Well…. I am recovering from the cold nicely, or so I thought. Because now it is a full-blown sinus infection. What the hell is the antibiotic for? Grrrr!
I don’t feel well and I’m pissed so this will be a little rant-y. Sorry ’bout dat.
I need a book for my bibliography. We (UIUC) have 2 copies, both available, one each in English and Undergrad.
I know it’s summer. I know we have budget issues, which means staff issues…but what in Jehosaphat’s name justifies closing the English Library at 5 PM? Summer school is in session people. Some of us have to work or go to class. I’m OK, not happy, but OK, with most of the libraries closing at 7 and even with undergrad closing at 6, but 5? My book might be in 2 libraries but I can guarantee you that most books in English are not in Undergrad! Grrrr!
So race over to Undergrad and start looking. Keep in mind here folks—UIUC considers itself one of the premier research libraries in the known universe. Find the range. Don’t get me started on why we’re Dewey—it is an unfortunate historical artifact. But Dewey I can deal with. Used to know it well and after Cataloging I know it even better. Back to the proper range. Books go left to right in increasing order as we Westerners might expect, but the damn rows of shelves go right to left. WTF? That may be another historical aberration—but unlike the 1st I don’t think it can be justified today. Undergrad doesn’t have that many books—fix it folks. It isn’t enough that we have serious OPAC issues and 42 or so libraries all over campus?
OK, book not on shelf. Not OK. Grrrr! Wait, think Mark. This call number is at the beginning of a new range of shelves and you spent 6 years working in an academic library. You know to check the end of the previous range because you’ve searched for literally thousands of books for E-Reserves, ILL, yourself, patrons. You have shelf read on numerous occasions. So off to the previous range which takes us back to the idiotic layout, made worse because of an alcove. Sure enough the call numbers are way past what they should be and way past where the next range starts. But I find the book, yeah for me!
OK people. Have we heard of shelf reading? Can we get around to it? I, when I slow down enough to think, can handle it. But what about our undergrads? What about the foreign students? What about the people who are library-phobic? How’d they get that way? How about lots of grad students or anyone else without years of working the stacks? Grrr!
Rant off. Time to get to reading or entering what I already have into EndNote or finding the other articles I have in this apartment somewhere.
