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Even More Library Woes

caldrail

Entry posted by caldrail

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Noisy pensioners...

 

Noisy youths...

 

Noisy kids...

 

Could it get any worse? Well yes, actually. Now we have noisy strikers. Council workers are on strike for two days to get bigger pay rises than oil tanker drivers, and so the libraries are shut. They're all lined up outside council premises with printed placards (I wonder how much that cost?) declaring their strike action and calling for public support. They haven't got mine at all.

 

So its off to the local internet cafe and spend a few quid. The cheapest is a place out in one of Swindons immigrant areas, so the moslem chants and sermons are played out loud. I guess its because its not my culture and not something I'm used to, but that wailing (the sort you get from minarets in foreign countries) is so irritating.

 

There's a older woman who's just come in. She pushes and thumps things down with all the grace of an inebriated elephant. She's not satisfied with the position of the computor screen, and so attempts to rip it off its mountings. Three times. Take it easy girl...

 

talking about taking it easy, the proprietor is having an argument with an african girl. Its quite a ding-dong, the pair of them pointing, gesturing, and spitting out random syllables at frantic speed. I'd like to give you a blow by blow account but I haven't a clue what its all about.... Neither does she apparently...

 

Speed Camera News of the Week

Swindon Council is considering withdrawing from the Wiltshire Speed Camera Partnership. Why? Because they object to fines going to the Treasury as profit. At last! Somebody with enough commonsense to see the whole thing was a rip-off by a government so deep in debt they tax anything that moves.

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caldrail

I think that puts Swindon Library to shame! Although the new site is nearly ready now (its a new permanent building on the site where the old temporary building was... Hope that didn't confuse you) so perhaps we might get a dozen or more new books?

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docoflove1974

Nah, I follow you. It's true, though, the MLKing library is a sight to behold...but I'm a book geek. But this is truly a cool idea, that the public library and the university library are mixed into one.

 

But, there would be a cloud in my sunny sky: last night I was looking up journal articles, hoping that I could get them at this library and not have to go up to Stanford's or Berkeley's library. Well, if so, it'll be difficult; the database for the SJSU library didn't give call numbers for hard copies, and the electronic copies of these journals are only accessibly by SJSU faculty and staff. I suddenly felt so alone...I want my full access to a darn good library! Stanford I have to pay to get in; Berkeley I can get into for free, but it costs more to get up there. SJSU would be perfect, as I can walk (or, if I wish to be lazy, take the light rail), it's free to enter, and I already have borrowing privileges. Ugh.

 

Ok, sunny side...I haven't gone back in yet to verify if they have this in hard copy or not. Besides, I'll go look, and then regardless I'll poke around in there more. I could just go to the stacks where these journals usually are, and be one amongst the books, right?

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Nephele
But, there would be a cloud in my sunny sky: last night I was looking up journal articles, hoping that I could get them at this library and not have to go up to Stanford's or Berkeley's library. Well, if so, it'll be difficult; the database for the SJSU library didn't give call numbers for hard copies, and the electronic copies of these journals are only accessibly by SJSU faculty and staff....

 

Hi, Doc. I'm not quite sure what the problem is that you're talking about. You may not have remote access to electronic copies of all of those lovely journal articles in the SJSU database (via that magnificent public library of yours), but surely you should nevertheless have access to all of them when you're present in your public library and using the library's public computers? Have you tried accessing these databases from within your public library? I hope I've got this correct, as this is the way a lot of these academic databases are set up for public library users. For my own public library, my patrons don't have remote access to JSTOR -- but they can access JSTOR from our computers within the library.

 

As for the lack of call numbers... I believe when you search via the Library Catalog (from the Home Page), you'll find Library of Congress classification call numbers for the journals. I understand that the hard copy journals in your public library's periodicals collection are stored in your library's basement level, to which you should also have physical access.

 

Hope I've got this right, not having any personal experience of my own with your public library.

 

-- Nephele

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docoflove1974

Well, I got my answer, and you're right, Neph: these books and journals are all electronic, and I can only access them from the SJSU campus. The journals were easy enough; I could copy the PDF texts onto my flash drive. The books, however, are on ebrary, which means I can look at an electronic copy all I want at the library, can print off the pages I want at the library, but can't save it to a flash drive. Oh well; thankfully the two books that they had on ebrary are in hard copy at Berkeley's library, and I have to go up there anyway. But thanks for the help, Neph!

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