Author Archives: Steven Bell

Please Provide Unlimited Access to the Chronicle of Higher Ed

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Hello! I would like to suggest that Temple PhD/graduate students, adjunct and full-time faculty have free, unlimited, and unrestricted online access to all articles and classifieds from The Chronicle of Higher Education. Thanks!

We think that’s a great suggestion. In fact, the Temple University Libraries already has a site license to the Chronicle. That means that every member of the Temple University community – even undergrads – can access any and all articles in the Chronicle – and the ads as well. We have access to the complete archives of the Chronicle too, so you can search and read articles from years gone by. You can access all of this either on campus or off campus – though you’ll need to provide your TU network account information when you are off campus. 

Here’s an important thing to remember. If you are off campus and you first go to the Chronicle’s website you won’t get access to the full-text content. In order for it to work, you must access the Chronicle via our Library website. The easiest way to do this is to go to the Library homepage and click on Journal Finder. Search “Chronicle of Higher Education” and then choose the record for “publisher”. This way you’ll be accessing our licensed subscription and things should work fine. See the images below for additional information:

Step 1:

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Step 2:

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Here’s my suggestion. Take a few minutes and go to this page on the Chronicle website. There you can obtain your own account to the Chronicle. Then subscribe to the Chronicle’s daily newsletter called Academe Today. That way you’ll receive a daily e-mail with all of the latest news and information from the Chronicle – and best of all you can get the full-text of any article.

We certainly want as many of our faculty and students as possible to take advantage of our Chronicle subscription. I hope that you’ll share this news with your colleagues. If you do need any further help with getting access to the Chronicle or you encounter difficulties getting access to the full-text content please contact Steven Bell, Associate University Librarian.

How About A Computer Just For Printing?

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Many students have a difficult time finding a computer in the library to quickly print documents before class. I believe that this can simply be solved by restricting access to sites that are unrelated to academics such as facebook, myspace and youtube.

 

When we redesigned our Paley Library computer commons and opened it up to students in the fall of 2008 we thought it would be a significant improvement, and we are pleased to see that it is being heavily used by Temple University students. In fact, as you point out, the usage is so heavy that it can often be difficult to find a computer, especially when one is in a rush and there is a need for a quick printing job – or anything that will just take a few moments.

 

You actually raise two issues in your suggestion. First, why can’t we make it simpler and faster to just print out a single document. Second, why do we allow students to spend time on web surfing when other students must attend to urgent schoolwork. Both are good questions. As for the second one, please take a look at this prior suggestion in which we respond to this matter.

 

As for the first item, we think there may be a better solution to the problem than restricting what students can do on the computers. We are going to look into adding an “express printing station” that we would place directly in the printing area in the computer commons. This computer could be used only to retrieve and then send a document to the printers (please note that we would not plan to add a printer for this “express print station” – the existing printers can easily handle the additional jobs coming to them). We think this should be a big help to any student in a hurry who just wants to print something quickly and can’t find a free computer.

 

Finally, please know that we recently added an additional printer on the second floor east of the Paley Library. If you need to print something and you don’t see an open computer on the first floor, consider heading to the second floor where we have additional computers.

 

Thanks again for your suggestion which prompted us to consider how we might further improve library services for our user community.

 

 

Can’t You Copy All the DVD Covers and Put Them In a Book I Can Browse?

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Is it possible for the Media Services Center to have a book made with the front covers of all of their DVDs included and kept at their front desk for browsing purposes? It is extremely difficult and frustrating to browse the collection online!

 

Thank you for your recent suggestion that a book or binder be made that shows the front covers of all of our DVDs, and would be kept at the front desk for browsing purposes.

We know that students and faculty are often frustrated at their inability to browse Paley’s DVD collection. Our DVDs are kept in “closed stacks” which means they are not visible to the public the way our books are. So the primary way to discover what DVDs the library has is to browse using Diamond, our online catalog. But this too can sometimes be frustrating to use when trying to locate videos.

The idea then of having the DVD case or cover artwork for every DVD printed out and organized in a book so someone could just browse by flipping through it, seems like an eminently practical solution–one that several patrons have suggested in the past. Upon further reflection though, it becomes clear that this is something that our library (and most other large university libraries with large media collections) would not be able to do.

We have over 8,000 DVD and VHS films and are constantly adding new titles every month. To organize and assemble all the covers for these DVDs (and in instances where we did not have cover artwork, actually creating the artwork), then print them on regular paper and assemble them, would be a herculean task. Just think of the amount of time, paper, and personnel required to create such a massive book and then keep it maintained and updated. I think you’d agree that this would perhaps not be the best use of the library’s resources.

So what is the answer? Well, we have good news!

First, we have a brand new Media Services Department where you can find all our videos (it opened in February of 2009). You can always get help finding DVDs by contacting Media Services directly, either by phone (215-204-8204), by email (tulmedia@temple.edu) or by coming to the Media Services Desk in person, located on ground floor of Paley library. Our knowledgeable, friendly and helpful staff would be more than happy to work with you one-on-one to help you find what you are looking for.

Second, you can search the Diamond catalog specifically for DVDs by selecting the video/DVD tab. This will get you into the video collection faster and more efficiently than the keyword search.

Third, you can check out the easy-to-use Media Services blog, where each month we post complete lists of new arrivals http://blog.library.temple.edu/media_services/. Our blog has an RSS feed that allows you to regularly receive a notice each time we update our blog (come see us if you want to learn more about using the RSS feed).

And fourth, you can browse our new display of DVDs in the Leisure Reading section, on the main level, near the Reference Desk. Here on the shelves we’ve placed a selection of DVD cases, showing new arrivals and other titles of interest for patrons.

While we are not yet able to offer a completely accessible and physically browseable video collection, we’d like to think we’ve come a long way in improving service and access for the library’s video collection. We do hope that the options we’ve presented here will help alleviate your frustration.

We’ll see you at the movies!

 

What Do I Have To Do To Get Quiet In This Library

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Many people go to Paley’s 3rd floor to study in a quiet area. However the floor is getting noisy and noise everyday. People talking on the phones, chatting with their friends, eating meals on the table. And I do not see any body commenting or stopping them from doing so. I’ve personnally asked some of people to quiet. Can you keep 3rd floor quiet please? Where else do i have to to study quietly on the campus if the library is too loud?

 

Have you noticed that it’s difficult to find a truly quiet public place these days. People on cell phones on public transportation. People talking loudly in movie theatres. People listening to music so loudly you can hear it through their headphones. Noise in public places is a societal issue because in general people are less considerate of their fellow citizens than they used to be. Paley Library – in fact all libraries – are not immune from this problem. A library used to be equated with golden silence, but that is no longer the case.

 

We appreciate that you are sharing your concerns with us, and it’s great that you have attempted to solve the problem by asking others around you to be quiet. What we’ve heard from our library colleagues at other institutions is that the most effective resolution to noise in the library is when students self-police and police their fellow students. When asked to hold down the noise, most students will politely comply, though we know this is not always the case.

 

What we’re attempting to do about the noise challenge is to use a “zoning” approach. We have specified different areas of the Paley Library as quiet zones or group study (noise-tolerant) zones. For example, the first floor west is a group zone – and noise there is tolerated. However, the east side of the first floor is a quiet zone, and we expect students to study quietly there. The east side of the second level, on the other hand, is a noise-tolerant zone. So please make sure that you are studying in one of the quiet zones. It is possible students will not be aware of which zone they are in. So if you are in a dedicated quiet zone and other students are making noise please do remind them they are in a quiet zone – all these zones are clearly marked when you enter them.

 

If you find a group of students are being particularly noisy or a single student is speaking loudly into a cell phone, first consider pointing out to the offending party about the quiet zone location. If the student(s) continues to be noisy, please bring it to the attention of a staff member who will intervene. Please bear in mind that at some late hours or on weekends we may not have sufficient staffing to attend to every noise situation.  

Please DisplayThe Food Policy More Prominently

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Hi! I noticed that nobody really seems to follow the food policy at all. I’m constantly seeing people with chinese food and other pretty smelly stuff not only on the ground floor but in the stacks as well. It’s not only the smell that’s gross but also the “eating sounds” and the mess that’s usually left behind. I’ve even seen people come to the library with food, eat it, and leave. Any way that the policy could be more prominently displayed?

Thanks for sharing your concerns about students eating what our policy refers to as “messy or aromatic” foods when in the library. We too are concerned when students ignore the policy rather than self-police their food consumption in Paley Library. Our policy does allow covered beverage containers and small snacks. As you point out, it can not only be distracting or even disturbing to other students, but food and beverage messes make the Library a less enjoyable place to study and it invites bugs and mice to boldly go wherever they can find food.

We currently display the policy on posters on every level of the library. This semester we added reminder cards about the food/beverage policy on computer tables throughout the first floor. Despite our efforts we acknowledge that it will be impossible to enforce this one hundred percent in a building of Paley’s size. Although the door guards will flag students bringing in obvious bags or containers of food, many students can easily conceal it in their book bags. Our food/beverage policy is one of self-enforcement, which may not always work. It is not our intention to police the policy and ask those violating it to leave the building. We want everyone to feel welcome in the building.

Please know that this isn’t a problem unique to Paley Library. We hear the same concerns about food and beverages from our library colleagues around the country. However, given the lack of good food consumption areas on campus and the food truck culture of Temple, it really does amplify the problem at Paley Library. What we have heard from our colleagues is that the best solution is for students to police each other. Simply reminding another student about the food policy may be the most effective way to encourage your fellow students to follow the policies. You might remind other students that the Library has a cafe on the first floor which is open for food consumption. 

If you see an egregious violation of the policy you may wish to bring it to a staff member’s attention. A staff member is able to bring the policy to the attention of students, but again, we typically will not ask students to discard their food or leave the building. We hope that over time more students will voluntarily observe the policy – and over the past two academic years – we have seen a significant reduction in the amount of food being consumed in the Library – thanks to both our cafe and signage. It may be a bit of exaggeration to say that “nobody follows the food policy at all.” Just look at all the food being consumed in the cafe. Notice how many students are only eating snacks – no messy foods. The vast majority of the students in Paley Library are following the policy. Unfortunately, there is a minority that ignores the policy. We hope to do better in the future with help from you and other students.

 

All The Computers Should Allow Printing For Cash

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I am student who needs to use cash printing sometimes because I don’t have my TUID with me. It seems that the computers around the reference desk are not networked with the cash printing queue. I was directed to use the computers over by the windows, across the main hall. This was an inconvenience to me because I had been working on a computer by the reference desk, and all of the computers that were supposedly networked with the cash printer were full. Please, can’t cash printing be an option from all of the computers in the library?

 

We’re glad to hear you find the computers in the library of value to your student work. It is indeed our intention to make it possible for every computer in the library to print to every printer, whether payment is by quota or cash. However, you discovered a glitch we suffered at the beginning of the semester that we are still working to correct – but should have corrected by the time you read this. To enable cash printing we require a special driver (a piece of software) that must be added to the computers. Unfortunately we received the driver later than expected. Once students began returning to campus it became difficult to find downtime for the installation of the driver to all the computers in the library. You were properly directed to a group of computers where the driver had been installed. Our Library Systems office had made a commitment to get the drivers installed on all the computers in the next two weeks. We are sorry that you were inconvenienced, and it is always our goal to make your library experience a great one. We will be working hard to make sure that is the case – but don’t hesitate to tell us when you find something broken that we need to fix.

 

Why Aren’t Current Issues of Magazines on the Shelf

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I like to browse publications like the New Republic and The Economist and I have noticed that the Library often doesn’t have these out on the shelf until weeks after the newstands do. E-versions are fine, but I like to browse the print editions. Any chance of getting the weekly periodicals out on time?

Thank you for sharing your concerns about finding the latest issues of magazines and journals you’d like to regularly read. It’s great to hear from students and faculty who continue to find our print collections of great value. We receive dozens of periodicals every day, and we do our best to make them available to those awaiting them as fast as we possibly can.  We receive our journals via the US mail which is usually later than the newstand date.  Once the issues are in the building it normally takes us approximately 2- 5 days to place the titles on the current periodical shelves.  The two titles you were looking for are two of our most used titles.  It is possible that someone has removed the journal and is reading it elsewhere in the library. Here is additional information on the handling of these two titles:

The New Republic

Issue for Sept. 23rd was checked in and shelved Sept. 29.  It is not currently on the shelf. 

Sept. 9th was shelved on Sept. 2nd and is currently on shelf.

Aug. 12 was rec’d on Aug. 4th and is on shelf

Jul. 15 was rec’d on Jul 8th and is on shelf.

 

The Economist

The most recent issue was found in the “to be shelved” bin which means someone had been looking at it.  All other issues were on shelf.

 

Issue for Sept. 19-25th rec’d on Sept. 25th

Sept. 12-18 rec’d on Sept. 23rd

Sept. 5-11th rec’d on Sept. 10th

Aug. 29-Sept. 4th rec’d on Sept 9th.

 

As you can see we usually receive the NR a week before the date of the issue.  However, The Economist is received after the issue date.

 

 If you do not find an issue at its shelf location you should first check the reshelf bin in the periodicals area. If you still do not find the issue proceed to the reference desk and request assistance to find an issue. The reference librarian will contact a member of our acquisitions department who can provide assistance.  I apologize if you could not find the title you were interested in.  I am available to speak with you or other patrons who have concerns or suggestions for our periodical collection

 

Carole R. Bell, Head, Acquisistions Dept.

 

 

More Seats For Safari Please

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Any chance of expanding the “concurrent user limit” on Safari Tech Books? I couldn’t log on today, and I would really like to be able to have more reliable access to this resource… …because it offers a lot of utility to a lot of disciplines at a lot of different levels the 4 user limit seems awfully small for a University Temple’s size….

Thanks for sharing your concerns about getting access to Safari. It is great to hear that you find this to be a useful resource. We do obtain usage statistics for Safari from the producer of the database, and whenever someone is unable to connect because all four seats are in use – we call that a “turnaway” – we are notified in the statistical count. Here is the latest data we have on turnaways for Safari:

June 2009 – 2 turnaways
January 2009: 19 turnaways
September 2008: 191 turnaways

Other than September 2008, which seems a bit of an aberration, we rarely have turnaways, and that suggests our 4 seats are serving our user community well. Keep in mind that additional seats cost us additional dollars, and we have to make careful decisions about putting the right amount of money into a database like Safari so we aren’t wasting money on seats that go unused – and wasted money means less dollars for other important databases we need for Temple students and faculty.

One other thing to consider. Within the last week, during the time this suggestion was received, we were experiencing a number of difficulties with the technology that allows access to the databases from off campus. This may in fact be the source of your inability to connect to Safari – not a lack of seats. But we will continue to monitor the usage of seats for Safari and other databases and add seats when it seems necessary to meet the demand for access.

 

What is Quick Search Searching?

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The “QuickSearch” is confusing. What exactly is it searching? Why is it so hard to find a link to the book catalog?

First, thank you for giving our new Library homepage, which is currently available for preview and comment.  Sorry for any confusion you might have about Quicksearch. It’s simply designed to provide a starting point. You can enter any term or phrase in the search box, and the search will return the number of results you will retrieve in a variety of sources. So you will retrieve some recommended databases, results from Academic Search Premier and the library catalog. It also returns links to subject guides that can help you with your research by recommending many other potential sources of information. So Quick Search doesn’t return actual citations for books and magazines. Rather, it is a starting point and suggests resources for your research.

We have tried to make it easy to get to the book catalog. There is a link to it under “Quick Links” (see Diamond Catalog) and when you use the quick search you automatically get results from the book catalog (see the link under the “Databases” category) – so you don’t even need to find a link to the catalog.  Quick Search already gives you a search result.

If you still find Quick Search confusing – or if there is anything about the new homepage design you’d like to make a suggestion about – please follow up with additional comments or suggestions to Steven Bell, Associate University Librarian.

Why Is It So Cold Here? Please Warm Up Paley.

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It’s really cold in here. Can it be at least a little warmer? It doesn’t have to be this cold.

Ah, if only we were able to achieve the ideal temperature setting in every area of Paley Library. But given the nature of our 165,000 square foot facility, and the idiosyncrasies of our heating and cooling system, were we to ask facilities to come and warm up the building, we might regret that the very next day by experiencing too warm temperatures. While we do our best to regulate the temperature across the entire Paley building, there are going to be situations where it may be too cold or too warm for individual preferences in any particular spot in the facility. But it would be a challenge to warm up or cool down any specific zone without perhaps affecting the temperature in another zone. The Temple University’s facilities department regulates the building temperature on a seasonal basis. This can be a challenge if it is unseasonably warm or cold for a few days.

If you find the area where you like to study a bit cold from time to time, bring along your favorite hoody. And if you do want us to follow up on what you think is a particular problem, please be sure to let us know exactly what part of the Paley building you think needs a temperature adjustment. We will then follow up.