November 2006 Archives

The occupational therapy department at VCU recently started it's distance education occupational therapy doctorate (OTD) program. It has been frustrating to the OTD students that the major journals in our field (American Journal of Occupational Therapy, Occupational Therapy Journal of Reserach, and Occupational Therapy International) are not available electronically. While Illiad is a great system for ordering articles, they do not always make it to the students quick enough to incorporate into dicussions or assignments. What are the chances of getting access to these journals electronically in the near future?
From: Stacey, faculty

Lynne Turman, Head of Tompkins-McCaw Library Collections responds....
VCU Libraries is aggressively building its collection of online journal titles to meet the needs of all students and faculty in our Schools. The shift from a primarily print collection to an electronic one incurs additional expense as publishers often charge more for the online version of a journal. We attempt to monitor new distance learning programs and plan for changes to our journal subscriptions but cannot always provide an online version due to budgetary constraints. Distance education students can request copies of articles at no charge through the Illiad service.

In the case of the 3 titles you mentioned, I am pleased to report that all of these will become available online in January, 2007. Until that time, you should continue to use Illiad to request needed articles.

This is a follow-up to others' concerns about the dearth of computers. There are a few ways you might streamline computer usage until a better solution is reached:

The library has a fantastic collection, but these little corrections could save us all a lot of headaches. Thanks.
From: frustrated library user, graduate student

Jimmy Ghaphery, head of Library Information Systems, replies...
Dear Frustrated Library User,

These are all very perceptive comments.

We have thought about the catalog only stations but are challenged by the fact that the VCU Libraries Catalog itself is accessible through a web browser, and often needs to connect to external web sites for e-books. We have been experimenting with a standing terminal on the 2nd floor to provide space for quick searches, and are looking at expanding that idea.

The re-boot time really has increased with the new security measures from the University. We have found that it is especially slow on our oldest hardware which is slated to be replaced this year so we should see some improvement. At the same time we are committed to meeting the VCU security standards in order to provide a safe computing environment.

Availability information on the first page is something that is indeed lacking with our current catalog, and we have been looking at ways to bring that information up a level, but there are some system constraints. Your observation about returning to the list of items is also apt but not currently possible. Both of these features are items that we will bring forward to the vendor of our catalog system and to the user group.

Thank you for your thoughts and suggestions.

I would like to suggest to the VCU Library that you should get more computers for students and guests on all four floors [of Cabell]. [Several] web sites supply computers, for free. There aren't enough computers to go around. Sincerely yours, a guest.
From: Friend of the Library

Donna E. Coghill, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, responds...
The availability of computers, particularly in Cabell Library, is a valid point, and one that was recently addressed on this suggestion blog. You should review the response written by John Duke, Senior Associate University Librarian. Please read this post for the most recent information on computers at VCU Libraries. Thank you for letting us know of your concern.