2006 archive of comments

May 16, 2006: ASTM standards searching

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:01:55 -0400

When I type in "ASTM standards" the search engine does not return the most current version of the standards located on the 2nd floor of Newman. Why is that? I get all kinds of articles, papers, etc. It seems to me that the standards themselves should be on the list, at the top of the list really, and with the most current version listed first.

I am sorry for the confusion. You must have entered a keyword search for ASTM standards, that came up sorted by year of publication. If you do a title search for ASTM standards, in Addison, the first title that comes up is the one you want. The real title of the work by the way, is Annual book of ASTM standards. Please get back in touch, if you have any additional questions about searching in Addison.

Buddy Litchfield, Instruction, Reference, and Outreach Dept.

May 16, 2006: Making PDF files in Photocopy area

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:02:49 -0400

Please consider updating the photocopy service area to allow students to make PDF files for themselves. (you can charge 5 cents a page or something reduced). It could be considered a significant step into the 21st century.

Currently there is a charge. We refer anyone who asks at the desk in the Torgersen Referencer Desk. We are anticipating getting updated new photopcopy equipment this summer that could be used for scanning However, we would have to have a computer connected to each machine capable of converting to PDF files. Also it requires ethernet connections. Bottom line, this adds to the cost of already dimishing revenue for the cost recovery of Photocopy services. The cost of computers and ethernet connections have always been the reason for not doing this in the past.

We will explore the feasibility of leasing one photocopy machine with that ability and find out how great the demand is and see if implementation of a full service can be supported.

Thank you for your suggestion.

Don Kenney, Associate Dean for Administrative Services

May 23, 2006: Returning overdue books that have holds

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:03:39 -0400

I tried to renew a book and it came up as being on hold. I will be happy to return the book, but we just moved, and all my books are packed. I will return the book as soon as I can find it. We literally have three rooms of boxes floor to ceiling, and we are working our way through them. Thanks.

The book indeed has a hold on it and can not be renewed. Another faculty member has requested the book (probably needed as they prepare for the fall semester). The book should be returned as soon as possible to keep your account from being blocked as well as for the other patron's use. When the book is 30 days past due, your account will be blocked and a replacement fee will be charged to your account.

Brenda Pratt, Circulation Department Head

June 23, 2006: The online renewal syste

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:59:13 -0400

Hi, I'm a grad student at Virginia Tech and I have never used the online renewal system before today, but I just renewed some books through this system and I couldn't be happier! This is a great service to offer students. Thanks!

Thank you for your comment. It is always nice to hear positive things about our new system.

Buddy Litchfield, Instruction, Reference, and Outreach Dept.

June 25, 2006: Transposed call number

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:00:09 -0400

I was looking for the book "The clan of the flapdragon....." The electronic version has P106 .M3745 1997 eb. Are the numbers in the second line of the call no. inverted?

You are correct, the call number on the book had been inverted to P106 .M3475 1997. It should be P106 .M3745 1997, like the ebook.

Buddy Litchfield, Instruction, Reference, and Outreach Dept.

July 6, 2006: Scopus recommendation

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:56:36 -0400

Before coming to VTech, I used a database called "Scopus" (Engineering and Science mainly). This database was superior to "Compendex", and I hope the Library can try that database. It was a great search tool for papers - extremely wealthy.

Thanks for your suggestion. We are carefully monitoring the development of Scopus but have hesitated to buy it because Elsevier's annual price - once all the early year discounts end, it would be $180,000 per annum. UVA and others in the area have taken the same approach. Elsevier's eventual goal is to have something that's better than Compendex, better than Web of Science, etc.

I asked Larry Thompson, our Engineering Librarian, what he thought and he said he'd like to know what your areas of interest are, so that we could assess those subdisciplines in which Scopus might be better than Compendex. I'm sure Larry could also advise you re other resources such as Inspec, standards, NTIS etc. that might usefully complement Compendex in your searching, so don't hesitate to ask for his expert assistance.

Thanks again, and do let us know more specifically where Scopus seemed to win this particular "battle of the bands."

Paul Metz, Director of Collection Management

July 14, 2006: The new library system

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:57:45 -0400

Just wanted to say I absolutely love the new system, particularly the way it lets me manage my "patron record" and select books to renew on line. Wonderful improvement.

Thank you for your comments. Glad you like the new system.

Buddy Litchfield,Instruction, Reference, and Outreach Dept.

Aug. 7, 2006: A Thank you for assistance

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:36:18 -0400

I wanted to let you know that Kathleen Ries helped me with a problem locating a journal. She was particularly quick with this matter.

Thanks for your good comment about Kathleen's assistance. It is good to have your input and we are pleased to have her working with us.

Eileen Hitchingham, Dean of University Libraries

Aug. 24, 2006: Suggestion for catalog dropdown options

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:37:17 -0400

On a later screen than the initial one, the pull-down menu has a category of "journal title" separate from "title". This is *VERY* convenient, and would be a great addition to the main first screen.

While the Journal Title search option is listed separately on the main search screen, the search is actually a combination of a Title search combined with a limit of Journals (from the popup menu to the right of the search box). We hard code this combination on the search screen, but you can accomplish the same search by choosing these two options in the search box on any results page.

Robert Sebek, Webmaster

Sept. 1, 2006: Problem with requesting from storage?

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:15:25 -0400

In the requesting a book out of storage "process", the web site fails to shows icons like "submit", etc. when using the Firefox browser. This should probably be fixed at some point. Thanks.

Thank you for taking the time to use our comment box and report the failure you found in our online catalog.

I performed your search and was unable to duplicate the problem you reported. I used Firefox and all icons were showing and functional. Please be sure that your browser is updated (although I don't believe that is the problem) as the system has been repeatedly tested in both Firefox as well as IE.

If you find this to be the case again, I would be interested in seeing your computer and the problem first-hand. Please feel free to contact me directly.

Michelle Young, College Librarian

Followup Comment:

I use the Adblock plug-in/extension. I retook my steps from the other day and when I "whitelisted" the site, the icons showed. I looked through my filter list and the page's source code, but I didn't see what the cause could have been. Nothing in my filter list... Anyway, sorry. I have now whitelisted the whole library site and it should be good in the future.

No reason to apologize at all. I appreciate all feedback and am always willing to troubleshoot. This system, only one year in production, does have issues at times and we could never catch them all!

Thanks for your interest in the library and its resources.

Michelle Young, College Librarian

Sept. 25, 2006: Obtaining A-D843 items while they are currently not accessible in Newman Library

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:16:22 -0400

I am a graduate student here at Tech. Last weekend I wanted to check out a book that I need for my research. I did a search on Addison and its status was 'available'. I go up to second floor where it should be, the section was closed off, so, as instructed, I put in an interlibrary loan request. This morning I got an email from ILL saying that my request was cancelled because the item was checked out and I should put a recall on it. I called the ILL and also did a search again on Addison for the item and it still is available. The ILL person said they would put it into the ILL process again.

I think some people or at least someone somewhere made a mistake. That is, what led to a whole section of the library being closed off is bad enough and then having to put in an ILL request for a book we already have and having to go through the hassles associated with requesting books we already have is perhaps a little more than what the library patrons have to endure...

Hi, this is Paul Metz, the librarian responsible for the library's collections, including the reshelving operation. Your comment was forwarded to me. I'm very sorry for the inconvenience you experienced but hope that you will appreciate that we have had to devise ad hoc procedures for an unprecedented problem we became aware of on very short notice. The Interlibrary Loan staff did not realize that we will be sequestering returned books from the problem area, and so followed their normal procedure of asking that you recall a book in use.

I understand that you called them earlier this morning and that they have already sent out your request with their typical dispatch. They have also assured me that they will keep checking the status in OCLC as to when a library has shipped the book so he can have an idea when to expect the book.

Patron comments are a very valuable, and sincerely valued, means for us to become aware of problems. Indeed they are the principal means by which we become aware of broken links to electronic journals. So thanks, and bear with us as we address this complex problem. We are already well into discussions with the Physical Plant and various contractors. We can't yet predict a time frame for solving the mold problem but will use our home page, signs, and email to keep our users up-to-date as items become available once again.

Paul Metz, Director of Collection Management

Sept. 27, 2006: Full record availability in Addison

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:17:52 -0400

In the browser enabled version of Addison much of the bibliographic information for books (seems to me) to be unavailable. This is sad. It makes conducting a thorough bibliography, for example, kind of pointless. I'm looking for the 'ca' call I used to be able to type in to get all this kind of information in the old VTLS - maybe I'm just not looking in the correct place. Where can I get the ISBN number and the number of pages and similar bibliographic information for books that I search on the browser enabled Addison? Is there a better way I can search the VT libraries' holdings and get this information?

I received a copy of your comments regarding our new catalog interface this evening. I appreciate your interest in the library and its resources. It is important to receive user feedback.

When searching Addison, the library catalog, the initial results screen after performing your search, called the brief display, gives you only part of the information on the material (title, author, call number, format, book jacket).

If you click on the title, you are taken to its full-display where more information is revealed (author, title, publication/publisher, call number, all holdings, description (page numbers, type of material, etc), bibliography, subject headings, ISBN/ISSN, standard numbers, availability, book jacket, etc).

Please note that each resource may have different levels of information offered depending on the cataloging of that material and how it was processed. This is the link to the help section for Addison available on our website that can answer other questions related to this library resource.

Please note, that if our cataloging record (referring to the full-display) does not contain all of the information you seek, you may want to consult

. This library database is the World Catalog offering very comprehensive bibliographic records for books, journals, sound recordings, videos and manuscript collected and catalogued by your library and libraries around the world. It includes manuscripts written as early as the 11th century.

Michelle Young, College Librarian

Sept. 28, 2006: Explanation of postcards from the library #1

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:19:52 -0400

Why did you send out announcement of appointments? Who really cares? Why waste the money? Stop cluttering up my mailbox with this stuff. Three in one day? Who cares?

I'm confessing that the announcement cards were from my office. We will be sending them out as we hire new people here so that the entire university community is kept in touch with those whom they might contact or work with on various information related issues. I'm sorry if they aren't useful to you.

I want to be inclusive as we communicate with the university community, so we ask central mailing to send to staff as well as to faculty. I think that assuring that staff are in the know about things happening at the university is important. This is especially true as staff visibility has taken a great step forward with the inclusion of a staff delegate to the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. I'm a librarian so you can probably guess that given the choice I favor more information rather than less.

Eileen Hitchingham, Dean of the University Libraries

Sept. 28, 2006: Accessing free version of WorldCat

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:20:23 -0400

I have in the past used Worldcat to search [ISBN] information but am since august sometime, sadly, apparently kicked from the pool of allowed users [patron is no longer currently affiliated with Virginia Tech]. If you know of any other site through which I could access worldcat for free I'd be very happy to get that from you. Barring that though, I'll live with what I can access.

Yes, being a former student/employee will cause disruption for you when wanting to use a subscription resource like WorldCat via FirstSearch. However, I have a possible solution, try Open WorldCat. It is open to the public — note there is an advanced search link on the page if you prefer.

Michelle Young, College Librarian

Sept. 29, 2006: Explanation of postcards from the library #2

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:21:20 -0400

I do not have anything but good things to say about the University Library and the services you all provide. You guys do a great job. However, I'm not sure if this is the correct place to voice my opinion on the many flyers I have received informing us of the new hires that have taken place at the library. I received five flyers in the past two days. I personally think that these printings are a waste of money and resources and just end up in the trash. I would be just as useful to post a news item on the VT homepage. I apologize if this is something out of your control and an issue for University Relations or some other department.

Thanks for your good words about the Library and recognizing the great job that the staff does in providing excellent services. I do see that you didn't particularly welcome the information flyers. The cards originated from my office and are patterned after approaches a number of other major research libraries are taking to communicate with constituents. We will be sending them out as we hire new people here so that the entire university community is kept in touch with those whom they might contact or work with on various information related issues. I'm sorry if they aren't useful to you.

I want to be inclusive as we communicate with the university community, so we ask central mailing to send to staff as well as to faculty. Assuring that staff are in the know about things happening at the university is important. This is especially true as staff visibility has taken a great step forward with the inclusion of a staff delegate to the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors. I'm a librarian so you can probably guess that given a choice I favor erring on the side or more information rather than less. Some people read paper stuff, some people read e-mails, some people go to our web sites, some people know what RSS feeds are and prefer that, etc. We find that there is no one way to contact our users.

Eileen Hitchingham, Dean of the University Libraries

Sept. 29, 2006: Additional comments regarding library postcards #1

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:22:14 -0400

This morning I received several announcements on very thick paper on the new positions in the library. These announcements had photos and bios on the recent hires. Not does this contribute to the amount of junk mail I received each day from unnecessary announcements from this university, but it shows the wasteful habits of a university willing to use significant amounts of paper with information that could have easily been included within an email or within the library's website.

If a mailing is required, why not send one per department? Overall, I am very pleased with the university libraries, but this mass mailing is very wasteful and unnecessary.

Sept. 29, 2006: Additional comments regarding library postcards #2

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:22:49 -0400

To Whom It May Concern:
I was informed of a response from Ms. Hitchingham regarding [my colleague's] comments on the library new employee information cards. I must echo [my colleague's] comments and make you aware that at least half a dozen of my coworkers also believe that the flyers are a waste of resources and they put them directly into the recycling. For the past [x] years I have been in charge of recycling at our institute and I hate to see needless flyers in our mailboxes. This just means our next trip to the recycling dumpsters will come sooner, interrupting our day-to-day work.

I am very happy that there are new employees serving us in a highly respected part of our university, but if I need to know who they are, I can look them up on the library and/or VT websites. I think you do a wonderful job otherwise and I thank you for your service to the university. No need to respond to my comment, but I thought I should back up my coworker's sentiment and let you know that [they are] not the only one[s] who did not like these flyers. I hope your will think through the necessity of your mailings more thoroughly in the future.

Oct. 1, 2006: Problem with storage request

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:09:21 -0400

I am finding it next to impossible to obtain Journal copies from the Remote Storage Building using Addison. Rather than complain, I ask you to fulfill the following request to obtain copies from storage:
TP156.S45 v.6 and TP156.S45 v.9 (two volumes)

I chatted online with "Lane", and he was unable to help me. My advice: Forget Addison and Remote Storage, and just provide a simple online form to obtain books from Remote Storage.

You (or someone) must have successfully placed the requests for the Storage item. All three books are on the way to Circulation for you. You will be notified once they are ready for pickup.

I'm sorry that you find the requesting process impossible, it is actually easier than the old way. If you would like to stop by the Circulation Desk, Jackie Moore or I will show you how to request Storage materials and ease your frustration.

Brenda Pratt, Circulation Department Head

Followup Comment

Yes. I went to the library and was assisted by somebody at the help desk near the entrance to the library. Finally, I succeeded in placing the books on reserve. I tried three times; the third attempt worked.

Oct. 19, 2006: Circulation desk closing 20 min before the library?

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:10:09 -0400

I checked out a book on reserve a half hour before the library closed. Upon returned it a few minutes before midnight, I was informed that the circulation desk employees always leave early and before the actual closing of the library. The circulation desk neglected to tell me this fact and I was stuck with a fine on the book.

I would appreciate it if whatever higher power controlled the library could enforce stricter working hours on their employees. I am thoroughly disgusted with the library system and will not check out books any more except with great distrust.

Not sure where your information came from that the Circulation Desk always closes early but you received wrong information. The closing bell rings at 30 minutes before closing, 15 minutes before closing and at the closing hour. Circ desk staff ring that bell so the idea that all of the staff leave at 11:40 is unlikely.

At least 2 to 3 desk staff and students are available at the service desk until the library closes. Reserve items are checked in before staff leave for the night. I have checked your account and do not see fines for anything (nor payments made) so I'm not sure what fine you are referring to.

I'm sorry that you feel that you had a bad experience in the library but without more information I can't really say much more. I am available to meet with you if you would like.

Brenda Pratt, Head of Circulation

Oct. 26, 2006: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:10:40 -0400

Hi. Has our univ registered for Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Online? If not, I suggest/ request university subcription for the same as there are a few very good articles that come by in this journal.

We do indeed have a subscription to the online version of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, beginning with Vol. 833 (Feb. 1998) to the present. The issues are accessible from either the Addison database or the E-journal database, by doing a title search for -- Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

Buddy Litchfield, Research & Instruction Services Librarian

Oct. 31, 2006: Group study room policy question

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:11:39 -0400

have a question about the use of Group Study Rooms. The framed sign outside the Group Study Rooms indicates that a group is defined by 2 or more people and that 1 or 2 people may be bumped from the Study Room by a group of 3 or more. What rights do a couple (2 people) have over a single (1) person? Would the 2 people have to wait for an open Study Room? This has happened to me several times. All of the Group Study Rooms have been occupied by single person and my friend and I (who needed to talk about our class) were unable to use any of the rooms.

If only one person is in the room, you may want to remind them politely that a group would like to use the room. Or, simply ask the person is it ok if you join them in the room. I suspect if that person has sought out the room for solitude and two or more people come into the room and start a conversation, they soon will choose to leave.

In other words, I think there are various ways to handle this tactfully. We prefer not to get into the business of scheduling and regulating these rooms and by and large it has worked by students cooperating.

Don Kenney, Associate Dean for Administrative Services

Nov. 20, 2006: Journal request - Frontiers in Ecology & the Environment

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:06:58 -0400

Hi --
I would like to submit a request that the library subscribe to the online journal "Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment", associated with the Ecological Society of America. Is this possible?

Hi, I'm the College Librarian for Natural Resources. I will review this title and make a recommendation to the Director of Collection Management, Paul Metz. Based on a quick analysis, I agree that this journal should be in our collection, but will need to investigate it fully before I can proceed and acquire a subscription for the library.

Thank you for bringing this title to my attention.

Kyrille Goldbeck, College Librarian for Natural Resources

Followup response:

I wanted to give you a quick update on the title Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment from the previous message I sent you. The journal has been approved and we will begin subscribing to it as soon as we can straighten a few things out (mainly in that there is some conflicting information on their website - one of their web pages states institutions can only subscribe to the print version, but the pricing section in another section gives an online subscription rate for institutions). But this title will be added to our collection, once we deterine the format that is available to us (preference is to include online access) and get the paperwork through.

In the meantime, if there is an article that you need right away, or if you need access to an article between 2003 – 2006, you can request it/them through Ingenta. However, you must search in the Fax/Ariel portion of the database, and not the Electronic content section (somewhat confusing, but they are two separate databases within the same interface). In order to request the article, you will need to have an account in Ingenta (free to create). Also, when you order the article, make sure the radial button next to VT libraries is selected. If you would like help with ordering items from Ingenta, or would like additional information, please let me know.

Thanks again, and please let me know if you have other resources that would benefit your research and studies.

Kyrille Goldbeck, College Librarian for Natural Resources

Nov. 21, 2006: Small text use in the icons for the catalog

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:07:48 -0400

I Like your system. I just renewed some books. But I can't read the fine print in your clickable icons. Who ever made those icons is either near-sited or just young. Us older far-sited folks can't read the fine print without a magnifying glass, and you shouldn't be publishing an application that requires people to wear reading glasses.

Thank you for your feedback regarding our new, library catalog and its design. At the time of its original design, the icons and their fonts had little flexibility due to system parameters that we had no control over. We recognize this as a known issue. With new software releases and more flexibility in the future, we are hopeful to remedy this issue.

Michelle Young, College Librarian

Nov. 6, 2006: Problem with Journal of Attention Disorders access

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:05:23 -0400

I am having trouble accessing the electronic holdings for the Journal of Attention Disorders. I am connected to the VT network, but I get an error message saying that access is denied. I wanted to bring this to your attention, since this may be a problem for anyone trying to access this journal. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for trying to access this journal. Thanks!

I am sorry, Matthew, but I just accessed the Journal of Attention Disorders through both Addison and the E-journal database and had no trouble getting to the full text articles. If you are off campus, did you sign in through our EZProxy service, to be recognized as a Va. Tech affiliated person? If not, try that, and see if it solves your problem. If you have done that and still can not access the full text for this e-journal through either Addison or the e-journal database, then contact Dave Beagle (231-9231), our extended campus access librarian, to see if he can figure out what your problem might be.

Buddy Litchfield, Research and Instructional Services

Nov. 6, 2006: 4th floor study area - quiet study?

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:06:24 -0400

Hey!
First off, I just wanted to let you know that you all do a wonderful job here. This library is fantastic, and has an excellent amount of resources, materials, and servies. I have two comments, really. The first is that the new study lounge on the 4th floor next to the Torg crossover is amazing, and a great addition to library. I use it at least twice a week as a place to study and relax between classes. If it is possible to create more of these lounges, either in library or in other buildings on campus, it is something that should really be pursued.

My second comment regards the same lounges. Recently, there seems tohave been a little bit of an influx of groups using the lounge as a place to do group work - which generates a good deal of noise, chatter,and distractions. If it is possible to put a notice on the entrances of the lounge to remind people that it is for quite studying, and that other, more enclosed, areas are available for group work, I think it might help.

Thank you for your recent comment. It is always good to get positive comments about the library. I am pleased that you like the new study lounge on the 4th floor. That study lounge along with the three other group study room located near the elevators on the same floor were made possible through the funds provided by the University's Parents' Funding. As funding becomes available we plan to create more inviting study spaces.

To respond to your question about noise in that lounge area, the room is actually intended to be used as a group study area where students can congregate to work on group projects and carry on discussions. It is not a designated quiet area. If you want a quiet area, you may want to seek out those which are designated as quiet study areas. Fifth floor is a popular area for students who desire that kind of study environment.

Don Kenney, Associate Dean for Administrative Services

Dec. 6, 2006: Comment on DVD #117

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:54:25 -0400

I watched [the] documentation movie [A Nation Returns: Germany] which I borrowed from the library. As [an] exchange student at VT I wanted to see how the Americans think about the reunification of Germany. I got really shocked. If you see this documentation, you will think all the Germans are Nazis and Germany doesn't have a Democratic government. This is totally incorrect. You get a completely wrong image about Germany. Unfortunately I can't deny that we have people like showed in this documentation, but these belong to fringe groups. Just very, very few people behave like those showed in the documentation.

In addition many things reported in the movie are absolutely not right. For instance, Germany doesn't treat Turkish immigrants inhumanly. Another example: As an American you will probably think that the German party "Die Republikaner' is a big party, because of its name. So you perhaps can conclude many Germans vote for a populist party. In reality this party is very small and normally less than 1 percent vote for this party.

I am really sad that you lend such a documentation without a comment. I am glad that I didn't borrow this documentation at the begin of my exchange semester. If I had done so, I would have thought Germans are not welcome at VT. Fortunately I watched it now and can say that we are very welcome here. I have had a great exchange semester and all the Americans were very friendly and helpful.

Thank you for your comments. Please do not infer that the movie shows you "how the Americans think about the reunification of Germany." All we know from one movie is what its producers and directors may believe.

As with all other controversial topics, I think Americans' views of German reunification are a composite of their exposure to many points of view in many media. Because these views will invariably come into conflict, because many of the subjects our collections treat are beyond the personal expertise of the library staff, and because we have not "world enough, nor time," it would be impossible for the libraries to provide commentary or disclaimers on our books, videos, or anything else. Instead we have to hope that we have selected a totality that is reasonably robust in its variety and balance and that the majority of our users will ultimately reach reasonable conclusions.

Paul Metz, Director of Collection Management