Duties and Expectations of Special Collections Workers

You are the first person visitors will meet when entering our department; please be courteous and greet them pleasantly. The initiative is yours – do not wait for the visitor to greet you, but make eye contact immediately and ask if you can help them.

• Politely ask the visitor if they have been in the department to research during this fiscal year (since July 1^st).

If yes, ask for their name and record the date of their visit on the back of their filed blue card. If no, ask them to review a sheet of departmental rules (or vocally express departmental rules to them) and fill out a blue card. You will record the date of the visit on the back of this card.

• Please visit the Appendix for the complete departmental rules for researchers.
   
• Ask the visitor if they know what they are looking for prior to sending them into the reading room. It is your job to help them locate call numbers in BANC for any items they request or you may tell them that a computer is available for their use just inside the reading room to determine what items they need. If they are not already aware, you may inform them that there is a Special Collections & Archives branch of the library’s website that has databases of some collections available to them in the department.
   
• Each researcher should have one green card per day on which the materials they wish to use that day will be recorded. If they provide you with call numbers, you may fill out the front of the card for them and send it into the reading room with them. If they are not sure what materials they will be using, you can send the card in with them blank. The staff member working the reading room during this time can fill in the information for them as materials are pulled.
   
• Ask the visitor to leave all personal belongings in the locker area before entering the reading room.
   
• If there is no one in the reading room, ask that they please be seated and find the staff member on reading room duty at the time to inform them that a new researcher is waiting.
   
• Usher them into the reading room. Press the button to unlock the door, and inform them that the knob does not turn and to simply push to open it. Instruct them to give their green card to the staff member inside for additional help.
   
• Be observant when researchers exit the reading room. If they have accidentally walked out with materials, politely inform them of their mistake and collect the materials from them. Be polite and before they exit the department, tell them to have a good day.

• At the beginning of each desk shift, make sure that calls are not being forwarded into the reading room. There is an “unforward” command that will allow calls to ring directly to the front desk.
   
• Answer politely: “Hello, Berea College Special Collections & Archives. This is (your name), how may I help you?”
   
• If they have a general question that you are able to answer, do so.
   
• If you are unsure how to answer their question, apologize and ask if they would like to be forwarded to a staff member who may better be able to address their question.
   
• Before forwarding calls, take a message in case the call is lost or the phone does not get answered, etc.
   
• Before lunch, dinner, and closing, forward all calls to the reading room where a voicemail system is set up to record any missed calls while there is no one in the department.

Taking a Message

• On the message pads located at the front desk, record the caller’s name, email address, phone number and/or extension, time they called, who the message is for, and a brief note about what they are calling. Ask them to spell all email addresses and names to ensure you do not make a mistake.
   
• Do not leave the message on the front desk without informing the person for whom it is.

Forwarding a Call

• Inform the person on the phone that you will forward them to a staff member or a different department, if need be.
   
• Press the forward button on the telephone and enter the extension to which you wish to forward the call.
   
• When the staff member answers the phone, let them know that you have a researcher on the line who has a question you are unable to answer. You may then hang up the phone and the researcher should be forwarded to the extension you dialed.
   
• If a call is lost, don’t panic. You should have taken a message and the person can simply be called back or emailed about their concern.

Please watch the telephone tutorial in Module 7 to learn more about these procedures and how to perform them.