Underwhelmed

More observations from my experiences as a student:

I've used Library databases, e-books and e-journals to a limited extent at work. I'm not a subject librarian, so expertise in this field isn't a requirement. In order to complete my assignments, I'm relying heavily on them at the moment and I have to say: I've been underwhelmed. 

I've been working against the clock during this time away: we attend lectures from 8.30-4 and we have the evening to work on assignments. When you're in a rush, the last thing you want is:

1. ... for the off-campus login to the Library databases to not work. Because you know that no one will be at work at this hour to fix it, so you'll have to wait for the next day.

2. ...for the web interface to be clunky: you need to find what you're looking for without having to scratch around and click on random links, hoping they'll take you to where you want to be.

3. ...for the e-journal platform to be down. See point 1 above.

4. ...for the publisher site of the journal article you've finally managed to find to be down. Argh.

5. ...to find out that, just to read an e-book, you have to go through 20 steps and produce a DNA sample.

5. ...to download an e-reader, save an e-book to your bookshelf and then, when you want to read it the next day, get a message saying that the installation of the reader doesn't work. 

It's a valuable experience being a student: I've taken off my librarian-goggles and I'm seeing things through my clients' eyes probably for the first time. 

Yesterday, on my Twitter feed, I read a tweet that said something along the lines of: "I'm tired of people saying today's students are lazier. We use Google because it works."

I think we can't afford to dismiss statements like these. We need web sites and online interfaces that just work when students need them. 

From Librarian to Clueless Student

Being a student again is an interesting experience, especially from a Library use point of view. Studying at a different institution to my home one puts me back in the shoes of someone who has no idea of the workings of the Library. I'm now able to look critically at how an academic library attempts to familiarise students with what it has to offer.

Here are some observations so far:

- I only got my student card a week after I arrived here. That meant that I was an outsider for a week: I was stopped by security when I wanted to enter the Library and I couldn't use any of the facilities.

- We were introduced very early on to our personal subject librarian. She gave us an hour lesson on what we could find on the Library web site and how to use the databases.

- I still can't get into the Library databases. There's a process you have to go through to get a pin number in order to register on the site. The pin has apparently been sent to my institutional email address, but I have no idea what that is. This is very frustrating, as I have an enormous amount of work to get through and some of the sources we're using are only available through the institution's databases and/or e-books.

- I really appreciate being able to communicate, via email, with my subject librarian. I've emailed her about the pin problem and hopefully, we'll be able to sort it out together.

- Being able to use the Research Commons is fantastic. There's a comfortable lounge to sit in, free, fast wireless, coffee on tap and clean bathrooms just around the corner.

- I have no idea how to photocopy anything yet. I'm going to go to the Library today to find out.