© 2013 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
I believe it to be shortsighted for an institution of higher learning to allow a thesis author to restrict their thesis to intra-campus only. Such is not in the interest of science nor education.The value of these materials to others scientists, and the advancement of scientific knowledge, is not served.
I believe that you will find that we in the library agrees with you. However, this is the policy at Virginia Tech and many other universities. Fortunately, it is for a limited time, usually a maximum of three years.
If you are interested in having access to a particular VT ETD, please let me know and I will contact the author and committee chair requesting permission to release the ETD to the worldwide audience.
Good luck with your research.
Gail McMillan, Director of Digital Library & Archives
This book doesn't seem to be on the shelf, but it is listed in Addison as available. I did not see any link on the site for insituting a search. JK1929.A2 P47 2001 Perman, Struggle for Mastery
The form for instigating a search is available from the Library homepage under "All forms" or from the Forms tab on every Addison screen. Search Form
Buddy Litchfield, Reference Librarian
p>I'm a librarian from a university in San Francisco, and I want to let ALL of you in the library know how much your librarian colleagues from across the country and I are thinking of you and the Virginia Tech community at the horrible time in your history. I am very very sorry. I hope that the act of learning can bring you and your students back to a sense of normalcy and help you heal.
It is truly wonderful to see the outpouring of support that we have had from friends, colleagues and strangers from around the world. We are proud of our university and know that we will grieve always, but will also grow even stronger together. Thank you for your good words and kind thoughts. It means a lot to us at this time. I believe the Virginia Tech spirit is exemplified in the words that Nikki Giovanni shared with us yesterday at the memorial convocation.
Again, many, many thanks.
Eileen Hitchingham, Dean of the University Libraries
OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE WITH ALL OF YOU. MAY THE LORD GUIDE YOU THROUGH THIS ORDEAL AND MAY ALL BE IN HIS PEACE AND LOVE TO THE END. ONCE AGAIN GOD BLESS ALL. (From a BUCKLIN, KANSAS family)
Dear Fox News: I was listening to your program this afternoon and heard the news about the shooting on the Virginia Tech Campus. Please give my condolences to all of the families, friends, and acquaintances of the deceased and wounded. The reason for this email is also to complain about the security system on the campus. I am not aware of it, but from what I heard it was not secure. Maybe some strobe lights for the hearing and visually impaired and a loud sounding horn system which hould only be used when people are at risk. There should be special instructions for students at orientation, to ask no questions, avoid any delays, but to act in a protective manner when alerts are given--stay inside, and wait for an all clear once the alerts are sounded. I am just so upset, and sad about what happened. I was a student in Norfolk, VA, and worked in Virginia and Portsmouth years ago. I am a Social Worker, and wanted to offer something to help to avoid any future tragedies, or to minimize such! extreme loss of lives.
from Philadelphia
What happens to students who graduate from your Univ and remain unemployed a long time. What would your Univ do to try to help them?
At Virginia Tech we have an extensive Career Services Division whose purpose is to assist graduating students and Alumni in finding employment. If you have any additional questions about this service, I would suggest that you contact their office directly.
Buddy Litchfield, Reference Librarian
Although the library is a good area to study, during the school week it closes at midnight and on Fridays and Saturdays it closes as early as 8pm. The only other option as a quite place to study is the Math Emporium. However, during the week, the buses stop running around 11, so if a student needs a quite place to study, they would be forced to spend the entire night at the Emporium. I believe that on a college campus, the library should extend its hours for students who need a better place to study.
Many other people that I have talked to from other colleges say their library is open to at least 2am. Especially for students with more vigorous course loads, having a library that closes at midnight during the week is not a suitable study environment. I have been at the library until midnight on several occasions and there are several other students studying as well. This disrupts our studies as well as forces us to choose less practical study areas in our dorms. I would appreciate it if you could seriously consider changing these hours, or at least find another option for students where they will be able to get home during the night. Spending the night at the Emporium is not practical, but my only other alternative.
I know several other students who are concerned about the library's hours. This is college and we should be encouraged to study, not cut off due to the library closing. I just completed my freshman year, and I know that in my future years I will need to study even more intensely, and I fear that I will be unable to efficiently study. Thank you for any consideration in this matter.
With our limited funds we tend to concentrate our dollars on providing the collections, resources, and services that are wanted and will be sed by many of the members of the VT community. Within this context the University Libraries tries to maintain service hours similar to those of other like-sized research libraries.
Within the state, the libraries' hours of service compare favorably to the other state institutions. With the increase in online resources that are available to users in their homes and offices, access to many of our research resources are available 24/7. Most research libraries are not entirely open around the clock. Some do have smaller restricted areas closed off for round-the- clock studying, but most do not provide 24/7 access to physical collections or services.
Don Kenney, Associate Dean of the University Libraries
I searched for the journal entitled "Colonial Waterbirds" today, but could not find any volumes on the shelf at QL671.C65. Addison says that volumes up to 14 are in remote storage, but there should be volumes 15-21 on the regular shelving area. I am looking for volumes 16(2) and 20(3). Please let me know how I can find these issues.
Thanks
I am sorry, but we only have issues for Vol. 10-14 for this title as indicated in Addison, and they are in our off campus storage facility. To acquire articles from volumes 16 and 20, you will have to have to order them from our InterLibrary Loan service.
Buddy Litchfield, Reference Librarian
I have 4 books checked out that are due May 18. These books are locked in Norris Hall and I don't know when they will let us go back in to retrieve the books. The system will not let me renew these books because they have already been renewed one time. Could you somehow override the system and renew these books until the University decides to let us retrieve our things from Norris Hall?
Thanks
I've renewed the books for an additional 3 months (due now 8/9/07 ... hopefully you will get your "belongings" back by that time. If this is not resolved by then, let me know.
Brenda Pratt, Head of Circulation Services
As a visitor to the library, I have noticed that library staff frequently engage in loud conversations with each other, or over the phone with office doors left open, or even listen to music, while at the same time students and faculty are quietly trying to study or read nearby. This applies to the Torgersen Bridge area as well. The library staff could be much more considerate and respectful of the needs of library patrons to concentrate while reading and thinking. After all, the library is the core knowledge repository and center of learning in the university community. Staff should have consciousness of this and should not allow the daily routine and familiarity of their jobs to cause them to lose sight of the special place the library is to others.
On behalf of the library, I would like to apologize for any inconvenience you have experienced as a result of the noise level in the library. We do endeavor to keep down the noise level but as you rightly pointed out, familiarity sometimes gets in the way. I will certainly communicate your sentiments to all personnel and request them to be more cognizant of patrons' need for quiet. I would also like to add that in Newman Library, the 3rd and 5th floors are designated as the Quiet Study floors, while the 2nd and 4th floors are group study floors.
Lesley Moyo, Director of Research & Instructional Services
I am out of town and tried to renew these books online. I wasn't able to do so because I have already renewed the books once. Is there any way I can take care of this from out of town?
These books have been checked out since Jan. 30, 2007, as you mentioned you've renewed your allowable one time. You may mail the books back if you would like. As a faculty member, fines will not be assessed until the book is 30 days past due or recalled by another patron (there are no recalls at this time).
Hopefully you can return them before the billing date.
Brenda Pratt, Circulation Department Head
A page on your website contains a broken link. The details are below. When you have fixed the link, please send me an email so I can remove it from my database. Page with broken link
Thank you very much for letting us know that the URL had changed for Calibration of load factors for LRFR bridge evaluation located in our catalog. We have updated our records so the correct link is now accessing this resource.
Please let us know if you come across any other resources in our catalog that need to be updated.
Kyrille Goldbeck, College Librarian for Natural Resources
Hello -- I can't find a place on your site to directly send this to someone in what used to be Preparations, where I used to work (is it Technical Services now?). Also, the link about donations to the library does not work. Some time ago -- I'm guessing between one month and two months ago -- I dropped off a DVD as a donation to the library. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get there before 5:00 that day, but a lady at the circulation desk said she would get it to the right person. The name of the DVD was "Iraq for Sale," a very pertinent piece containing interviews with soldiers, soldiers' families and military contractors about the outsourcing of work in Iraq.
Today I spoke to the lady who (I think) was the one I left it with, because it hasn't shown up in the DVD collection. She said that either it might be in a backlog or it was decided not to include the DVD in the collection. I can't imagine why the latter would be the case because it is very well done (the Christiansburg public library has a copy!). However, if for some reason a decision has been made not to include it, could I get the copy back? If it's just backlogged, can I get some idea how long it will take to be included? I just feel like there is some urgency about informing the public of what's going on, since it looks like this same bunch are chomping at the bit to get us into Iran.
Thanks for the Iraq for Sale DVD, which we will gratefully keep and add to the collection. I think it got side-tracked briefly upstairs so I'm glad you followed up. Hope you are doing well.
Paul Metz, Director of Collection Management
How can the 5th floor be a "Quiet floor" when the librarians who have offices on that floor stand in the library and have a discussion on gardening??? Can you ask them to have that discussion elsewhere? Talk in your offices not between the offices outside the elevator!
Thank you for your comment received via the online comment box. We value feedback from our users and endeavor to address their needs to the extent that we can. As soon as I received your comment on Friday, I went to the 5th floor and reminded the librarians concerned of the need to tone down conversations so as not to disrupt users.
I apologize for any inconvenience suffered and hope that you will continue to find Newman Library a welcoming place for all your research and study needs. Please do not hesitate to send further comments should this recur. Also feel free to contact me directly with any other concerns you may have.
Lesley Moyo, Director of Research & Instructional Services
Is there a listing of all DVDs and VHS titles in one place, so I can search through the whole list? Not finding it looking at the website.
There are a few ways to search for all of the videos and DVDs the library owns. For each of them, you'll need to be in the advanced search option of Addison (can access by clicking on Search Addison in the banner of the library's home page.
Go to "Advanced" (last option in the left hand navigation) and place 2 asterisks in the first search field. Limit to "Film & Movie Collection."
This search includes all DVDs, Videos, and Film Reels.
If you want only a specific format, then leave the limit set to "All University Libraries" and limit by material type instead. For example, to find all DVDs, limit the material type to DVD with the double asterisks search
If you have any other questions, please let me know.
Kyrille Goldbeck, College Librarian for Natural Resources
Would it be possible to provide a small selection of lockers for the use of the general student population? As a commuter who lives far off campus, I tend to have a fair number of books with me by the time I arrive at the library to do research. It would be very helpful to be able to leave most of that material in a safe place, freeing me to search more effectivly. If overuse woul be a problem, you might chose to limit their use to commuters, or to people with more of a specific need, rather than to the student population as a whole.
Currently we reserve these lockers only for graduate students as we do not have any other comperable study carrels to offer them.
Don Kenney, Associate Dean of the University Libraries
I have renewed a book that is correctly due. I try to renew again and it wont let me. I know I have had it for a while, but I am using it in my dissertation and I still need it. Can i be allowed to renew it online or do I need to physically come into the library to do it?
You will need to bring the book in physically to check the book in and then back out to start the process over again.
Brenda Pratt, Head of Circulation Services
Hello, cannot determine anywhere on your site if I as a Va Tech alumnus have library privileges at the University Library System. Please advise how I determine this. Thanks!!
If you are a Virginia resident, you are eligible for certain library privileges such as using the collections and checking materials out.
Don Kenney, Associate Dean of the University Libraries
I am an international graduate student in Chemistry department. I have a little suggestion: could you buy some DVD or VCD or some other media with subtitles. You know, when we borrow DVD from the library to learn english, the speaking speed of the actors is very fast and we can't make them clear. If these DVD have subtitle, we can always know clearly what the actors say and improve our english by seeing these interesting DVD. It is a little suggestion. Thanks.
Thank you for your suggestion. If I am not mistaken, most DVDs have the option to turn on captioning in the menu already. However, I will try to watch for parameters that would enable you to digest the information more easily.
Thank you for your suggestion.
Michelle Young, College Librarian
Can you please fix the heater in the luxury room at the back of the 4th floor? This is a terrific room to study, but that heater is making a hell of a racket and is incredibly distracting. I'm begging you!! Please save my favorite study place!!
Steve Carroll [from maintenance] has been contacted and will check on this heater.
Brenda Pratt, Circulation Department Head
Let us know how we're doing. This is your library, how can we serve you better? We'd like your input to help make the library a better resource by shaping the collections, resources, services, and any other areas of the library to better fit your needs. Here are ways you can let us know what you think:
Use this to send your suggestions and comments about our services, collections, etc so we can find more and better ways to support your research and information needs. See our archive of previously posted comments.
We subscribe to many databases, but are always looking for new resources that will better serve your research needs. Take a look at the latest trial databases and let us know if you think this would be a good resource to have permanently by filling out an online survey.
Please take a moment to fill out an evaluation of the session(s) you attended.
Suggestions of topics to offer
Is there a database, library service, or other information resource you want to know more about? Suggest a topic for our Library workshop courses. These are free sessions to help you learn more about library and information resources available to you.
Is there a book, DVD, video or any other resource you found that you'd like the library to own? Use our online request a purchase form. We'll do our best to add the item to our collection.
There are no surveys taking place at this time. Please check again later.
© 2013 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University