Feedback or Comments for the Library

Noise in the Library

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:31:00 +0000

To much noise!!

We are aware of the problem of noise in the library. We have designated the 3rd floor as a non-talking section and have converted most of the furniture to individual carrels. We have also designated the atrium in the center of the library as a section for social discussions in order to separate those who want to talk from those who want quiet. If there is a particular problem with people creating noise in the library please see the librarian on duty at the reference desk.

Dan Haley
Reference Librarian

Eletrical Outlets

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 20:10:00 +0000

Hi, it would be greatly appreciated if we can have more eletrical outlets in the tables at the library. There aren't enough. It would be grand if 3 outlets cubicle could be installed like some already do.

There are 8 rows of tables in the bay window areas of BOTH the 2nd and 3rd floors, north side of the building. We took those tables, broke them down into 8 sections each and installed 3 electrical outlets per student section. This gives a total of 192 outlets per floor (384 total) of the bay window areas of the 2nd and 3rd floors. Along with this, this last Spring we had the 4 tables located in the 3rd floor Rotunda upgraded to match so that additional electrical access for students is available here, too. This means that in the Rotunda area, alone, we have a total of 96 additional outlets.

The bottom line is as follows: The Library has 20 tables with 8 study sections per table that has the 3 electrical outlets per section, giving a total of 480 electrical plug-in areas available for students/patrons.

Hope this helps you to find where you want to study and hook-up.

Jennifer Cooper
Library Administrative Assistant

MP3 Player in Labs

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 05:07:00 +0000

There doesn't seem to be an mp3 player on this system any more. Can it be added back?
Ken

Hi Ken –
You are correct. The newest version of the computers PCC is purchasing/configuring for campus labs do not have MP3 players. The machines in the Asian room were recently replaced with new machines. I can request it for future upgrades, but it is not something that can be installed immediately. I have added it to our list of requested features for future upgrades. I am so sorry for the inconvenience.
Leslie Tirapelle
Systems Librarian
Pasadena City College Library

Update Library Browsers

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:40:00 +0000

School computers use a browser which hasn't been updated in quite awhile making it vulnerable to security breaches, innefective and slower than it should be. Please update the browser or even better install a superior one (may I suggest Firefox 3, available for free from www.mozilla.com), Thanks in advance for your reply, Alvaro C.

Alvaro,
Our Computing Services Department has scheduled the Library lab computers to be updated this month. The computers will definitely have IE 7 and possibly Firefox 3.
Leslie Tirapelle
Systems Librarian
Pasadena City College

Please Help

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:32:00 +0000

Oct 27, 2008
I hope this message doesn't reach some mysterious black hole like my three previous requests have. I would like please for the Library staff at PCC to do something about the constant violation of the rules that have been posted in numerous areas on the first, second and third floors. Specifically, I am extremely frustrated with the lack of enforcement of the third floor's rules against having study-groups, carrying on cellular phone conversations and the excessive noises in general. There are an ample amount of spaces in the library for such items as mentioned above. This online request is following three previous written requests given to the library's staff by me on the 2nd floor. I am hoping that this will publicly bring to light the situation on the third floor's west wing. There is a gross lack of respect and common courtesy from many disruptive people and there also seems to be a lack of concern on the part of the library's staff for those students who are in need of a quiet library. Please either help make this an outstanding place for students to achieve their goals or allow those students who need such a venue to study in the Dean's private office. Thank you and once again, I hope this request does not fall into a black abyss much like my three previous requests.Please do not hesitate to contact me for further help.

Thank you for your email and although I know that you have voiced your concern before, unfortunately those concerns have not been given to me. There is no question that we are struggling with an overcrowded building designed to seat 950 students, The first day of the fall semester, over 8,500 students came into the Library.

We have tried so many things...signage, moving signs, roving cadets, roving staff, public announcements that students said were annoying...but unfortunately we only have 7 librarians and 9 classified staff. We teach 11,000 students in our orientation program so in one week, we did 26 class orientations. At times, frankly, it feels like we are pedaling as fast as we can. As you may have noticed, we have three very busy service desks on three floors.

One thing I have not tried is to block off the stairwell and station a cadet there as students want to go up to the third floor. A cadet could discuss with each student the need for silent study. Although we have numerous cadets, they are really student assistants that are there to observe. Often students ignore them. If anything escalates, then they are to call Campus Police.

Do you have any suggestions for us to try? Until we have a new student center, this building will be impacted. We moved all the carrels to the third floor last year, to "force" quiet areas and although this was very expensive to do, we thought it really helped. I just cannot release a full time staff member from their duties in collection development (buying the books, discarding the books, evaluating the collections, cataloging the books, processing them, etc.) to roam the building on a permanent basis. I will reinstate the roving schedule in the mornings for the third floor.

I appreciate your concerns and welcome your ideas,. I will be meeting with the staff this week and we will explore some other options. Until then, whenever you notice that it is noisy, please come down to the Reference Desk and the Reference Librarian will go up and ask the people to stop talking.

Mary Ann Laun, Library Dean

Computer Lab Access Issues

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 04:24:00 +0000

With the computer systems being slow and not allowing access, is very frustrating when I only have a limited amount of time and cant get hmwk done. hopefully you can solve this problem soon!
Lesleeane Chavez

This is the 3rd or 4th time ive come to use the computers and you cant log. it is very frustrating and ive been forced to drive 20 mins home to gain comptuer acess.
David Dennis

Currently the campus is in a huge transition from an unstable network to a more robust/stable one. During this transition period, we are going to experience “down” times or slow response times. Campus network administrators try to act fast when these situations arise to resolve the issue. Very often the problem is not campus-wide , so if the Library computers are down you can try using the D building computer labs. We are all looking forward to the day when the new network is fully in place and students and staff do not have to worry about the stability of the network. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.
Leslie Tirapelle
Systems Librarian
Pasadena City College Library

Customer Service

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:41:00 +0000

As a returning student after working in the real world - I have come to know customer service quite well. Though the library staff is knowledgable - some seem to lack people skills. I understand that it can be hectic early in the semester, with students constantly borrowing text books...but there is no excuse for any of the staff to loose composure the way I witnessed it. In this case, the student did not put the text book in the assigned drop, instead she left it on the table - because it was due any moment... It is not an excuse. This is not the only department I have seen such behavior - and some seem to forget, students are people too. In this case, these 'people' are the customers..and directing students, is your job.
Thank you.

Concerned student,
Thank you for bringing your concern to my attention. I am saddened to hear that one of our staff members "lost their composure" while at the desk. It is our goal to treat students and library patrons as customers and to make certain that we serve their needs in the best, most helpful way possible. The hectic beginning to the semester is no excuse for mistreating anyone in our library.
If you witness this again, please give a detailed description of what happened and at what time it happened, so that I can discuss it with the staff member on duty. I will share this letter with my staff to ensure this doesn't happen again.
Thank you,
Eric Hanson,
Access Services Librarian

Waiting & Concerned

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 04:49:00 +0000

The proposed 802.11n system can not be called a wireless standard at this time as less than 10% of WIFI users have this type of hardware installed. However, Im glad that our IS departement is gearing PCC towards future technology. Regardless, our hopes of STABLE and fully ACCESSABLE 802.11b/g WIFI remain even as we enter the 3rd week of the fall semester!

Library Hours

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:27:00 +0000

The hours of the library should include Saturday hours of at least until 5:00 p.m. or better yet 7:00 or 9:00 p.m. Students should not have to go to Starbucks or somewhere else to study. The library should be open on Sunday from 1:00 TO 5:00 and open during the week until 10:30 or 11:00.

Thank you for your suggestion and there isn't one Library staff member who does not agree with you.

However, the budget realities of the state government that funds us, as well as the limited resources provided to community colleges are harsh realities that have an impact all over our campus.

We do the best we can and study the peak hours and use to best serve students. We look forward to a better economic time when we can expand our hours in the evenings, early morning and longer hours on Saturdays and afternoon/evening hours on Sundays.

Mary Ann Laun
Assistant Dean, Library Services

Extend Textbook Check-out Time

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:28:00 +0000

If possible, please extend the check-out time of reserve books to 2&1/2 or 3 hours for all the books, or at least the science ones. Two hours is often not enough time to digest the material and work on the problems. Also, the reserve books should be available to be checked out overnight by the time the library closes. Imposing a very high fee for overdue can reduce the potential problem of overdue.

Thank you for your suggestions about the libraries Reserve Collection. These books have a limited check out period of 2 hours to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to use them. A longer check out period would mean many students would not have a chance to use these books. In the past, the library did check out Reserve items overnight with high overdue fees, but this did not deter students from returning the books late -- and sometimes not even at all. This caused a lot of frustration for many students who expected books to be available first thing in the morning or at least a reasonable time thereafter. Since the Library has limited funds, it needs to ensure that the few textbooks it does purchase are readily available to as many students as possible. So as it stands, it is important for students to understand that the Library's textbooks are intended as a "back-up" and not the primary source for required textbooks. I hope this answers your questions. We appreciate your concern and are open to additional suggestions.

Eric Hanson, Librarian

Lost Book

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Sat, 10 May 2008 04:01:00 +0000

What is up with the collection? A book I looked up to check out was posted as lost on 9/17/07, and has not been replaced yet, almost a year later. A Stranger with a Thousand Faces is a very common book to have multuple copies. Is this a library or a study hall?

Thank you for bringing to my attention the fact that the book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell has been unavailable for students to check out since September 2007. It is library policy to wait for 2 years before ordering a replacement copy because items marked as “lost” are often found or returned. In this case, you are correct, this is a classic title. We will order a replacement copy as soon as possible. Please let me know if you would like to be notified once the book is available for check out.
Regards,
Judy Ohye
Acquisitions Librarian

Thank you!

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:24:00 +0000

i just wanted to let you know that the library is doing a great job. everytime i needed help, people were always there to assist me. also, being able to access the library online has definitely helped. thank you so much. :-D

Noise in the Library

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:35:00 +0000

Please make sure that the library is a quite place of study and not to talk. It has been getting louder everyday with no one saying anything.

Thank you for your comments about the issue of the noise in the library. We are really wrestling with this issue since the Campus Center just closed for construction and students have had no where else to go. For example, approximately 8,000 students came into the library on the first day of the semester (we only have 950 seats), so the noise has been really out of control. Part of the beauty of this building is also a "noise nightmare" since the noise reverberates up the stairs and throughout the building. We have increased cadets who are walking through the building. In addition, we put up two signs at the entrances to the building and I personally walk through the building asking people to keep their voices down. Until the new Campus Center is built, I think we will still struggle with this issue. Until then, please use the third floor and especially the area over the entrance to the library or the study carrels. Over Winter break we rearranged the lIbrary so that the 3rd floor is primarily carrels for quiet study. We put all the regular tables on the main floor where people can do group work. If you like, stop by my office and I (or my secretary Jennifer Cooper) can show you some quieter spots in the building.
Mary Ann Laun, Library Director

Wireless Access in the Library

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 23:02:00 +0000

Shatford Library is better than if has the good wifi.
Ryan Lam

Ryan,
We agree completely! We have struggled with the wireless installation in the Library for years. It is very unstable and our Computing Services Department has tried a variety of things to get the existing system to work properly. There will finally be some resolution in Fall 2008 when stable wireless (using the 802.11n wireless standard) will be installed throughout campus, including the Library. Unfortunately we have to live with what we've got until then. In the meantime, whenever you notice that wireless is down please report it to the Reference Librarian so we can reset the system.
Thanks,
Leslie Tirapelle, Librarian

Video Game Books and more...

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:25:00 +0000

video game books of all kinds of genres. video game magazines such as egm, amistsu, gameinformer, nintendo power, tips & tricks. More art books. independat film books. apple software books.
Jake

Hi Jake,
I have forwarded your suggestions to our Acquisitions Librarian who will be contacting you about your request. If you have any specific titles you are interested in, please let us know. Also for future reference, we do have a Purchase Request Form where you can also suggest specific titles for the library at http://www.pasadena.edu/library/purchase.html
Thanks for your suggestions!
Leslie Tirapelle
Librarian

Men's Bathroom

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:54:00 +0000

Bathrooms urinals with no flush smell like ghetto, invest in deodorants for the love of God.

Hello Stanley,
I am very concerned when I hear of situations like this one and I
agree that this is an issue of common decency related to the
waterless urinals. Let me see what options are available and I will
let you know what we can do to "fix" this problem.
Mary Ann Laun,
Assistant Dean, Library Services.

Architecture Books

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 18:37:00 +0000

Hi! I'm a second year architecture student at PCC. I personally think that Shatford lib. doesn't have enough architecture books for us to do research on. There are some handful magazines and good books out there. It'd be really really helpful for us if you can subscribe it. Please consider about it. Thanks. LayNgy

LayNgy,
We appreciate your suggestion! The Acquisitions Librarian will look into developing this collection further. If you have any specific titles in mind, you can fill out a Purchase Request form on the Library's web site at http://www.pasadena.edu/library/purchase.html.
Leslie Tirapelle
Librarian

Crochet Books

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:15:00 +0000

Hi, i just browsed through your selection of books that deal with Crocheting and found that there is not much helpful info for this subject. I recommend adding to the library "I CAN'T BELIEVE IM CROCHETING" (DVD format) UPC: 0028906039153 This DVD is a great instructional video for beginners.THANKS!

Thanks for the suggestion. We are always looking for input on great books or media for our collection. You can also check out the Purchase Request form on the Library's web site at http://www.pasadena.edu/library/purchase.html to send requests directly to our Acquisitions Librarian.
Leslie Tirapelle
Librarian

Library Web Site

noreply@blogger.com (Shatford Library) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:40:00 +0000

Thank you for making the web site so functional and easy to use -- I'm a first-time student using the library and I find it very easy to navigate and very helpful -- thank you!! :)
C Chambers