Our Responses to Your Frequently Asked Questions and Comments
Thank you to everyone who took the time to make comments at the end of the LibQual survey. We didn’t want you to think they just went into a black hole so we’ve responded to as many as we can here. Even if you don’t see your comment addressed here, we’re taking all comments seriously and you can rest assured we’re working to make changes based on the survey results. If you have comments about our responses, please let us know. You can reach Jonathan Miller at jxmiller@rollins.edu or x2306.
1. I have always found the staff very helpful and friendly!
2. I have found the staff to be a little
unfriendly at times and annoyed when I ask for help.
3. I do wish Mac users could access more journals off campus.
4. I generally feel as if I am bothering the
staff if I ask questions.
5. Personally I utilize the Internet in general more than I
access the actual library building or Internet site.
6. What happened to the cafe?
7. Why can one only enter through the main entrance?
8. Why can't individuals use the rooms that require keys for quiet study?
10. Several improvements have occurred already this year and they are great!
11. I wish silence would be enforced in places like the tower room and the pillow room.
12. I think there should be more
classroom/library interactions.
13. It is often a bit too cold on the other floors for my
liking.
14. During finals coffee, cream, and sugar should be supplied
free of charge around the clock.
15. How about having someone on each floor to assist students?
16. Why is the 24-hour lab closed early on Friday and Saturday?
20. I'm not very clear on what services the library offers.
21. Great idea to open earlier on the weekdays!
23. I wish reserve materials could be checked out for a longer period of time.
24. Thank you for being concerned enough to go to the trouble of arranging this survey.
1. I have always found the staff very helpful and friendly!
Thank you! We’re glad you find the library staff friendly and helpful. Please spread the word!
2. Overall I enjoy the library as a resource. I use it often for writing, studying, and researching. I have found the staff to be a little unfriendly at times and annoyed when I ask for help. That is a little frustrating and it makes me less apt to ask for help when I do need it.
We’re sorry you sometimes find the library staff unfriendly. Please don’t let that stop you from asking for help! Feel free to contact Jonathan Miller at jxmiller@rollins.edu or x2306 with any concerns you have about library staff.
3. I do wish Mac users could access more journals off campus.
We agree. At this very moment a team of Library and IT staff is working hard to find a solution that will allow both PC and Mac users to have database access both on and off campus. We hope to have this problem solved before March of 2007.
4. I generally feel as if I am bothering the staff if I ask questions; I have no idea how to locate the materials I need so I very rarely go to the library for my needs.
Please don’t worry that you are bothering us. Our job is to answer your questions, so please visit the library and ask us for help if you need something or you can’t find the information you need. We are here to serve your library needs.
5. Personally I utilize the Internet in general more than I access the actual library building or Internet site.
You are not alone! Many students use the Internet for research. Your professors, however, usually want you to use books and research articles found in scholarly journals in your work. Often, these research materials are not available for free on the Internet. The Olin Library provides access to many databases to help you find research articles and other materials for your papers at http://www.rollins.edu/olin/databases/index.html. If you’re not sure which databases to use, visit a Reference Librarian or call us at x2507. Your tuition helps pay for these databases, so please use them often!
6. What happened to the cafe? It should be open all day. Coffee is relevant to studying.
The coffee booth should also be open on Sunday nights as many students are still doing work in the library at this time.
We agree and we are working with Food Services on campus to extend the hours of the café. Expect to see some changes in hours and the range of food and drinks offered in January. We can’t promise Sunday night, but we can promise improved hours and selection.
7. Why can one only enter through the main entrance?
Wouldn’t it be nice to enter through the nearest door? Unfortunately, we have a responsibility to protect the collection and that is why we have the security gates on the main entrance and ask everyone to enter and exit through those doors. All the others are basically emergency exits.
8. Why can't individuals use the rooms that require keys for quiet study?
Good question! We are looking at all kinds of policies at the moment to make your use of the library easier. We will add this suggestion to the mix. But we also hear that people want even more group study space. We don’t want to help one group of users by hurting another.
9. I think the faculty should be allowed to comb through the collections and remove dated and unreliable works, to create more space for recent studies that will be of use to our students.
Librarians do work with faculty on maintaining collections in their research and teaching areas. Please contact Jonathan Miller at jxmiller@rollins.edu to find out which librarian works as the liaison to your department. Libraries have to be careful about removing things from the collection. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure and we have a responsibility to maintain this collection for a long time (and we mean long; this library has been around since 1885 and is considered a mere baby.)
10. Several improvements have occurred already this year and they are great! Please keep moving forward so that the library does not become a museum, but a working, ever-changing source of information!
Glad to hear you like the changes. Our goal is to become the best library possible to meet your research and resource needs. We have no intention of becoming a museum. Not that there is anything wrong with museums …
11. I wish silence would be enforced in places like the tower room and the pillow room. They are comfortable places but whispering and music and snoring often make them inhospitable for people who actually want to work.
I enjoy the top floor most, but a stricter "quiet floor" policy needs to be enforced or posted.
You are right! We have designated the third and fourth floors as quiet study areas. But we probably have not done enough to make that clear to our users. We will be improving our signs about this issue. You should always feel able to talk to a fellow user of the library who is making too much noise, nudge a snorer, or contact a staff member if your polite request doesn’t work. By the way, the second, or main, floor is designed to be noisier. If the second floor is too noisy, you may want to move upstairs.
12. I loved when we took a trip to the library in my RCC and again when I took my RCC as a peer mentor. I think there should be more classroom/library interactions.
Librarians love to teach classes and partner with faculty on research skills and resources. Please let your professors know you want your class to visit the library, or have a librarian come to your class, and they can contact a librarian to work with your class. Reference librarians are also available every day if you want individual assistance.
13. It is often a bit too cold on the other floors for my liking.
Many people agree with you. We are working with Facilities Services to see if we can do something about this.
14. During finals coffee, cream, and sugar should be supplied free of charge around the clock.
Great idea! We will see what we can do.
15. How about having someone on each floor to assist students? Each time I needed help, I either had to go upstairs or downstairs to ask a question on the main floor.
This is an interesting idea. We would want to make sure we could balance the need for immediate assistance with making efficient use of our limited number of people. We will be investigating training our student assistants who shelve books to help with this. In the meantime, add the Reference Desk number into your cell – (407) 646- 2507. Call us and we will always come to where you need help. Also feel free to stop any staff member you see to ask for help.
16. Why is the 24-hour lab closed early on Friday and Saturday? Those are the two most important nights for studying.
The Information Technology Department, which runs the labs, tells us that not enough students visit the library on Friday and Saturday nights to keep the lab open. If you disagree, contact Les Lloyd, Chief Information Officer, at Llloyd@rollins.edu.
17. The quality and care of the research librarians is bar none; they are exemplars in their field. We should take more seriously their positions as faculty members and integrate library staff into campus life, college committees, & student activities in a more strategic, systemic fashion.
Thank you! We agree. Librarians and library staff want to be even more involved in campus life, college committees, and student activities. It is interesting, fun, and makes us a better library. As part of our strategic planning process we hope to develop a stronger library liaison program that will allow us to work more closely with faculty and students in all areas.
18. I LOVE the new freedom to take food and drink into the library--I can eat my lunch in a quiet place and study.
And we love that you love the new freedom to eat and drink while you study. You can bet we LOVE not having to enforce the old policy as well.
19. There needs to be some sort of program during first year orientation that teaches students how to use the library (i.e. where different types of information are located, how to check out books, etc.)
All RCC classes are assigned a librarian who works with the instructor to introduce our students to the library and our resources. We do similar work with Holt and Crummer students. If your professor didn’t take advantage of this opportunity or you missed it, please stop by the library and visit a Reference Librarian. They can show you how to find books and articles, how to check out books, etc.
20. I'm not very clear on what services the library offers...Perhaps a tour of the library with specific services outlined would be something to add to the RCC program…If I had given me better information about what the library can do for me, I might use the library more often.
Getting the word out about our services is always difficult. You have to deliver the right message at the right time, just when the person needs and is ready to use the information. We already try to tell people about our services via the website, by working with faculty, with paper leaflets, articles in the Sandspur etc., and in person. But we can always do better. Please stop by the Reference Desk, call a Reference Librarian at (407) 646-2507, or visit our website at http://www.rollins.edu/olin to learn more about our services.
21. Great idea to open earlier on the weekdays!
Thanks! We’re happy you like the library opening on weekdays at 7:45 am.
22. Having a second computer on the third and fourth floors would be nice when the current single station is busy or broken down, so we lazy students don't have to walk down to the main floor to look up another book shelf number.
Good idea! We’ll look into the possibility of adding more catalog computers in the library. In the meantime, add the Reference Desk number into your cell – (407) 646 2507. Call us and we’ll find the book call number for you or come to help you find books in the stacks.
23. I wish reserve materials could be checked out for a longer period of time.
Professors who place items on reserve decide on the loan time. If you want items on reserve longer, let your professors know and we can change the loan times at their request.
24. Thank you for being concerned enough to go to the trouble of arranging this survey.
You’re welcome! The LibQual+ survey is the beginning of a strategic planning process for the Olin Library. During the next few months, we’ll be thinking about improvements we might want to make in the library and deciding when we’ll begin making changes. As we make our plans, we’ll be sharing them with the Rollins community on the library Web site at http://www.rollins.edu/olin. If you have further comments about the library, please e-mail Jonathan Miller at jxmiller@rollins.edu.