One of the
exciting jobs of a librarian is CAS/SDI (Current Awareness Service/Selective
Dissemination of Information). You
actively search for new information that your clients most likely haven't known
yet and would be grateful for receiving the packaged information.
In
pre-Internet days, the process involves searching subscribed journals, magazines, industry newsletters, and
newspapers for articles that fit to each client's information requirements, then photocopying the articles, pasting into a dummy, then producing the final
CAS/SDI document. The dummy in those
days was made using Wordstar with WYSIWYG then later on WordPerfect. Even long-received articles that you excitedly discover worth distributing is included. Of course, you have to learn the business of the special library you're in (current projects, plans, plants, any news about the company or mention of, and other things that affect the company).
If
newspapers arrive during lunch time, the best time to deliver the CAS/SDI
documents would be during coffee time, relaxed si Sir (or Ma'am), you're not interrupting.
Knock on each manager's door, hand over the document, have them sign the
receipt log. The best reward would be
the manager coming into the library to ask for more information or to include an employee to the mailing list. The existence of the special library is justified.
PS:
One of the dreaded jobs is reminding managers about their long-unreturned library materials which they say: "Na uli naman na nako!" :)
