they get married? If it was in a church, were they members? What were the fees? What did the fees include (officiant, lighting, sound, janitorial work, rehearsal, counseling, etc.)? Did they have any other recommendations for possible ceremony sites? Unfortunately, most of our friends are younger and have not yet walked down the aisle. The few who are already married, were either members of the church already, weren't members of the church but did not mind paying large fees, or got married in their back yard.
None of this was very reassuring to me. I trusted my friends' information, but I still had not found a good solution to our problem.
After turning to our friends didn't pan out, I searched the website The Knot. The Knot has regional sections with vendor information listed. I noticed that the ceremony and reception venues were not separated out into two different lists. In fact, there was not a single church listed in the ceremony/reception venue category. This got me thinking--who said we had to get married in a church? Just because it had always been done in my family didn't mean that a church was the only option.
In fact, there could be many advantages of not getting married in a church. If our reception venue could double as our ceremony site, we could bring in our own officiant (aka one of our pastor's from our childhood church) which is an idea we love. Elderly guests wouldn't have the added stress of traveling to another venue. Out of town guests wouldn't have to worry about getting lost driving to the reception. We wouldn't have to hire separate musicians for the ceremony and reception. And, of course, it could save us money.
However, I still wasn't sold on the idea. After all, what would people think? I logged into a local wedding message board and posed the idea to the other planning brides there. As it turns out, a large number of brides are doing the same thing! In fact, many age old traditions are being thrown out the window--which I love. Why do you have to start your ceremony on the half hour? Who says a groom can't see the bride before she walks down the aisle? And do you really need to play the Chicken Dance??
This was all the push I needed. I talked with the event coordinator at our reception site if she could send me any information about holding a ceremony there too. She was only too happy to oblige! She had numerous pictures of past layouts which she sent to me and let me know that I could rent out the space for an extra hour for only $200.
My fiance and I forwarded on the information to our parents who wholeheartedly approved of the plan. And just like that, all of the stress about finding a church for the ceremony evaporated. From the people I talked with (both in person and online), I am confident that we made the right decision and everything will turn out beautifully.
Through this process, I really learned how valuable an online community can be. I had never thought of myself as the type of person who would post on message boards, but when my friends and family were unable to help, I was able to turn to a group of strangers to find the advice that I needed.
Additionally, this process reaffirmed that I am a a thorough information seeker. I am not going to be satisfied with the results until I have exhausted all of the search possibilities. If that were not the case, I would've settled for a costly church after talking with my friends. Fortunately, I like to dig deeper and look at multiple angles of a situation.
Now I just have to wait until next year to see how the big day turns out!
Websites:
- www.theknot.com
- http://forums.theknot.com/default.aspx?path=http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_ohio-columbus
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Getting Started
Delicious:
http://delicious.com/jnkreager
WorldCat:
jnkreager
Flikr:
http://www.flickr.com/people/jnkreager
Library Thing:
http://www.librarything.com/home/jnkreager
http://delicious.com/jnkreager
WorldCat:
jnkreager
Flikr:
http://www.flickr.com/people/jnkreager
Library Thing:
http://www.librarything.com/home/jnkreager
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