Feedback to the Library, April 2008

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

Wed Apr 2 14:01:48 2008 Off-campus

Why are there no feedback comments posted for this semester?
Library response: We apologize for being so slow in getting these comments and replies up on the internet. The staff who do this work have been really busy with other higher priority tasks. We'll try to be more timely in the future with posting these monthly pages. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team

Wed Apr 2 23:35:47 2008 Off-campus

Is there a smoking proximity limit for how close people can smoke to the building? I am studying right now on the first floor and can literally smell the smoke drifting inside as people open and close the door to enter. It is sickening. If there is a limit as to how close they can smoke, I think someone should post a sign, or go out there and tell them. We have proximity limits on restaurants, why not make them for places of study. Nobody likes to smell and breathe smoke when they're trying to think about their test tomorrow.
Library response: There is a law that people can't smoke within 25 feet of public buildings and we do have several (at least 5) bright red signs posted about this on the pillars outside of the main library. The problem is that people don't read signs. There is also a phone number that anyone can call if they see a smoking violation on a different sign on the glass doors into the library. So you are certainly welcome to go out there and tell people they are in violation or just get the phone number and call it. I believe that library staff do this at times, but we can't really be responsible for policing the outside of the library. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team

Wed Apr 2 23:38:42 2008 Off-campus

I called one of your numbers 626-4836 to get some help about a book and NO ONE CALLED BACK. Does the person at that number get a paycheck for having a voice mail message service and not having to return calls? Just wondering. I was hoping to get help at the Return Book counter since NO ONE CALLED BACK and they referred me back to the Information counter which is where I got the number in the first place. You run quite a circus.
Library response: Your message has been forwarded to me for resolution. First, I would like to apologize for any problems you have had in contacting the library. The number you were referred to is for Fines and Billing issues, and is actually only staffed Monday –Friday from 10am-2pm; any calls received outside of those hours will automatically go to voice mail. Calls received while the line is in use (for example: the staff person is helping another customer) will go to voicemail as well.

Any messages left will normally be responded to within less than 24 hours. It sounds like this did not happen your case. I am checking with our fines and billing staff to determine what happened in this instance so we can work to ensure that you are not faced with such a “circus” in the future. Thank you for notifying us about this. John Miller-Wells, Materials Access Team

Mon Apr 7 21:54:56 2008 Off-campus

To whom it may concern: When I was walking from the second floor down to the ILC, I unfortunately witnessed a homeless man spoil himself as I walked behind him. It was disgusting. I saw it run down his leg. I think that there should be some sort of system to check if people are tax paying citizens for them to be allowed to use a state provided service that comes from tax payer dollars. I hope I never have to watch poop run down someones leg again.
Library response: I believe you make two distinct points, so I will address them separately:

1) "...I unfortunately witnessed a homeless man spoil himself as I walked behind
him. It was disgusting..."

It is indeed very unfortunate that this happened. The incident you describe represents a serious health hazard to both this patron and others in the library. You do not mention whether you reported this to a library staff member. We take health hazards very seriously, and if such an incident were reported to us, it would be our duty to have the person removed from the building as soon as possible. Depending on the circumstances, this might warrant involvement of police and/or an ambulance.

2) "I think that there should be some sort of system to check if people are tax paying citizens
for them to be allowed to use a state provided service that comes from tax payer dollars."

We are a public university and the library is a public building. The community uses the rich resources in our library and Tucson benefits from it. The vast majority of community people who use our library, use it responsibly. We don't watch the doors and refuse entrance to people because of the way they look or if they have paid their taxes or not. However, we are very willing to ask people who are disturbing others or behaving in inappropriate ways to leave the library and we often have to call the police to help us enforce this. The situation that you are reporting, is one in which we probably would have called the police, if we had been notified. To anyone reading this, if you observe behavior that endangers a person or others, please report it immediately. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team

Fri Apr 11 08:44:40 2008 Library

Overnight feedback: I did not realize that I and my friend had to leave @ 1am 4/11/08. With no way to get home, I proceeded to ask the nice librarian at the desk if we could stay. The librarian was great, allowing us to stay this one time and "next time you have to leave". At 2am someone with with a clipboard came up to us and stated "rudely, unprofessionally, and disrespectfully. You are trespassing and you better watch out, I'll call the police. What time does the earliest bus come? 5:45am and you two better be on it." There is never a time to be rude ato someone and this unprofessionalism is unacceptable.
Library response: I'm sorry you feel you were treated rudely. I think there is probably more to the interaction than you are including in your description. For security reasons, we have always restricted access to the Main Library to UA students and faculty between 1 and 7 am. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team

Fri Apr 11 22:36:12 2008 Off-campus

You know, it's getting pretty ridiculous when someone who pays 100$ per year to take out perhaps 5 books during that year now does not have the ability to request or recall a book. There is a label for that which I shall not print here.
Library response: To provide you with some background as to how this came to be, in Fall 2007, we implemented a paging service called Express Retrieval which was something that UA students have been asking for. Due to the fact that books are more difficult than ever to locate because they are all being shifted, we decided that this needed to be implemented before the semester ended. This paging service was completely subsidized by student fees.

In order to implement paging we had to make changes to our system and the hold/recall function cannot be separated from paging request submission. Given this, we had to review these privileges for each user group. Due to the funding source, we could not justify subsidizing this for any form of non-UA user.

This decision was also driven by the fact that holds/recalls were never a part of the cost of the community user card. Previously, offering this service didn’t result in us having to do much, if any, extra work; however, this change means that we would have to mediate cancellations. We checked with other peer institutions and found that most academic libraries don’t allow community users to place holds/recalls.

We’ll continue to look into costs and see if in the future we can offer a card that allows holds/recalls/paging, but for now this isn’t possible. Travis Teetor, Materials Access Team

Sat Apr 12 11:38:15 2008 Campus

Hi, I have a problem every time when I use the U of A VPN at home to access to the PNAS journal's website to download PDF files. e.g., http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/99/14/9527 If I click on the "Full text (PDF)" link (eg, http://www.pnas.org/cgi/reprint/99/14/9527), I'll get this error message: "Access to this site from IP address 150.135.114.108 has been temporarily blocked The most likely reason for a block is too-frequent requests for a resource...." I don't have this problem on campus. I wonder if this is something can be fixed? Thank you,
Library response: We have contacted the vendor to find out why IP addresses were being blocked access to this journal. Thank you for notifying us about this problem. Gene Spesard, Digital Library & Information Systems Team

Mon Apr 14 15:17:18 2008 Library

I am very displeased if not disgusted with the situation with your compact shelving on the north side of the first floor of the Main Library. It is very difficult to operate, and the shelves will not position themselves as I direct them. What could be more useless than to try to save a couple feet of space by investing in a useless mechanism as this?
Library response: We are trying our best to make the Compact Shelving functional all over the library. We are working with the manufacturer to change the boards in these systems to make them more robust and easier to handle. We have to put in compact shelving in the library because our collection is now at our capacity. With the addition of compact shelving we can squeeze in 25 percent more books. However, someone is always ready to help you to get into the compact shelving area. Please come up to the Main Library Info desk (2nd floor of Main Library) and we will help you get into those shelves. Hayri Yildirim, Interim Building Manager

Tue Apr 15 12:58:12 2008 Library

The UA Special Collections has a room/office in their Reading Room, and it has a beautiful, tooled leather saddle on display. It would be nice if a small history of the saddle were available: who donated it, maybe background of the Myers Saddle Shop in El Paso (that info is stamped onto the saddle itself), etc. It's an eye-catcher and very symbolic of the American West: I think other library users than just myself would appreciate the extra info. One last thing: saddles need upkeep, i.e., saddle soap, getting oiled with neatsfoot oil, etc. to keep the leather clean and supple. This saddle isn't being used anymore, but it should be periodically tended anyway so the leather doesn't dry out. Just thought you should know.
Library response: The saddle in the reading room was a gift from Paris-born Pierre Lecomte du Noy, and was part of a larger gift, including rare books and his papers, that came to the University after his death. He loved the West, and rode horses from the Badlands to the Borderlands. Cowboys gave him the nickname “Glass-eyed Pete” because he wore pince-nez glasses while he was in the saddle. The saddle was made by the S.D. Myres Saddle Company, started by Samuel Myres (1871-1953) in Sweetwater Texas in 1895, and moved to El Paso in 1920. The Myres Company Papers are available to readers at Texas Tech University. (This information is now posted.) Roger Myers, Special Collections

Tue Apr 15 21:03:27 2008 Off-campus

I am a frequent user of the laptops available for checkout and I had a conversation with the folks at the information desk about how the computers are never cleaned. I think it is a health concern that these laptops and other computers are not sanitized after people use them. There could be millions of germs on these things and nobody is going to do anything about it. Can you put some wipes out so that people can clean these things?
Library response: This is a great idea and the library has already bought some sanitizing wipes for the laptops. Thanks for the suggestion.

Thu Apr 17 08:11:42 2008 Library

The AC in the ILC study rooms is on way too high. It just seems like a waste of money to make people that uncomfortable. It was set at about 70 all night. It would be much more comfortable at around 75.
Library response: The temperature throughout the Main Library has been problematic for years. It is either too hot or too cold everywhere and the staff in the building are very aware of it. We report all complaints about temperature to our Building Manager, who in turn works with Physical Facilities on campus. Several years ago, the university paid to have all the air handlers in the building revamped, with the hope that this would help the problem. It didn't really seem to have much effect. I guess at this point I am pretty pessimistic that these problems in this building can ever be corrected. But I will continue to pass on all complaints to the Building Manager. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team

Fri Apr 18 12:20:45 2008 Campus

The fine arts library needs a coin machine.
Library response: The University removed all change machines throughout the campus. This was done for security reasons and it was a university decision, not a library decision. We realize that the lack of change machines is somewhat problematic in the Fine Arts Library. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Services Team

Wed Apr 23 12:58:08 2008 Off-campus

I would like to know if there would be a way to keep using the services of this library by the time we graduate. I am a PhD student here from Mexico where our bibliographical resources are scarce. I would like to know if through agreements among universities or by paying a fee we could continue using this library. I want you to know that the service I have received here has by far exceeded my expectations. I would very much appreciate your comments. Thank you.

Library response: There really is not a way to keep using these resources after you graduate. You are not the first person to ask this question. First of all, we are really glad that you have used the services and realize their value -- there are so many students who don't do that and it is sad and frustrating for the library. These resources, particularly the online ones, are subscriptions that we pay for every year. We also sign contracts agreeing to only make these resources available off campus to current UA faculty, students or staff (via a current catcard number).

You can always use our resources in the library, if you happen to be here. Also, we are finalizing a program with the Alumni Association, so that all members of the Association (I think it costs $50 a year to join) would have access to a couple of our databases -- a general one and a business one. However, this doesn't provide access to the wide variety of databases we have, there is just no way to do that for people after they leave the UA.

Finally, I don't believe that we have any arrangements with any universities in Mexico, but I think this is an idea with promise. I will share your idea with the staff who work on this kind of resource sharing agreements. Vicki Mills, Undergraduate Service Team

Sat Apr 26 16:21:28 2008 Library

"International Aerospace Abstracts" located on the fifth floor north east side of the U of A Science and Engineering library are not filed in the correct order.
Library response: Thanks for notifying us about this problem. It has been reported and will be fixed.

Mon Apr 28 02:45:36 2008 Library

Your BadCopyPro doesn't work. *After* it corrected and repaired a MS Word document, the document remained corrupt. *After*, according to BadCopyPro, all the file had been *successfully* recovered, no, none of it had been. Clearly, there's something seriously wrong. Those messages are not even in the right order. Thus, the BCP itself is grossly defective. So too, the Word document-repair feature is useless. All attempts to use it only return one to the original notice that one's document cannot be opened. What's the use?
Library response: First of all, BadCopy Pro is a file recovery program to be used if a document were accidentally deleted from a drive, or the drive became corrupt and had to be reformatted...it is NOT a program that can or will fix corrupt documents. If your document was corrupt before running BadCopy Pro, that same corrupt copy is what BadCopy Pro would find for you. That said, there is quite a learning curve on BadCopy’s use, and there are also no guarantees that it CAN retrieve the lost/deleted/reformatted document. There are three different recovery “modes” associated with the program, and the instructions state that if one mode does not work, to try another. Another thing that might catch the user up is that recovered files have to be re-saved on a drive, (eg. the hard drive or a USB drive), before they can be opened. You can also try opening the document that was retrieved in Open Office; this program will often open documents that can’t be opened in Microsoft Office, but again you must physically save the document to a drive in order for this option to work. The document can then be re-saved as a Word document that can once again be opened in Microsoft Office. The best policy when creating documents is to save frequently and redundantly on different drives; the ideal is to save the document to the hard drive of the computer you’re working on, then either e-mail it to yourself as an attachment or save to a network drive if you have access to one, and THEN save it to a USB drive or burn it to a CD. That way if the copy you’re working on does happen to become corrupt, you will have at least one other source you can turn to for backup. Kent Duryee, Digital Library & Information Systems Team