Typically, we forward each such message to the librarian responsible for developing the part of our collection in which we would place the recommended item. These subject specialist librarians are called liaisons. Each liaison librarian is in charge of developing one or more subject areas within our collections. These subject areas cover the full range of what is studied, taught, and researched at the University.

After forwarding a recommendation to a liaison librarian, we also let the person who made the recommendation know the name and email address of that librarian and make clear that future suggestions can be made either through the Suggestion Box or by contacting the liaison librarian directly.

If you would like to cut out the middleman and recommend books and serials directly to a liaison librarian, you can identify the librarian you want by going to the directory of Librarian Liaisons at http://www.lib.wayne.edu/geninfo/staff/facultyliaison.php.

It is also possible to recommend books for purchase directly through our catalog. When you first open the catalog, just under the search box you will find the link “Suggest a Title.” When you click on that link, a form will open allowing you to make your recommendation. You can go directly to this form now by clicking on this link: https://elibrary.wayne.edu/acquire.

This is a very good suggestion. When library facilities manager and the computer support team manager read it, they put their full support behind it. They are now seeking funding to upgrade these outlets. The work has not yet been scheduled, but the replacement of the two-prong plugs with three-prong plugs on the first floor of the Purdy/Kresge Library should be forthcoming. More information about this will be posted to this blog as it becomes available.

The old two-prong plugs in the first floor study areas of the Purdy/Kresge Library were converted to three-prong plugs during December 2007 and were ready for use at the beginning of the Winter 2008 semester.

Our cleaning staff works very hard to keep the library buildings clean. To assist them in their work, the University Libraries has also instituted some new policies and re-emphasizing other policies of long standing.
No beverage may be brought or consumed in any of our Libraries unless it is in a covered container. There is a strict no eating policy in effect in the Neef Law, the Purdy/Kresge, and the Science and Engineering Libraries as well as on the third floor of the Undergraduate Library. In those areas in which our customers may eat, there is a strict policy against eating at Library computer workstations.

But let’s be frank. Almost 2,000,000 visits were paid to the University Libraries last year. Unless the WSU community comes to the realization that keeping the Libraries clean is a responsibility they share with the library staff, we will be fighting a losing battle. At present, far too many people feel they can simply walk away from their messes and someone else will clean them up. The student community needs to assert some positive peer pressure.

This also affects the staff working in the libraries so you can be certain we try to adjust building temperatures whenever they go awry. The truth of the matter is that heating and cooling large public buildings is very tricky. These problems are even worse in the older building, which have been reconfigured and remodeled in ways that were unanticipated when the climate control systems were designed. The Library Building Coordinators work closely with the building engineers asking them to tweak and adjust the equipment and, with luck, create more pleasant environments. Recently, there have been some significant upgrades to library heating and cooling systems, and we anticipate further upgrades in the future.

Security is an important concern in the University Libraries. Our staff is alert to security concerns and, when situations warrant it, promptly calls Public Safety. Our regular staff is also supplemented by police cadets who are scheduled in the evenings and other times of concerns and library monitors who patrol the Purdy/Kresge, Science and Engineering, and Undergraduate Libraries.

In the winter of 2007, we initiated policies that require those entering libraries to show AccessIDs or if they are not affiliated with WSU to show an alternative form of ID and sign into the building.

During the summer of 2007, we also consolidated the community access terminals in the Undergraduate Library. This move will allow us to more efficiently speak to the needs of the community members.

The University Libraries purchase online journals just as they purchase print journals; the Libraries do not digitize journals themselves. If we wish to add an online journal to our collection, it must be available for purchase. Publishing has not yet reached the point where every academic journal currently published is available online. But we are getting progressively closer. When it comes to older issues of such journals, conversion to digital formats is moving much slower. Print collections of older journals will continue to be essential parts of library collections for years to come.

When we decide to purchase an online journal, besides considering its availability we also consider its price. The price paid by an academic library for online journals is not, by the way, the price you might pay as an individual. Publishers know that library subscriptions are used by hundreds or even thousands of people and price accordingly. In fact, the vendors of online journals often demand to know how many students and faculty we have and base their pricing accordingly.

We know that the demand for computers in the UGL Extended Study Center and elsewhere in the Libraries is very high. Last April, we shifted furniture and were able to place 24 new Dell computers with flat-panel LCD monitors in the Extended Study Center. As our budget permits, replace outdated computers throughout the University Libraries and update their software. In practice, we make replacements on a cycle introducing groups of new computers in locations while removing the older computers. As for software, in order to be efficient in maintaining our computers, we maintain the same software releases on all workstations. This means we move to new releases in a very deliberate pace.

The University Libraries are a service organization, and we take great efforts to improve and maintain our service quality. Service quality is emphasized when training new staff members and re-emphasized in regular staff meetings. We also run a special service institute for library student assistants each fall.
If you do have a bad interaction with someone at our service desks, we urge you to raise the issue with his or her supervisor.

Identifying and contacting supervisors can often be difficult. One way to do so would be to send a note to the Library Digital Suggestion Box, describing the incident and the person involve and providing your email address so the supervisor can contact you. The Digital Suggestion Box is, of course, available at
http://www.lib.wayne.edu/forms/suggestions.php.

Our mission is to provide our students and faculty with libraries where they will want to spend time. We are continually involved in projects to make the buildings more comfortable, safe, and appealing.

One of our major projects in this area took place last summer. With generous support from the Provost, we were able to recarpet the first floor of the Purdy/Kresge Library. We also took advantage of this recarpeting to make some other major changes. In the Kresge wing, we shifted the serials collection to the second floor and transformed the first floor into a quiet study area. On the Purdy side, we shrunk the size of our reference collection and repositioned furniture to provide as much study space as possible. One benefit of this is that we are now taking full advantage of the natural light available through the many windows in both the Kresge and Purdy wings.

Last academic year, the lighting on the first floor of Purdy was also completely refurbished, and we created a comfortable and well lit study area on the second floor of Purdy.

The University Libraries’ mission is to collect the books, journals, and other information needed to support learning, teaching, and research and we try to be very efficient in doing this. We really want to get the maximum benefit from every dollar entrusted to us. That doesn’t leave a lot of money for purely entertainment reading.

You do, however, want to give our collections a careful look. The range of study and research at the University is vast and our collections are quite varied.

But, because of our participation in a state-wide program, any book you’d expect to find in a public library is available to you on campus. The University Libraries are part of the Michigan eLibrary (known as MeLCat) which will allow you to borrow books from public and academic libraries from all over the state of Michigan and pick them up here on campus. To search the MeLCat catalog and place requests for books follow the link found on our Interlibrary Loan page at
https://wayne.illiad.oclc.org/illiad/wild.html.