News and Events

By John Wiggins, Director of Library Services & Quality Improvement

It’s an enjoyable part of my job to share with you some of the recent improvements we’ve undertaken to speed and/or otherwise improve library services and to reduce costs.

Some library users have shared feedback with us regarding equipment used for printing, copying and scanning in the Libraries. Specifically, we’ve heard about printers at W. W. Hagerty Library that were sometimes undependable, about issues with the payment network that supports use of DragonCard funds and a great interest in a new scanner alternative that we auditioned at Hahnemann Library and W. W. Hagerty Library.

We’ve already started to respond in these ways -- with more improvements to come:

• Hahnemann Library now features a cutting-edge new scanner.
  
• W. W. Hagerty Library now has two dependable work-horse printers on the first floor and we're developing a plan to re-equip with new technology throughout the Libraries.
• Libraries staff are testing an alternate payment network and interface at Hahnemann Library that may offer dependable services and be interoperable with newer equipment

In response to other concerns shared by users, we’ve developed new ways to respond faster to reported interruptions of user access to our electronic resources (e-books, e-journals and databases). We’ve examined and streamlined our workflows, resolving access issues in less than half the time it took just a few months ago.  Our responsive new workflow was presented to librarian colleagues at a recent Electronic Resources in Libraries conference to great interest! We hope you might have noticed that dependable access to our electronic resources continues to improve—since Jan 2012, access issues are currently down 18%.

Please help us focus on the services that help you the most! Share your feedback regarding any of the Libraries services and/or sites (W. W. Hagerty, Hahnemann, Queen Lane, the Library Learning Terrace or our web site) via our online questionnaire, called Counting Opinions, which is available through the Libraries website.

We hope to hear from you—often!