Feedback to the Library, December 2005
NOTE: Comments are edited to remove names of specific employees or users. Comments with names go to "Askref" for response or are forwarded to the appropriate person for a reply.
The location is only identified as "Library", "Campus" or "Off-Campus" to protect the anonymity of users. Comments received on paper forms may be entered several days after they were submitted.
Date/time Location
Thu Dec 1 07:04:11 2005 Campus
I would like to make a complaint regarding the use of library
computers. Two days in a row, during normal library hours, there
have been two men in their forties looking at hardcore porn videos
at the third floor open access computers. While it is an
American "right" to view pornography, it is NOT socially acceptable
to view such material in public. If research needs to be conducted
for classes, then I suggest the department that is conducting the
research provide a computer lab for its students. Although I can
guarantee that these men were not looking up porn for a class
because I actually confronted one gentleman. This is the only
public university that I have attended, which actually allows its
public, government operated computers to be used for public-access
pornography. Its my understanding that there are problems using the
restrooms in the library because of sexual activity....I wonder why?
Library response: The Library endorses the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights, which supports access to information and opposes censorship, labeling, and restricting users' access to information of all kinds. We don't limit or restrict what people view on our computers and we are not the only public university to do this.
It is neither illegal nor against Library policy for customers to view pornography or other controversial materials on the Web. The exception is child pornography. The Library will contact the police if we see someone viewing child pornography. It is also Library polcy that children under 15, must be accompanied by an adult. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team
Sat Dec 3 11:17:36 2005 Library
A guide to WHERE books are shelved, by call number, would be helpful.
Library response: We do have a call number location guide that is located at the top of each screen within our online catalog. We also have copies of this guide to hand out at the reference/help desks and copies of the guide are posted by the elevators on each floor. Vicki Mills
Sat Dec 3 17:35:58 2005 Campus
I recommend installing OpenOffice.org 2.0 on all library computers.
This would allow students who use OpenOffice at home to work on their
files in the library without the fear of losing formatting information.
Thank you!
Library response:
You suggestion has been passed on to the group who consider new software for the Information Commons. We give highest priority to software that supports class projects. We also have to take into consideration the cost of new software licenses and software compatibility with all the other products on our computers, so there is no quick yes or no answer to your request. But it has been noted. Vicki Mills
Mon Dec 5 12:29:28 2005 Library
Student workers at the library need to make much more than barely
over minnimum wage.
Library response:
The UA Libraries receive less funding for student wages each year and we have to allocate that money to cover paying for the number of students we need in each area to help us keep the library open and functioning. We appreciate our student workers very much and wish we could pay them more, but budget shortages prevent that. The pay for students does vary and many of them are making $6.50 or more, depending on their positions and experience. Karen Holloway, Financial & Human Resources Team.
Tue Dec 6 10:53:08 2005 Campus
Hi.
I am writing because I strongly feel that the library would make better use of its computer
resources if the computer facility in the basement had some sort of computer assignment
system. As it is, students (and other users) have no way to fairly and politely secure a
computer during busy times. People waiting for a computer prowl around until they see a
computer being vacated. Then they dash toward it, hoping to get there before all the other
people waiting. I cannot recall how many times I have heard people briefly argue about
who should get to use an open computer, or lament that there is no system in place to
assign computers. Users currently have no way of knowing who has been waiting longest,
and who should get to use open computers.
I have been to computer facilities at universities where the system works very well. The
library does such a good job of making sure that users have fair access to book resources
through recalling of books and interlibrary loan.
I hope the library seriously considers such a system for computer resources as well.
thanks
Chiara Cannella
Library response:
We have investigated systems to do computer signup and/or assignment and none of them would work in our environment. They are fairly expensive for one thing, they require quite a lot of human intervention and they would require that all students come to one place to use the system. I think the kind of system you are talking about would (and does) work in a computer lab, where there is one entrance and a place for students to line up or wait for the next computer (also in a lab where all computers are easily seen from the staff desk). We don't have just one entry, there really isn't any one logical place for all students to line up or wait for computers and we can't see all the computers from our staff desk. All these things present real challenges to making any kind of computerized system work and they make any system that would work very expensive. We had a group of library staff investigate this pretty thoroughly in the past.
When the computer crunch is greatest, we open the IC classroom, if it isn't in use. We try to watch the situation and open the classroom, but students have come and asked us to open the classroom and we will, if we can. Students also come ask us for help in finding computers and we will help. We do try to moniter game playing on computers, when it is busy, and we will ask game players and non-UA people to get off computers, when it is busy in the IC. Just today we have had several very angry people who were told to leave because they were playing games. Much of the year, there is no wait or only a short wait for computers in the IC. The last several weeks of each semester are really the busy time and then it hectic. That is what we are experiencing right now. Vicki Mills
Thu Dec 8 12:10:32 2005 Campus
Do you still have a listing on your web site that gives the floor
location of various call numbers? I surfed around a bit and
couldn't find it.
If you don't have it, it would be handy to have especially with a
link from your home page.
Thanks,
Mike
Library response: The Call Number Location Guide is located at the top of every screen once you are in the UA Catalog. I'm glad you found it (see response below from same person) and I think it is a logical place for it. But I'm wondering if another logical place for it might be under HELP > How do I? > Find > Call number locations. This suggestion has been sent to the Web Committee. Vicki Mills
Thu Dec 8 12:13:35 2005 Campus
Re: Call number floor listing. Found it (after doing a Journal
Title Search). Good place for it.
Library response: (see response above)
Thu Dec 8 13:50:15 2005 Library
I write from a computer terminal on the 3rd floor-- unable to view
an ebook: _Unequal Childhoods_ from this terminal or from my home
computer. I have also requested the book from another user. Thank
goodness you have purchased a real copy of this title as well. The
move toward electronic-only texts troubles me. As a scholar, I
cannot read a full book online. I love perusing a few pages via
amazon.com, for example, but not a whole book. I urge you to
continue to purchase books--make it a priority in fundraising from
alumni if necessary. Books are beautiful. Warm regards, Elizabeth
Krause
Arizona 1999
Author of "A Crisis of Births: Population Politics and Family-Making
in Italy" (Wadsworth 2005)-- a book you might like to have!
Library response:
The title you were viewing was an Ebrary title. This program uses a plug-in (and extra piece of software) to be able to view the book. It is very easy to download and normally the plug-in can be added to the desktop when trying to open the book. You should be able to load this plug-in easily on your computer. I went up to the 3rd floor and the plug-in wasn't added on all the computers, but I added it. Vicki Mills
About the decision to buy e-books, the Library is in a situation where we have to make difficult choices. After no budget increases in 4 years and having to deal with price inflation in library materials at 3-4 times the Consumer Price Index, we can not afford to buy materials in all formats. The library has made the decision to buy e-books when they are available and not duplicate those we buy in electronic format in print. Electronic books have some good and bad things about them. On the good side, they may be used by many persons at the same time and they can never be mishelved or lost. Despite some of the drawbacks to them, our users have been very accepting of the format. We have 2 major collections and when we look at use figures they indicate over 70% usage, for the print collection that figure would be about 13%. We realize that not all users will be happy with e-books. But many do like them. Also even though we are buying more e-books now, we are continuing to buy print books and will continue to have millions of books available to the public. Stephen Bosch, Technical Services and Archival Processing Team.
Fri Dec 9 17:27:22 2005 Library
We had over 40+ students in wheelchairs visiting the library and
couldn't exit from the handicap door due to a blue hose that was
running through the library main floor. This is truly inconvenient
and not helpful at all!
please have these service pay attention to the type of services they
effect. even if one person is in a wheelchair, this would be an
inconvenience!
thank you for listening.
Library response:
We are sorry that this happened. Our building manager has talked to the carpet cleaning supervisor about the routing of their hoses when they are cleaning carpets in the Library. We will be more watchful from now on. Vicki Mills
Sat Dec 10 22:22:25 2005 Library
More standing computers in the library....
Library response: Your suggestion has been noted. But even when we had some standing computers in the Information Commons, people still pulled over chairs and sat in front of them. Vicki Mills
Sat Dec 10 22:41:59 2005 Off-campus
Hi: A book (Evangeline - A Tale Of Acadie * Longfellow) was left in
my seat on a flight from Salt Lake City to Portland, Oregon. The
book has a University of Arizona sticker UPC #39001018811458 on the
back of the book. How can I get the book back to it's rightful
owner or library patron?
Library response: Both the person who found the library book and the person who had checked it out and left it on the airplane were notified and both the Library and the person who checked the book out are very grateful to the woman who found the book and let us know about it. What a thoughtful person she is. Vicki Mills
Tue Dec 13 22:26:47 2005 Library
EXPECT A FINE
ANYWAY
i CAN'T believe what's unplayed in the last few months regarding the
carpet cleaning and gassing of until now onlyu the nerds but now in
these days in whihc more people are here then in weeks and months
prior IT HASN"T LET UP!!!!
others have agreed, (like employyeees) that the building fills with
toxic fumes because of the way the truck gets parked etc. yet UAPD
obviously isn't autonomous enough,and neither is the department, to
prevent this from occuring so now even whenb the truck isn't running
cold, smoke filled, air rushes in herhe and into all of our lungs.
and jus tthe noise should of beeen rason enogh to kick out th e
carpet scrapers during the last two weeks of the semseter!!!!
and you don't even have a hurricane to blame
and plugging the gaps in teh door would be no harder then putting a
casement air conditioner in.
and yeah it matters that tends of tousands gotr wasted caulking all
these toxins into here
so don[t say it's been like this for decades it hasn't
if you want to leavel the dooro open then you have to maintaina
postive pressure. PERIOD.
a fine sufficient to pay for lost income do to delayed graduation
and all other costs of additional matriculation would not cover
anyones but.
walking by the truck you can feel the hundreds of cfm of lethal
glass it blows out at eye level
adn i bet the manufacturer is covered.
who shred the manual?
Library response:
The carpet in the library is only cleaned twice a year, but it is very necessary to prolong the life of the carpet. The cleaning operation is purposely done in the evening when the traffic in the area at the front of the library is lower. The cleaning operation is accomplished over many nights to cover the 225,000 square feet of carpet in the library.
The last cleaning operation was delayed due to several emergency requirements for clean up of plumbing break situations in other buildings which pushed the cleaning into the last two weeks of the semester. We will monitor the timing of the cleanings in the future and delay cleanings away from the end of the semester. We have talked to the Facilities Management Director about insuring the cleaning vehicle parks as far as feasible away from the doors. They will attempt to position the vehicle so only one set of the doors in the fume path. The second set of doors should allow customers and staff to enter with minimum fumes. Jim Fromm, Building Manager
Wed Dec 14 03:46:27 2005 Campus
It is 3:45 am on Wednesday 12-14-05 and there is a giggling blond
idiot riding an office chair down the hancicapped ramp. This type of
crap goes on too much during finals week. The staff ignored the
behavior and told me "this type of thing happens all the time" when
I complained about it. This is unacceptable. Student who enage in
this sort of disruptive behavior should be escorted from the
building and told not to return until they can conduct themselves
like adults. There are almost 50 people here trying to write papers
or study for finals who were disturbed by this disruptive behavior.
There is no excuse for letting this sort of thing continue.
Please take all appropriate action
Library response:
I observed this behavior last night and responded to the student in question "Please use our chairs for their intended purpose." The woman who complained was told by another staff member that "They do it all the time", but that was an exaggeration, it has happened 3 times this semester. And just because it happens, it does not mean that we condone this dangerous activity. Overstressed students in the wee hours of the morning often get a little goofy, especially during finals, but we definitely try to keep them within limits and we would never condone anything as dangerous as this stunt. The student in question was already rolling down the ramp when we noticed her, and we were unable to do anything until she stopped. She didn't try it again after my reprimand. We agree that this kind of behavior not only disturbs other students, but is very dangerous to the student involved and anyone who might get in the way. Unfortunately, when it does occur, the student is already in the process of rolling down the ramp, and all we can do is reprimand them so they don't do it again in the near future. Ginger Cullen and Sandy Bose, Undergraduate Services Team and late night employees
Wed Dec 14 19:19:12 2005 Off-campus
I was in the library this evening when I saw a well-dressed older
man at one of the computers on the third floor. I naturally assumed
that he was a professor and doing research. I went to find my books
and walked behind him and realized that he was looking at some very
explicit pornography. He was also leering at the girls who walked
by. I thought this was disgusting and potentially dangerous so I
went to report it downstairs where I was told that the library,
unless the man was looking at child pornography, can take no
action. Is this true? I can't imagine that a place where I have
seen students be removed from computers for playing solitaire would
allow this.
Thank you.
Library response:
The Library endorses the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights, which supports access to information and opposes censorship, labeling, and restricting users' access to information of all kinds. We don't limit or restrict what people view on our computers. It is neither illegal nor against Library policy for customers to view pornography or other controversial materials on the Web. The exception is child pornography, which is illegal. The Library will contact the police if we see or hear about someone viewing child pornography. If this man was doing more than just viewing websites, if his behavior was menacing or was making you feel uncomfortable and you reported this, then someone from the staff should have gone talk to him. But we won't do this just for viewing pornography.
The issue with games is that if the Info Commons is busy and people are waiting to use computers, we don't allow game playing. Usually people just switch to other work they are doing on the computers and we don't have them move. But if all they are doing is playing games and there are lots of other people waiting to use the computers, we will ask the game player to get off the computer. Vicki Mills
Fri Dec 16 15:57:49 2005 Library
COMPLAINT
Keep the library open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week regardless of
holidays, exams, and include more standing computers of various
heights with sufficient area to use the computer and a large
reference work at the same time...this is part of what it takes to
be a convincing research institution....
COMPLAINT
Responses to compus racism and wrongful police action indicate both
a facile understanding of how racism is promulgated today and a
vain, evil and dysfunctional attempt to cover up the matter in a
pretentious and effiminate pseudo-educational way
Library response:
The library will not remain open 24 hours a day for 7 days a week because we don't have the money or the staff to stay open and because, the down time for the computers lets us do some maintenance on them when no one is using them. We are closed right now, during the winter break from 5 pm to 8 am. The use of the library has really dropped since the end of finals. We select the lowest use times to close the libraries early. I don't believe that most research libraries, like ours, stay open 24x7 during semester breaks. The use of the collections does not warrant this. I don't understand the second part of this complaint about campus racism and wrongful police action -- I don't believe this complaint has anything to do with the library. Vicki Mills
Sat Dec 17 13:37:57 2005 Off-campus
I'm looking for the following books, which are shown to be in the
library but are not on the shelves:
Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish settlement in Virginia, extracted from
the original court records of Augusta County 1745-1800. F232.A9 A8
1965 Vol. 1, 2, and 3.
The people with no name : Ireland's Ulster Scots, America's Scots
Irish, and the creation of a British Atlantic world, 1689-1764.
E184.S4 G74 2001.
I'd like to check them out if they can be located. Otherwise, I'd like
to request through ILL. Thanks.
Library response: We were able to locate the three volume set, "Augusta County 1745-1800". I have placed this set on hold at the Main Library. Regarding the remaining item, "The people with no name", we were not able to locate it so I have declared it as missing. I have also placed an Interlibrary Loan request on your behalf. In the future, please report any missing items to the Information/Circulation desk as we are able to locate many items right away. Travis S Teetor, Materials Access Team
Wed Dec 21 12:01:35 2005 Campus
Please clean the carpet in the ILC. The floor has a lot of litter
and rubbish strewn about. Also, the carpeting is filthy, and if
possible clean the upholstery on the fabric chairs.
Thank you.
Library response: The carpet is being very thoroughly cleaned right now. But we know it won't stay clean for long. The Info Commons is a very busy place, thousands of people use the IC during any week. With that much use of this space, it probably should be vacuumed twice a day. Unfortunately, the university can only afford to vacuum it once a week. This is clearly inadequate. But the fault is not just the university's, our students, who use the IC most heavily, are not good about picking up after themselves. The combination of being short staffed for janitorial services and having students who are messy is a disaster for the IC. We thank those students who are thoughtful and do not litter and we urge others to follow this pattern. Much of mess in the IC could be eliminated, if our users were better about their trash. Vicki Mills
Tue Dec 27 14:50:45 2005 Off-campus
I am trying to get my library card activated. Some how it is not
working. I am trying to get an article online and it is telling me
that my card is not activated.
Library response: We've checked the university's records and they show that you were last registered in the spring semester 2005. Since you are not a current student, you don't currently have remote access to online databases through the library. You are in the database as a student for spring 2006, so when we update our records for the coming semester you will be included and have access. This should be on Jan. 9. Gene Spesard, Digital Library & Information Systems Team