The journal that you are interested in, Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, is available prior to 2004 through the OVID system. Through Ovid we have back to 2001. However, for the period from January 1, 2008 it is available from Springer Online Journals. Whenever checking for our availability of online journal content check our Journal Finder – on the home page of the Temple Libraries.

If you believe that the older holdings of this title warrant the library purchasing online back files, please send us a recommendation through our online Purchase Recommendation Form . 

 When the Library subscribes to an electronic title, a decision needs to be made regarding how far back to purchase the older issues. In some cases, the publisher makes available back to a certain date (say 2001) and prior to that date the library must pay an additional fee for the older content (the archives). The Library needs to balance the need for online access to the current materials, which in the health sciences disciplines are often considered the most valuable for patient care and research, with the need to provide convenient access to older issues. If the library already holds the print title (say back to the early 1960s), the library has to decide whether or not to purchase essentially duplicate issues online. In some cases, the need for full runs of titles is significant, and certainly the library purchases those backfiles.

[This response was authored by Barbara Kuchan, Interim Director of the Health Sciences Library]

I am writing to complain about missing books  that are listed as in the library in the online card catalog.  I usually just let it slide, but today marked the third time this week that a book I need is listed and is not on the shelves.  Please address this issue.  I know it is a big collection, but this has to be addressed. 

Thank you for sharing your concerns about the frequency with which books are not found on the shelves of Paley Library where they are supposed to be located.  Please be assured that nothing would please us more than to unravel the mystery of missing books. Our shelving team is well trained and capable of getting the books into their proper shelf location. Still, there are any number of reasons why books go missing, including everything from patrons reshelving books in the wrong spot after browsing them, human error, intentional misplacement and even theft. As you point out the collection is vast, and it simply isn’t possible or practical to constantly read the shelves or inventory the books to check for missing items.

We have policies in place for quickly replacing missing books when we learn of them. The problem is that our community members may not report something that is missing. Unless we are informed about missing items, we won’t know they need to be replaced. It is easy to notify us about a missing book – just use the form on our website. Once a book is reported missing we will follow up by searching for it several times. If we fail to find it we will report it to book selectors who then decide whether a book is worth replacing. But if someone is requesting it we’ll obtain a copy. Alternately, if our copy is missing try using EZ-Borrow to quickly order and obtain the book from another Pennsylvania.

If you book(s) are missing try to avoid giving up in frustration. Please visit our Circulation/ Reserve Desk for assistance or use the form to report a missing book. We will do our best to get it for your quickly.

And for the long-term outlook, we are currently exploring technologies that will help us to conduct more frequent shelf inventories so we will know what is there and what’s not.

I am wondering why issues of current magazines are not on the shelves. I know there was a different post below but for the past 3 weeks I have not been able to access the current issue of The Economist. It is never on the shelf and rarely is there ever any issues at all on the shelves, and when they are they are always in poor condition. I have a suspicion that other students are taking them out of the Library. Can popular magazines like The Economist be signed out for periods of maybe 2 hours then returned so they can be kept track of? A second suggestion would be to order a second or third issue so more people can read it. Can something please be done about this?

Thanks for sharing your frustrations about your inability to get a hold of issues of The Economist. We are frustrated by this as well. Unfortunately, it appears we are losing these issues to a student or students who are absconding with these recent issues. We do not allow these issues to be borrowed from the library, so if your suspicions are correct then a student or some students are being unethical in their use of what is a community resource. All I’ll say at this point is that your suggestions are well taken, and that we are going to step up our efforts to keep The Economist issues here in the Library where they belong. Thank you for brining this problem to our attention. Please know that we are concerned and are taking action.

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:

Step 2:

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.

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.

The people who work at the library are great, but I get frustrated with the large amount of books that are not immediately available at the library (i.e. need to be ordered from the repository or through PALCI and ILLIAD). Are there plans in the works to fund the library’s need for more books and space to house books? If not, who can faculty and students contact to let them know we want improved library facilities and holdings?

Many thanks for your kind words about the employees of the Temple University Libraries. We appreciate that you are pleased with the service you receive from our staff. We are disappointed to learn about your frustrations with our collections. Despite a significant increase in our expenditures for collections over the past four years it is an unfortunate reality that the Libraries are unable to expand its holdings to the point that we can have all the books and materials to satisfy the needs of every member of our large community.

Please know that in 2005,  the University implemented a five year plan of major funding increases to improve the Libraries. As a result we have showed serious improvement in our collections. Using the Association of Research Libraries data as a measure of progress, compared to our peers, in collections we moved from a ranking of 95th (out of 113) in 2004 to 61st in 2006 and then to 39th in 2007 in expenditures for library materials. We moved from 84th in 2004 to 74th in 2006 and then to 60th in 2007 in total library expenditures. So we have dramatically increased the size and scope of our collections in both print and electronic formats. For instance, twenty years ago we purchased only 17,870 monographs.  Ten years ago just 23,525.  Last year we bought  47,318 monographs.  Even with impending budget constraints and inflation factors associated with library materials, we will be doing everything possible to preserve our budget for library books.   If we are not buying specific monographs in a particular area of need, please use our purchase recommendation form.

No research library can endlessly expand the size of its physical facilities to offer an on-site, browsing collection. Nearly every major research university library now makes use of a remote-storage site to hold its lesser used books and bound journals. We are fortunate that our repository is nearby allowing for the rapid retrieval and delivery of materials.  And if materials in the depository are borrowed more than three times in a year,  we will return them to the shelves in Paley. And services such as PALCI and ILLIAD allow our user community to take advantage of the collections of many great libraries that hold materials we could never offer locally. All we can say is that both of these services have dramatically increased both the ease of requesting materials through interlibrary loan and the speed at which the materials are delivered.

Given our finite resources we will do our best to acquire the books and other materials that are most relevant to the needs of our students, faculty, and researchers and that best support our diverse curriculum. To make that possible our subject specialists work closely with academic departments to ensure we are acquiring the right materials. If there is a subject area that any member of our community finds particularly lacking in depth and breadth, we invite you to contact the subject specialist for that area to recommend appropriate materials that will help us strengthen our collections.

If you would like to contact someone directly to share your concerns about the need for better library facilities and holdings please email Larry Alford, Dean of University Libraries.