It’s a good thing I’m a librarian or I’d be totally turned off to libraries right about now. I tend to create a list of books I want to check out, jotting call numbers on post-its, & go over to the library once a week or every other week or so. Today I went to the library for 6 books, & came away with exactly 1. Actually I went to 2 libraries, both House and Davis. And yes, I checked the OPAC before I went to see if the books were in, & it said they were. By comparison, I’ve looked at a dozen or more articles & reports online today (I’m doing some writing), & they were all available in full text, downloaded in seconds, & I didn’t have to go out in the cold to get them. Even the ones where I had to go through the library’s databases to get to them, that took all of 30 seconds or so to navigate. Is this a result of DRA being replaced, & the module to track what’s checked in & out isn’t working right now? Maybe so. Anyway, I’m tempted to ban the physical library for a while, at least until they get the new ILS up & running. I mean, if what I want to check out isn’t on the shelf when I get there, what’s the point of going? It’s not like I hang out or work in the library. I wonder if I could do this, actually, survive on a diet of entirely electronic resources (plus the paper pre-existing in my office) through the end of the semester.
3 Comments
JohnM
I’ve had that same problem for months now; the most recent was with Irving’s The World According to Garp. Out of the 10 copies listed in the system, 2 are marked ‘missing’, 4 ‘withdrawn’, 2 ‘available’ (but not on the shelf), and 2 checked out, 1 one of which I have, after having to go behind the circ desk myself to find it on the carts b/c the guy was ‘busy’ (there was no one behind me in line). The other 2 books I was looking for (both award winners) were also missing, so out of a potential 17 books I came away with one. The Regulator had them in stock, so they get my $ and continued devotion.
And whaddya mean ‘go out in the cold’? It’s 50! Have you forgotten Syracuse already?? 🙂
Trish
Bad librarian! Bad! No book.
Sally
Welcome to my world! at least, when I am writing. From where I sit there are two problems with your embrace of the net resources. One, I think you’re in a field where a lot more material is online than in my fields (literature & history) or a lot of other people’s. Two, you should not take for granted what a privilege it is to have that proxy server that lets you into the library-proprietary data bases! A lot of serious independent scholars are shut out from that. They fight it constantly, but I fear they’re on the wrong side of history.