Feedback to the Library, May 2007
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 May 5 12:03:09 2007 Off-campus
I found getting a document delivered electronically very confusing, because nowhere did it say that by going to "Photocopy" I would get the article sent via computer. I had to call a reference librarian to learn that. Please make that clear in the instructions. Thank you.
Library response:
Thank you for the feedback regarding the form. I have spoken with the appropriate staff members about changing the wording under request a photocopy, so that it will say you are receiving the item electronically. Kathleen Lee, Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery Team
Tue May 8 17:16:35 2007 Off-campus
I looked up the journal "Internet reference services quarterly [1087-5301]" in the 'locate e-journals' section of this website. The result said that 1996-present was available from Hawthorn (?) journals. I clicked on the link provided, but the list displayed only went through v.10, 2005 and I needed an article in v.11, 2006.
Library response:
See response below
Tue May 8 17:22:55 2007 Off-campus
I looked up the journal "Journal of Library Administration" in the ejournal search. The results showed that '96 through present should be available from Haworth Journals. I clicked on the link provided. The list displayed showed issues through beginning 2007, however, it skipped v.45, 2006 which is the volume I needed. It went from v.43 to v.46.
Library response:
See response below
Tue May 8 19:39:32 2007 Off-campus
I wanted to access an article in v.28 (1999) of Cataloging and Classification Quarterly. The ejournal locator says that 1992-present is available in Haworth Press Journals, however, when I clicked on the link there was a gap in coverage--it skips from v.19 (1995) to v.29 (2000).
Library response:
These three comments were turned in by the same woman. We actually told her she should work for the library, she was so good at finding gaps in titles! The online access to all three of the titles she wanted was through the same vendor, Haworth Press. Mary Feeney, the Library Science liaison, contacted Haworth Press about these problems and they were fixed immediately. So we thanked the woman who sent us these comments -- she helped the library improve access to three online journals and she helped the company, Haworth Press, improve their product. We like happy endings like this and we really appreciate hearing about online access problems -- often the first notice we get of a problem is from one of our customers. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team
Tue May 8 22:46:29 2007 Campus
computer in main computer room of main library needs new mouse.
just face printer #15, it's NOT the table behind it, but the TABLE
to the left, one of the computers closest to the wall near the
office recycle box. why don't you number these computers like you used to? mouse clicker is stiff.
Library response:
The computers are all still numbered, but the numbers are located on the CPU, which in some cases, like the circular tables, is hanging from a sling under the table. All the computers close to printer #15 were being used, but I asked people if the mouses on the computers were all working correctly and they all said yes. So I'm not sure which one you were talking about. As soon as the computers quit being used non-stop, we will investigate and try to find the problem. Thanks for telling us about it.Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team
Thu May 10 11:46:18 2007 Campus
I don't know whose issue this is, yours or PubMed's. I found a reference to this article in PubMed.
It's from the journal Anatomy and Embryology. PubMed didn't offer me a link, so I assumed the library didn't have electronic access, but then I found that it does.
Library response:
We will investigate to see if there is some way we could add links in PubMed to a product called Article Linker. When it works correctly, which it doesn't always, Article Linker will just bring up the full-text of the article from any source that we own. Unfortunately, there is no fully dependable automated way to do this. So my advice to you would be to always search your journal title in the library's catalog to see if there are either online sources or print versions of the issue you are looking for. We buy electronic access to journals and articles from a huge number of sources -- these many different products do not always play nicely together. If you find the full-text easily, that is the goal and we are all happy. If you don't find it easily, check the catalog or contact us and we can help you search. The best way to contact us to call the Info Commons Reference desk 621-6442, the Science-Engineering Library Reference desk 621-6384 or the Health Science Library Reference desk 626-6125. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team
Fri May 11 10:34:02 2007 Campus
I tried to access an e-journal for 2006:
Limnology and oceanography (0024-3590)
from 01/01/1956 to 11/30/2003 in JSTOR
from 1993 to present in EBSCOhost EJS
Only to find out that the EBSCOhost links you to the home page for the journal and we don't have access to this journal without a password
Library response:
There is a problem with the access to this title through the Ebsco EJS -- which actually just goes to the publishers site. I could not access them either from the library. We will look into it. In the meantime, you can request articles from this title through Interlibrary Loan and we do have the first issue from 2006 in print in the Science Engineering Library. Thanks for notifying us about this problem, we will work with the publisher to get it fixed as quickly as possible. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team (The problem was fixed.)
Fri May 11 11:08:48 2007 Campus
This article is not available electronically no matter how I tried, through the link in Web of Science, or through the publishers site>
Gherardi F, Lazzara L. 2006. Effects of the density of an invasive crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) on pelagic and surface microalgae in a Mediterranean wetland ARCHIV FUR HYDROBIOLOGIE 165 (3): 401-414 MAR 2006
Library response: I'm sorry that this keeps happening to you. I don't believe that our online access to this title is working correctly at this time. I have again included the staff group who will look into this problem in this email. You can request this article through Interlibrary Loan -- they should be able to get it for you electronically pretty quickly. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team -- P.S. Access to this title is still not working as of June 20.
Sun May 13 19:12:13 2007 Off-campus
I find that trying to access journals from Academic Search Premier, especially those provided via Taylor and Francis, are unavailable online. Today I tried to access Reviews in Anthropology to no avail. I am especially concerned about this now that the library is ceasing subscription to a large number of journals. Please reconsider canceling any that are available only via these services.
Library response: We know there are problems with Taylor & Francis, we have been struggling with them to get their product fixed for many months. I'm including a message below from Steve Bosch, who is the librarian who works with vendors like Taylor & Francis (a thankless job!). We have had numerous complaints about these titles, and this is Steve's explanation of the problem. It was supposed to be fixed, so I'm not sure what the delay is now. The links in Academic Search Premier to Reviews in Anthropology do work for the dates that it indicates in the catalog record for this title -- full-text in Academic Search Premier will always be about a year behind for this title. After April 17, 2006 (vol 35, no 2), we don't have full-text access from ASP. We are supposed to have that through Taylor & Francis -- which we still do not. I agree with you about not cancelling print subscriptions until we know we have viable online access -- but in the case of most of our titles, this has already been done. I encourage you to continue to notify us about e-journal problems, it is important for us to hear from and be aware of customers concerns. Also, you can request any articles that you can't full-text through our site, through InterLibrary Loan. ILL for articles is very fast these days, usually the articles are emailed to you within 3 days.
Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team
Explanation from Steve Bosch:
We put into place a deal with Taylor and Francis last year. We paid the invoice, sent back the license, etc. They turned on access and things worked ok for about a year. During that time the rep who handled things and her boss left and the internal paperwork was lost and no one there completed the license or much else. I started asking questions in the Fall, trying to get renewal info, the renewal invoice, etc. and nothing happened. Because they didn’t bill us, we couldn’t pay and they turned off access. A person would occasionally reply but there was no follow up. That person “left” the company. I had tried everyone I knew within T&F but there were major internal things going on due to the sale of the company, so it has basically taken 6 active months to get them to begin to fix things. That’s what happened.
NOTE: As of June 2007, it does appear that Taylor & Francis titles are finally working as they should -- it is a miracle!
Wed May 23 10:37:13 2007 Campus
Hello,
I've recently run into several problems accessing optics-related journal articles from Taylor & Francis online. I have seen messages indicating that they have been informed of the problem, but it has been over a month now. I certainly hope the university is not being charged for full access to these journals, when the modern mode of electronic access is not available. Thank you for your efforts solving this problem.
Library response:
See the reply above. We had many months of problems with Taylor & Francis titles, but they do now seem to be working correctly.
Thu May 24 16:57:47 2007 Campus
Why is it necessary to have everything in such small print? If you can't see the x to close to popup you don't want to see, you can't close the pop up. It amounts to having a computer that is unusable for people without perfect vision! Are you people at all familiar witht he Americans with Disabilities Act, because it doesn't appear so?
Library response:
The library has tried to design our web pages and set the default font on computers to accommodate the majority of our users. However, you can change this. If you are using a computer in the Information Commons you may be getting a font size that was reset by a previous user. If someone has changed the default font size you can restore defaults by rebooting the machine. You can change the text size in web browsers.
Firefox: Hold the control key and press the plus key
Internet Explorer: From the browser's menu, select View | Text size and choose larger or largest as you prefer.
Gene Spesard, Digital Library Information & Systems Team
Sat May 26 12:55:20 2007 Campus
The Access bible is missing from the reference shelves AGAIN!!!!!
The last time it went missing it took you SIX WEEKS to reshelve it!
How long do you think it will take this time????
THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE
I don't know why I bother to complain you never correct anything
Library response:
What is unacceptable is the fact that our customers steal these books. If you are going to be angry at anyone, be angry at them. We do have the Access 2003 Bible online -- a version that cannot be stolen. Anyone can use it, just search the catalog by title. Access 2007 has just come out and all the computers in the Info Commons will updated to Office 2007 sometime this summer. We will probably buy new manuals for this software, but this is something we are debating. These books are very expensive and they don't always stay on the shelves. We may look into the e-book version of these titles, if available. We do listen to customer complaints and we do try to act on ones that we can. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team
Sat May 26 13:04:58 2007 Campus
The sound doesn't work on 150.135.161.24
if I have to pay a technology fee, I think the technology should at least work!
Library response:
Thanks for notifying us about this computer problem, it will be fixed as soon as possible.
Tue May 29 11:45:37 2007 Off-campus
I wish to report systematic defacement of books in the Hollywood biogrpahies section on the 4th floor. I could start making a note when I fnd one, just tell me where to send titles. It seems one person (by the handwriting) is writing comments around many of the pictures. Sometimes off-color, too. In addition, photos are slit of out books, such as the biog. of Norma Shearer. It may be an older user or users, because these are older star biogs. from the '30s and '40s, mainly. The biography of actress Maude Adams is very marked up--I just recalled.
I suggest a sign appealing to people: "We ALL love the Hollywood stars. Let's respect other users enough to leave them as we found them and not mark up and deface their life stories."
Library response:
We have been looking into this area of books. We agree with you that it is a shame that people deface books, particularly books that don't belong to them. This is a problem that all library's face, unfortunately. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team
Tue May 29 11:47:11 2007 Off-campus
Dear Library Staff:
PS: I am reading the Norma Shearer biography. It is checked out to me and it irritated me to find photos slit out of the copy.
I'll return it in a few days, unless you need it sooner.
Thanks.
Library response:
Books that need attention for repairs or other reasons, can be turned in to the Information Desk in the Main Library lobby.