August 2005 Archives

This morning I had to wait a half an hour for Cabell Library to open
simply to return a book. The library staff at the counter were unwilling
to listen to me because it wasn't yet 7:30. I am a student paying for
university services, and I found this unacceptably rude. For those of us
who are busy when the library is unable to be open, please provide a
secure book drop. I have never seen a library without one, even in most
urban situations.
From: Matthew

Interim Associate University Librarian for Public Services Barbara Anderson replies...
I'm sorry that you were inconvenienced this morning, Matthew, but please don't blame the circulation desk staff. As you observed, there are a few library employees in Cabell Library at 7:00 AM, but they are busy preparing for opening, and they are not allowed to let anyone except library staff enter the building until we are officially open (at 7:30 am on week days).

During the fall and spring semesters, Cabell Library is open more hours than any other public university library in Virginia with the exception of the University of Virginia's undergraduate library. We are open well before and well after classes are scheduled, and as we are in the heart of the Monroe Park Campus, we hope that most students will find that our schedule accommodates their needs for studying, borrowing and returning library materials.

It is true that many libraries offer book returns after hours, and we are actually looking into the options for installing one in Cabell Library. We understand the extra convenience this would offer to library users, but it's not a completely one-sided issue. The term "book drop" is descriptive of one of the problems associated with these services - that is, the damage that can result when books are dropped into them. There is also the risk of theft and of damage caused by exposure to inclement weather and (perish the thought!) mischievous or malicious vandalism.

There are a few book returns on the market that do provide some measure of security and protection from damage, and we are in the process of gathering estimates for installing one of these in the outer foyer of Cabell Library. Once we know the cost of doing this we will need to weigh the need for this new service with the other library priorities that are competing for the same funds.

If you are worried about getting your items in before you are charged an overdue fine, please remember that there is a three-day grace period for many items in the VCU Libraries' collections. Please consult this website for more information: http://www.library.vcu.edu/circpriv/fines.html#grace. We also send a courtesy notice to your VCU email account three days in advance of your due date.

I suggest you make it easier to place a hold on library materials. Place
a button on search result pages that links right to a hold for the item
being viewed. It will save so much time and hassle, eliminate errors and
encourage holds.
From: Gabe

Interim Associate University Librarian for Public Services Barbara Anderson replies...

Hi Gabe,
I don't know if this is your first semester at VCU or if you're a returning student, so welcome or welcome back, whichever applies! And let me congratulate you on your early attention to your studies. It's phenomenal that on the very first morning of classes you're checking the library catalog and placing holds on library materials!

Let me also say that I can't agree more with your suggestion. In fact, a group of library staff has been working on a project that will make it possible to place library holds directly from our online catalog records. We're getting very close to making this operational, but we're not quite there yet.

Probably you're familiar with our online Item Request Form. When you fill this out and submit it, a library staff member receives it via email, analyzes the situation (is the item on loan? is it on order? is it lost?), tries to determine the best and quickest way to obtain the requested item (place a hold, perform a search, request a recall from someone who has it on loan, recommend our interlibrary loan service, etc.), and corresponds with the person who made the request.

When we do activate the "request item" function within our catalog, some of this process will be managed automatically by our online catalog system. Right now we are doing some "behind the scenes" testing of the system. We hope that the resulting workflow will save library users and staff time, process hold requests more quickly and still allow for at least the same level of analysis, decision making and personal communication.

So, thanks again for your suggestion. We're on it!

Cell Death AND Differentiation is very good jouranl for studying on
cancer research, ISI 2004 Impact Factor: 8.192*
http://www.nature.com/cdd/about.html Hope you could consider to have it
to access on line for full text, I am sure it will be helpful for many
researcher.
From: Jianghua

Lynne, Turman, Head, Tompkins-Mccaw Library Collections replies...
Thank you for the suggestion to add Cell Death and Differentiation to the VCU Libraries journal collections. Many factors go into the decision to subscribe to a particular journal title, including reputation, journal impact factor, cost, relevance to our curriculum, etc. We also welcome and actively solicit suggestions from VCU faculty and students.

Because of budget limitations, we are not able to add every journal in a specific subject area. While Cell Death and Differentiation has what might be considered a high ISI Impact Factor, it is ranked #17 in the ISI category of Cell Biology and #20 in the category of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology. We have current subscriptions to all but 3 of the higher ranked titles from these 2 categories.

We will place Cell Death and Differentiation into consideration for new journals in the future, depending on budget allocations. If we can be of further assistance to you in identifying similar titles already in our collections, please contact us.

Many university libraries have a plugin for the Firefox web browser that allows users to search the catalog from their Firefox toolbar. Why not get someone with an IT background to create such a plugin for VCU's library?
From: Jonathan

Senior Associate University Librarian John Duke replies...
Thank you for your suggestion. We are aware that some other libraries have developed such access to their catalogs using Firefox and are glad to know that there is some interest in doing so here. We will give the idea serious consideration as we work to improve the browser interface within the VCU Libraries.

Go back to the old way of accessing online journals that VCU has a subscription to. It is frustrating that the Get It VCU icon comes up on every article even if we don't have it. For example, I was looking at PMID 15939196. When I click on Get It VCU, the screen has Publishers site, then We May Own This (VCU catalog). I clicked on that and it took me to the catalog with 3 search results came up, the last one being electronic resource and shows a link that says Available to VCU Users at http... If you click on that the Get It VCU screen just comes up and you are in a never ending loop. I talked to the person at the TML desk and she said that the fact that the publisher's site is the first choice on the Get It VCU screen means that VCU DOESN"T have it. This should be stated on the screen! I would prefer that we go back to the system where the user can know from the original pubmed screen whether it is available as an online resource. There are many options available for basic information and online availability often is what determines what one I might look at. The TML librarian said this new system was being tried to make it easier to request interlibrary loan articles. I never found the old system for ILL difficult. In the interim, please put a notice on the main library page about the change!!!
From: Lea Ann

Lynne Turman, Head of TML Collections, replies...
Thank you for submitting your comments about the Get It @ VCU service. This is a new technology designed to offer better options for linking to our online journal subscriptions and related library services. The service was implemented in July and you can link to the announcement and an online demonstration at http://www.library.vcu.edu/whatsnew/news_result.cfm?ID=842 . As with any new system or service, we are finding some unanticipated problems and are actively working to seek solutions. Comments and reports such as yours are key to helping us pinpoint where modifications are needed.

Get It @ VCU has several enhanced features not offered by PubMed's LinkOut. For instance, the new service:

• Links to all versions of a subscribed journal: The Get It @ VCU window shows multiple ways to access the journal. The Libraries may have more than one subscription to an electronic version of a journal because it may be part of different packages from individual publishers or vendors. PubMed's LinkOut worked with a limited number of publishers and did not include the option for us to link to all of our subscriptions. In addition, the Get It @ VCU screen will show links to the Catalog if we have (or previously had) a subscription to the print copy of the journal.
  
• Links to the ILLIAD service: If the Libraries do not have a particular journal, Get It @ VCU will facilitate ordering a photocopy through the ILLIAD service. After you click on the ILLIAD link and login, the citation information from PubMed is automatically copied into the proper fields of the ILLIAD form, saving you from retyping the article information into the form. The ILLIAD service is also used to order copies of items from our print collections. This service is particularly helpful to our distance education students.
  
• Links to help report problems or get assistance: The last few links on the Get It @ VCU screen point to special forms for reporting any problems you encounter with using the system. This helps us troubleshoot the system and make corrections or offer additional advice to you for getting the articles.
  

The Get It @ VCU system expands what was offered by LinkOut and works with many of our databases, including Web of Science, PsycInfo, CINAHL, and others. Therefore, when we make corrections they become active in all of the databases without spending staff time to go into each one and make a change. We are hopeful that as you become more familiar with the options offered by Get It @ VCU, you will find it easier to use and more complete than the information previously available through PubMed's LinkOut. Thank you again for contacting us about the particular journal problem you encountered. As a result of your report we have changed the Catalog entry for the title so users won't be caught in the loop that you described. Please let me know if you have additional questions or if we can help you in any way.