Library Review - what do you think?

[Marco Biagi]

"The University of St Andrews library."
Discuss.

[EviLTwiN]

I think of people reviewing a library

[hr]IMAGE:www.red-llama.com/sinnerllamalogo.gif

[rar!]

[Emma]

I think 3-day loans should be scrapped in favour of the week-long loans that you get with texts for evening courses. 3 days isn't long enough to read a book, and since you can't renew it like with Short Loans you can lose valuable time waiting for the book to be reshelved.
And raise our borrowing limits, already! I've been balancing my quota of 25 all year, having to return valuable books because I needed to get a Short Loan out. I just don't think that 25 books is a reasonable quota!
And while you're at it, would it kill you to buy some books on African-American feminism?

[hr]'I never intend to adjust myself to the madness of militarism' - Dr Martin Luther King Jr

[Guest]

Some very odd gaps in its collection. But generally ok.

[ambigous]

Lets have some books that people like, such as 'where's wally/(waldo)'. everyone likes those.

[Oli]

Come on - I think the university library's collection should be based on what people need, rather than on what people think is "really cool" or "quite fun"

[The_Farwall]

I want a library like you find in certain films and tv shows where if you go far enough back into the furthest, unfrequented reaches of the place you can find books detailing where to find real life vampires and deamons, and full of invocations, incantations and spells.
Actually, I understand that the basement currently houses all the universities really decently old and interesting books. Is this true, is there anything in the 'occult' type ilk down there, and what are the rules for flicking through the tomes down there?

[hr][s]"You forget, earth man, that I have been asleep these five million years and know little of these 'early sixties sit coms' of which you speak."[/s]

[Al]

"Actually, I understand that the basement currently houses all the universities really decently old and interesting books. Is this true, is there anything in the 'occult' type ilk down there, and what are the rules for flicking through the tomes down there?"

The rules are simple. The first rule is that there will be no "flicking" the old books. To look at the Special Collection you need a special reader's card which you get from the office in the basement. Then you can look at the musty, dusty old things. But enough of the staff, you're interested in books. Well, after you have selected your book, a minion will be despatched to bring it to you. Then, in the reading room, it will be placed by the staff on a stand. You might have to wear the special "white gloves" of reading. I cannot remember ever seeing any occult books down there but, if the Library has them, that's where they'll be.

[hr]"Oh sing sing sing
For the dying of the day
Sing for the flames that will rip through here
And the smoke that will carry us away"

[James]

- Install a tanoy system so they can announce to all floors when there are, say, five minutes before they stop issuing books, so that we don't get caught out.

- Stop them, and other departmental libraries, overcharging for photocopies - the General Office is cheaper.

- Detailed library shelving schedules should be freely available either on the net or in the library itself. I recently needed more detailed information about what types of books were where, and had to disturb the classification elves backstage - it would have been easier had the lists been easily get-at-able.

- Improve SAULCAT so that the search lets you search specifically within a certain section, say by classmark or subject, so that searching a certain keyword doesn't just bring up every single book with that word in the title if it is not required.

[Eliot Wilson]

For a start, I think it's outrageous that you now have to show a matric. card to get in to the library (well, if the janny on the desk is there and hasn't wandered off). What is the library afriad of? I realise that we now only have about three books, so a theft would hit them hard, but honestly.

Get more automated issuing machines, and don't confine them to three-day loans. It's stoopid. Why can't I issue myself with a book at the little machine (conceivably, at ANY HOUR OF THE DAY - how exciting would that be?).

Finally, buy more f***ing books. Every end-of-module survey ever has "no books in the library" or "couldn't get hold of books" written by the students. The library is tiny (half its intended size, arguably), and understocked. No wonder they don't want you to get in.

[snowflake]

apart from buying more books, how about changing the photocopy system & get rid of those yellow photocopy cards, which always seem to get lost, or squashed/defaced & stop working (or maybe that's just me!)? i know some other unis have their matric cards as photocopy cards and it holds the no. of photocopy credits on that card... well, something along those lines anyways, i'm not quite sure how it works..

[Biitchboy]

I heard rumour of having the contents of all the short loan books available online, so that you don't even need the book. That would be a bit too much of a good idea for it ever happening I guess...

And in response to the person who didn't like 3 day loan books- I say keep them, its necessary for popular books e.g. for common essay questions. A week is too long if 200 people all want the same book.

Um... that will do for now.

[fiftyfive]

I certainly can't speak for all subjects, but when it comes to Scottish/Med history, how about some MORE COPIES OF BOOKS.

Oh and for Scottish history, shelve the bloody "evening degree student only" books somewhere else. When I'm looking for a copy of one of those nice little texts to read (Independence and Nationhood, Kingship and Unity, etc etc) and I see 45638785685 green stickered 7-day loans that I can't touch on the shelf, next to exactly zero copies of ones I can rent, it annoys me~

[Anon.]

Put up the overdue fines for ordinary loan books. If one has a book on order and the blackguard who has it out can't be bothered to bring it back, at least then one will have the satisfaction of knowing that they're losing a packet over it.

Seriously, though, higher fines would be more of an incentive for people to return books - I would often just pay the miniscule fine rather than take the book back if I was still using it.

Short loan fines are quite high enough, though, thank you.

[rubbermuffin]

3 day loan is crap, especially if you want a 3 day book when there are 10 copies in the library. If it is not a peak time of the semester for usage of that book, we should be allowed to hold on to it for longer.

Also, online renewal as it pisses me off having to walk to the library every 3 days just to renew a book.

[Rob Milsom]

Yes, put up the fines for the long loans. Too many times I've recalled something, only to wait in vain because the person figures that the comparative advantage they will gain from having the book is well worth the negligible fine that they will get in the end.

Apart from that, buy more journals - but this is from an IR perspective; other subjects might want books. And while we're on the subject, designate the bound volumes of journals as reference only. I cannot see the reason why people, apart from possibly postgraduates, need to have a journal volume out of the library at all, and certainly not for months on end...

[hr]Beware of dating a tennis player. Love means nothing to them.

[djm]

I agree with previous messages that more relevant books should be bought.

Some of the courses that I sit only have 1 or 2 recommended texts and often there are only 1 copy of each in the library under the Short Loan Section. This is a disgrace for a University such as this and I think that much more communication is required between the librarians and Course Co-ordinators to ensure that the required books are actually in supply in the libraries.

[Eliot Wilson]

[s]Rob Milsom wrote on 15:46, 2nd Feb 2003:[i]

Apart from that, buy more journals - but this is from an IR perspective; other subjects might want books. And while we're on the subject, designate the bound volumes of journals as reference only. I cannot see the reason why people, apart from possibly postgraduates, need to have a journal volume out of the library at all, and certainly not for months on end...


I agree with Mr. Milsom. Journals are the lifeblood of academic research and intellectual activity, and, speaking as a postgraduate, not even we need them for months on end. Perhaps the bound editions could be put on three-day loan? Even a long article doesn't take three days to read.

[munchingfoo]

I went to the library to study for my computer science exam because i thought they would have the essential course books which i could read(As i couldn't afford to buy all of them).

To my horror, not only did they not have all the 'essential books', they ddidn't have a single one. This could bee explained if the course had changed drastically this year, but I don't believe it has.

I was quite amazed.

I'd love for the quota to be raised if they actually had the books i needed.

munchingfoo

[Guest]

Double the short loan collection. Or, preferably, build a milti-millon pound library on the North Haugh, with more saulcat terminals, more books, larger reference collection, more space for working/reading/looking like you're doing either of the above. Give St. Andrews the library a uni of this calibre (?) deserves. Of course this won't happen, but it would be nice if it did...