I haven’t got a shot in H-E-double hockey sticks.

So, I went for that test this morning. Got all dressed up nicely just in case they were also doing interviews. They weren't.

Anyway, this woman handed me a stapled stack of paper about 6 of so sheets thick, showed me to a quiet room with a small desk, and told me to take my time & come ask for help if I needed it.I looked at the first question, then the second, third.... Second page, third page, fourth page....

OMG!!!! What the hell was I doing there???? The QUESTIONS barely made sense to me!!!! How the hell was I supposed to answer them in a sensible manner?!?!?!?! Right off I felt like taking the un-filled out test back to the woman and tell her I was sorry for wasting their time. But, I didn't. I sat down & made my way through the questions, skipping now & then, and coming back later to the ones that I hadn't understood right off. Some mistakes I KNOW I made. A lot of questions I KNOW I got wrong. But I did try my best.

Some of the questions, for example
"What is a Shelf List and what is it's importance and usage. Give examples."

"Circulation is about checking in and checking out materials. List 2 types of records that can be created by the circulation system, and discuss how you would use them."

"A teacher asks you to assemble a cart of materials for her class studies on the Solar System. She says that all of the books must be published later than 1992. You assemble a cart, only to find out that all but 1 of the books predates 1992. What do you do to fix this problem? How do you ensure the success of the class lesson the NEXT time???"

"List 2 WWW resources that can be used by a secondary student to find general information."

"A student approaches you for help in completing an assignment. Assume the assignment is on the Shakespearean Renaissance. List two questions you would ask the student to aid their search. Discuss the manner in which you would help the student complete their assignment." (This is the only question I think I did worth a damn answering.)

MOST of the questions were essay questions, asking for between 2 and 5 answers, but giving space for MAYBE 3 answers at most, with the "give us 5 reasons/examples" questions. So, I simply didn't even have the space to write out all the answers they wanted. Not to mention the absolute brain-freeze I was having, looking at the questions being asked. I didn't have a freaking clue!!!!! *sigh*So, it went considerably worse than I was hoping.

On the other hand, the secretary at work said it's a good think I didn't do excellent. She said that the school district's medical sucks (they use the same medical we do, but their union has negotiated a MUCH worse deal, sucking another 90 dollars per person insured out of the paychecks, than we have taken out of OUR paychecks for family enrollment). She also said that the union the school teachers & librarians have SUCKS for negotiating days off & pay increases. *shrug* So, after hearing that, I'm kinda glad I didn't do so well on the test.

Also, I did jot down a couple of questions that I could remember (the questions listed above) and asked my boss. She had some vague notion of what a Shelf list is, but said it's really "old school" library science stuff. She didn't have a clue what they were wanting with the Circulation records question. She said it's too vague, the way they asked, for a person to be able to adequately answer. And she said that for the "how would you remedy the lack of books published since 1992" the answer I gave (to search out new editions or similarly titled newer information & order it for the school's collection) would be the only way a person COULD solve that problem. And that's only IF the library's budget allowed for it. So, the fact that even my BOSS was stumped, made me feel considerably better about the way I answered the questions.

Anyway, so that's how things went. Thanks for all the P&PT!!!!

Have a Blessed Day!