Attending a conference

I will be away from the Suggestion Box, at a conference, until February 4. If you would like to make any suggestions or comments, please continue to do so.  I look forward to reading them all upon my return!

If you need any immediate assistance, please do not hesitate to use one of our “Ask a Librarian” services!

Winter break

I will be away from the Suggestion Box until January 7th. If you would like to make any suggestions or comments, please continue to do so.  I look forward to reading them all upon my return!

Happy Holidays.

Welcome back!

We hope you all had a great holiday break.  The Suggestion Box is now officially open for business again.  As always, we welcome your comments and ideas, and look forward to hearing from you.

best wishes,

Susie and Luigina
Suggestion Box Editors

Happy holidays!

Over the holidays, we will be taking some time off from the suggestion box.  However, please do continue to send in your comments.  We look forward to reading them all in 2012!

Happy holidays!

What’s New with Noise?

You wrote:

As the new school year approaches, what changes will the library be implementing to reduce noise problems?

Thank you for checking in on this important topic. Rather than implementing any major changes, the Libraries will be actively enforcing and reenforcing the current quiet study program. This program has already significantly reduced problems with noise, and the situation will continue to improve with your participation.

For those of you who are newer to the Libraries or to this thread, here is a summary of what is involved in our quiet study program:

• Designated Study Zones:  silent Blue Zones  and quiet Orange Zones. Be sure to choose the area that works best for you.
• Starting the second week of classes, regular walkabouts by library staff to ensure that the Study Zones are being respected and understood.
• Options for assistance when problems arise:  talk to staff at one of our service desks or use Ask a Librarian to talk online with someone in real time.  After library service hours, you can also contact a security agent.

This year as we welcome new and return students to the Libraries in the first few weeks of the semester, postcards with information about our noise and food policies will also be available at the Welcome Desk or entrance of each of our two libraries. Thanks again for giving us the chance to spell it all out one more time.

Online journals via the new MyCLUES

You wrote:

I like the simplicity of the new personal login page for CLUES. Though it would be nice if there was a quick feature to get to the ejournals as now to log in and search the journals with institution access a user has to roam through the website in a very unnecessary roundabout way to get there.

Thank you  for  letting us know that you like the simplicity of the new  MyCLUES login page but miss the quick access to the  E-journals-only search box from within CLUES.

While this was not always the case, online journals  can now easily be retrieved via a single  integrated Journal Title Search box in CLUES.  You can access this option right after you login to MyCLUES, from the drop-down Search Options menu near the top of the screen:

The Journal Title Search  retrieves all formats of journals: print journals at both campuses as well as online journals available via the Libraries and Open Access. In your results list, online journals will be identified with the term “[electronic resource]” at the end of the title.

Some of you will still prefer to use the E-journals page when seeking online journals, and that remains a valid option. Thanks to your comment and to the ongoing adjustments that are being made to the new CLUES interface, a quick link to the E-journals page  has now also been added to the Journal Title Search  screen:

Happy journal searching!

Computer Lab Closings

You wrote:

I’d just like to preface this complaint with an acknowledgement of the library’s fantastic array of opportunities for computer access, from the extensive number of laptops to the many labs. However, many students find it incredibly frustrating that the small lab on the main floor is often blocked off for workshops, often only catering to 4-5 students, as was the case when I passed by today. I acknowledge that allowing students in and out is incredibly dirruptive during a workshop, but especially during final papers and exam season, closing off an entire lab for four students seems ludicrous. Is this the only ‘teaching lab’ that is available, or can students be compelled to sign up for a workshop, with a room correspondingly booked depending on this number?

Thank you for the thoughtful comment.  Both your encouraging feedback and your expression of concern are appreciated.  We are very sensitive to the fact that the library computer labs are in much demand throughout the year, but especially during this final period of the semester. There are only two labs at Webster library available for hands-on training, whether for students, faculty or even library staff. When we close one of these labs for only a handful of people, be assured that it is definitely because it was our very last available option. On the day you are mentioning, the lab LB 203 was booked for  a period for the training of new librarians to be working at the Reference Desk.

If you are interested in finding out about the opening hours and booked times of our two labs, LB 203 and LB 211 (laptop lab), you can consult weekly schedules posted near the door of labs. You can also always enquire  about those schedules via Ask a Librarian.  Thanks again for this reminder about the importance of the computer labs to the student population.

Getting oriented

You wrote:

Considering the library is the spirit center of a university, it is essential for all students to be familiar with the library. Like in any other big universities, our libraries are also complicated and we even have two campuses. In a word, I strongly suggest the library offer some orientation tours for all students to the libraries in two campuses. The activity might be held once per week.

Thank you for your suggestion. It’s great to hear students tell us that we are at the heart of university life — we feel that way too! And it is also very true that the workings of university libraries can seem complicated and even intimidating, especially at first.

We definitely do offer orientations to all students, so cheers to you for bringing this up. We are giving tours of both the Vanier and Webster libraries, several times per week, until January 14.   We have also begun our series of Library Essentials Workshops. These consist of hands-on orientation sessions held in our library classrooms, guiding you through the services and resources we offer.  You might want to start with the all-purpose session “What the library can do for you” and then follow up with one or more of the workshops geared to specific subject areas and needs.  Your choices this semester include:  “Humanities and social sciences essentials”, “RefWorks: the bibliography builder”, “Discover Engineering Village” and “Searching in PubMed”.  For a schedule, as well as descriptions of these tours and instruction sessions, just look for the Workshops link on our homepage and under our Help & Instruction tab.

Link to MyCLUES

You wrote:

 Could you put a direct very obvious link to the login to myclues page on the home page of the new website.

This is a good suggestion, thank you.   It is true that with our new banner the link to  “Login to MyCLUES” does now seem to stand out less.  It is on the bottom bar of the CLUES search box at the top of our home page.  I am forwarding your request to the Libraries web team.

Happy holidays!

Over the holidays, we will be taking some time off from the suggestion box.  However, please do continue to send in your comments.  We look forward to reading them all in 2010! 

Happy holidays!