Feedback to the Library, December 2006
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
Sat Dec 2 14:40:13 2006 Off-campus
The verification page
https://ezproxy.library.arizona.edu/login
sucks.
I've entered my last name and cat card number forty five times, each with the same result: Invalid (or some equivalent thereof.) No further information is offered - no "here's who to email", "here's who to call", and ESPECIALLY no "troubleshooting" section of the HELP tab.
Bad, bad, UI design.
I'm on campus as I'm trying this, so that makes the bad design particularly egregious.
No, my caps lock key is not on. Yes, I rebooted. No, I do not expect a response, even if I included my name. It's finals do I have to pull my hair out even more than I already am?
Library response: It appears you connected to the wireless network as a public user. For best performance and to have access to UA databases, students, faculty and staff should use their NetID's to login to the campus network when they connect to the wireless network. Users who don't log in to UA wireless can get access to databases via our login page if they have a valid CatCard. However, ALL guest and public users come to us from this one IP number. This means that if any of these users triggers access blocking, either due to too many failed logins or download limits, ALL users on this one IP will be blocked. Information on using the UA wireless network is available from CCIT at http://ccit.web.arizona.edu/index.php?id=ssids. A link to our help page for connection problems has been added to the page for login retrys. Gene Spesard, Digital Library Information Systems Team
Sun Dec 3 09:55:49 2006 Off-campus
Main Library
Call # F546.S354 S354 2003
Author Schmidt, Axel W.-O.
Title Der rote Doktor von Chicago : ein deutsch-amerikanisches Auswandererschicksal : Biographie des Dr. Ernst Schmidt, 1830-1900, Arzt und Sozialrevolutionär / Axel W.-O Schmidt.
LOCATION CALL NO. STATUS
Main Library F546.S354 S354 2003
the correct title is: Der rothe Doktor ...
Thank you.
Library response:
Thank you for reporting the mistake in our catalog record for Der rothe Doktor von Chicago. There were two versions in WorldCat and we used the incorrect spelling. The record has been updated so that our students and researchers will be able to find your work by the correct title. Liz Bezanson,
Special Formats & Metadata Services
Mon Dec 4 02:06:29 2006 Campus
It would be nice if you kept the 1st floor women's restroom stocked with toilet tissue and soap. It's so gross to be without it.
Library response:
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have rightly caused you. Please rest assured that, we are doing everything possible to keep these restrooms stocked with toilet paper and soap at all times. We have a custodian that goes around and keeps these bathrooms clean and fully stocked. However, there are times that the restrooms need extra supplies and we need to know about it right away. We will immediately dispatch someone to stock the bathrooms as soon as we know about it.
Hayri T. Yildirim
Partners,
Interim Assistant Facilities Director
Mon Dec 4 17:35:05 2006 Library
I wanted to thank DLIST for their help last week. I'm NO WAY a techie, so I really appreciate their promptness and hard work in fixing my pc and restoring files. Special thanks go to Louis, Steve Oren, Andy, Jackie and David: you were all incredibly patient each time I bugged you about something (& some of you I bugged a lot). THANK YOU!
Library response:
Thank you for comment. We agree, DLIST does a great job!
Mon Dec 4 20:50:43 2006 Library
When are you EVER going to fix the problems with these computers?????
They just keep getting slower and slower - I can't block and copy anything on MS word without the whole system shutting down, I can't create new folders in TEMP as soon as I make progress on my paper I try to save it and the whold system crashes!!! This has been a problem all term. I have to type my paper all over again because when I tried to edit it and block and copy text the system crashed and I couldn't recover my work. Whoever is your system guy needs to find a new job.
Library response:
This comment did not give any specific information about which computer or computers had this problem. This is not a problem that has been reported to us before by anyone else using the IC computers and they have been used by 100s, if not 1000s of students over the last month. To anyone reading this, if you are experiencing a problem with one of the library computers, please report it immediately. If we can learn about problems and can identify the computers, we can have them looked at and fixed very quickly. It doesn't help us to hear after the fact and not be able to identify which computers were causing problems. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team
Tue Dec 5 10:03:28 2006 Campus
I have been very disappointed in the quality of document delivery. I have ordered quite a few papers, both from the U of A library and from interlibrary loan. The interlibrary loan articles mostly are delivered in readable and usable condition however the document delivery articles are often useless. My most recent one had lost over an inch of the left side of the first page. This is the second or third time this has happened. I appreciate the documents being enlarged as much as possible to enhance readability, but losing the edges of equations is not a good trade. This is a very useful service, but please improve the actual delivery.
Thank you.
Library response:
According to our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) and Document Delivery system for the past 2 years, we show that you have received 11 articles through ILL and 2 articles through Document Delivery (our service for
UA owned articles). Of the 2 articles you received through Document Delivery, one article does have one of the pages cut-off. TN: 310668. The other article, TN: 306747, looks intact (see link below) http://azilliad.library.arizona.edu/illiad/pdf/306747.pdf. If you receive an article with the pages missing or cut-off, whether it is from another library or through UA Document Delivery, please let us know as soon as possible and we will have a new copy of the entire article resent to you. If you would like us to resend TN: 310668, please let me know and we will do this as soon as possible. If you have any further questions or problems, please let me know.
Linda Dols, Document Delivery Team
Thank you for the prompt reply. Yes, I would like a resend of the TN: 310668 article. The other document delivery article was fine. I apologize for suggesting it wasn't. Sometimes it is difficult to tell which library provided the article. I very much appreciate document delivery and ILL, and I do want to compliment you on very fast delivery.
Fri Dec 8 06:49:06 2006 Off-campus
I am writing about access to U of A library online and on campus during my spring and summer 2007 sabbtical to complete research and write a textbook. I've read the policy but not clear if I qualify. I will NOT be affiliated with a University of Arizona department. I do not see my university - Salisbury University, Salisbury, Maryland - on your list of OCLC member libraries. I am a 1981 U of A graduate. My thanks in advance for your assistance.
Borrowing privileges: Circulation Periods, Checkout Limits, Remote Database and ILL Access
Special Policies:
Must show a picture ID when checking out materials at the desk, as proof of ownership.
All Non-UA-Users must pay any overdue fines accrued at the time of revalidation.
Failure to pay any overdue fines, fees, or charges will result in the loss of library privileges. Past due accounts may be turned over to a collection agency. Account holders are responsible for all collection costs and legal fees. Polices and fees are subject to change at any time without prior notice.
Library response:
It sounds like you are going to be in Tucson during your sabbatical. If you are, you can use all our resources in the library, but you will need to be physically present in the library. Off-campus, remote access is only available through use of a UA Id number (Catcard number) and that is only for current UA students, faculty and staff. So you would not be able to have remote access to the resources. But our libraries (Main, Science-Engineering and Fine Arts) are open to everyone and access to all our online resources are available through computers in the library -- we have over 300 hundred computers in all the libraries. You can also use the books and print collection in the library. If you wanted to check books out of the library, you could purchase a community card for $100. I hope this answers your questions. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team
Sun Dec 10 22:46:02 2006 Campus
I would like to suggest the library create a firefox browser plugin to be able to search the library catalog.
Library response:
Thank you for your suggestion.
Mon Dec 11 18:07:25 2006 Off-campus
Hi. I've had a link from my Tucson information page (http://www.jpeek.com/tucson.html) to a Sabino Canyon tour that used to be on your site at http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/images/sabino/homepage.html. Is it still on your site -- and, if it is, would you please tell me where? (I tried the site search, but it seems that I have to have a library card to do a site search.)
Thanks for your help.
Library response:
The Sabino Canyon pages have moved to http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/sabino/.
Sorry if you had problems with searching. The Central Search option searches subscribed material that is restricted to UA students, faculty and staff. To search our site use the "Search this site" link at the upper right of the home page.
Gene Spesard
Tue Dec 12 11:24:33 2006 Campus
Hi,
If this was a fire drill, I think that they are innappropriate during finals week.
Library response:
We don't plan our fire drills -- sometimes the Fire Department plans them, sometimes a physical incident (a fire, lose of water pressure in the sprinkler system, etc.) causes them and sometimes people (not library staff) pull the fire alarms. We were as surprised as everyone else that the alarm went off today and we have heard that it was caused by loss of water pressure that impacted several buildings on campus. The fire alarms go off to alert everyone that, for safety reasons, they should exit the building. What is inappropriate is for people to ignore the fire alarm and stay in the building. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team
Wed Dec 13 00:26:33 2006 Off-campus
I have a question about ebrary services. It's easy to connect to ebrary through the library catalog through a specific reference (my example is Courting Democracy in Mexico), but after creating an account and getting a couple of books on my "bookshelf", it's difficult to find the ebrary page again later without going through the catalog again. I've tried to go through the ebrary site, bypassing the library's website, and that's no help. I've looked for links in services and how do i... and that's not it either. How about a more prominent ebrary link (assuming there is one and I just can't find it)?
Library response:
You can find the ebrary page under Article & Database Searching and then select E. It's listed there. Links to every database the library subscribes to on this page. Since we have 100s of databases, it is difficult to think about how to make some of them more prominent and each user would probably pick a different database to make more prominent. Another way to find a link, if you can't remember, is the search this site link at the top right corner of the library site. Typing ebrary takes you to the link for this database. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team
Wed Dec 13 15:57:06 2006 Off-campus
I think the ILC should implement a coordinate grid system in order to simplify the process of locating a study group. I have encountered many circumstances in which people circle around a certain area several times in order to find their group. This could be futher enhanced by effuctuating an information/ status board (or bank of screens) linked to the ILC computer network these screens would inform students about the location of vacant study rooms or computer stations.
Library response:
Thanks for your ideas about study rooms and computers. We are actually thinking about some kind of online reservation for some study rooms, so that groups could reserve rooms and be assured they would get them. I don't think there is any easy that we could keep track of vacant study rooms and computers, but the reservation system might help somewhat. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team
Mon Dec 18 05:02:08 2006 Off-campus
Hi,
first off - great set of links for mid-east newspapers.
I would also like to recommend you add SikurMemukad (http://www.sikurmemukad.com) under Israeli online newspapers in Hebrew.
This site has been around for more than a year now, and it deals primarly with international politics. It actually promots a theory called "the 2nd cold war" (where basically, they analyize all major players on the global scene, and devide the world to new political blocks, pretty cool - http://www.sikurmemukad.com/maps/2ndcoldwar.html )
They are also, as I understand it, working on an english version
for your considiration.
Library response:
Thanks for the compliment about the mid-east newspaper site. This comment was sent to the Middle East specialist to consider the addition of this newspaper. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team