POSITIVE
1. Crerar is a great library and they should not change a thing; it
beats H[arvard] M[edical] S[chool] Countway hands down.
2. The high professionalism of the entire staff under the superb
leadership of Judith Wright is not equalled at any other school
I've ever visited. They do more with fewer resources than any of
their peer institutions and remain the benchmark by which every
other law library can be judged.
3. I've found staff to be unfailingly responsive and courteous; any
problems or requests I've had have been dealt with quickly and
efficiently (a considerable difference from my Yale library
experience).
4. UOC libraries are good compared to other university libraries I
have used in past.
5. Also, in comparison with other libraries I've worked in I very
much appreciate open stacks and no off-site storage, so keep that
up!
6. Particularly since my undergraduate library was limited in terms
of resources and software applications, it would be nice if someone
took the time to point out all the nifty things one can do at such
a huge library as we have here.
NEGATIVE
7. I hate those Mac-Gray mini-stripe reader copier payment things.
Why should I have to keep a separate account for this kind of
thing? Harvard University's Crimson Cash system is much friendlier
to use. Or even Kinko's credit card system.
8. Although I have some high expectation from 'a library' based on
my experience from my previous school, but for UC library, I do not
have such high expectation because the UChicago library, by
planning, is not designed to serve all the students.
9. I had to go to UIC in order to find a book I needed for research
but I couldn't check it out. I also felt that their staff was much
more knowledgable and nice.
10. The lockers are not wide enough to hold either my backpack or
larger folio volumes. This makes me angry because first, I am
wishing I had a carrel like so many other graduate students at
other instituations and then I find that the university cannot even
provide me with a locker big enough to hold my backpack and all
this in a neighborhood where crime is high and muggings are
frequent.
11. at my undergraduate school, there was a service that allowed a
student to request certain books from the library shelves, and in a
few days pick up all the books from a central location without
having to hunt down all the books in the stacks - this service was
one that I used frequently and found very useful. perhaps it could
be considered here.
12. I was a post-doctoral research associate in Chemistry from Sep
2005 to Nov 2006. Unlike my graduate university (Rochester), which
had excellent library services, the services at Crerar were awful.
Books were never on stacks, were rarely reshelved, and the
permanent staff in the main floor treated me with disrespect and no
interest on a consistent basis. Sorry to tell but this is the
truth.
13. One thing I'd like to see is the curved tables like they have
at the Grinnell library.
14. The Reg is not a very attractive or comfortable place to study,
particularly when compared with the libraries of peer institutions.
Hence the popularity of the Harold Washington Librarary, Newberry
Library, and northside cafes. I use the library's electronic
resource quite a lot; print holdings are very good (aside from the
refusal, too often, to re-order recent popular titles that go
missing); ILL is an excellent service. I just don't like spending a
lot of time studying there because of the ugly, corporate
office-like interior.
15. Aside from the law school libary, which is directly related to
my studies, I have actually made an effort to look for a library on
campus that has a fiction section, the type you'd expect to find at
a public library. In my undergraduate experience at another school,
there was always a browse section that made new books (fiction or
non-fiction) available. If there is one available on campus, I am
unaware of its presence and would appreciate it if this type of
information were more widely available.
16. Relative to the libraries of the other institutions that I have
been at (Cornell, U. Washington, UC Berkeley), the extent of the
collections in my field (ecology/marine biology; including
government gray literature) are not very extensive, which can often
be very frustrating.
17. I find that the collections don't always seem to be as good as
at my undergrad institution (Cornell).
18. (In 1993 my small, local Jesuit college library was far more
advanced, especially in terms of technology, than the Regenstein.)
The U of C libraries now need to anticipate the needs of the 21st
century and become a leading institutions in every way.
19. So many other similar institutions have quiet areas in their
libraries. It is odd that the U of C doesn't, given its position
relative to those institutions.)
20. For a school that heralds itself as a being a Great Library
System I cannot believe there is not a computer lab or a library
open 24 hours a day. Every other prestigious school in the country
has libraries and computer labs open 24 hrs per day. If Uchicago
wants to belong in this category I suggest they start ammending its
rules on how long the library stays open.
21. Really bad at making sure each book is scanned when checking
out and losing books after they returned. The worst service in this
manner of any library I have ever used.
22. My biggest complaint is that it does not open until 12:00 noon
on Sunday. Why is that? I also think that reading rooms and the
stacks should be available 24 hours. This would be in keeping with
other institutions of UChicago's caliber.
23. I miss one service at Duke University (where I got my Ph.D.)
library - getting users (even graduate students) pdf's of any
journal article they request through the library website free.
Because these requests usually concern articles that are not
electronically available, this service is tremendously helpful and
saves users lots of time retrieving documents on their own (they
have to be in the library, finding the article in the stacks, and
go make copies). And for persons like me who live far away from
campus, getting to the library physically is not always practical.
Adding this service would be most welcome.
24. having used different University libraries, it seems to me
there are quite a few journals available online that UofC does not
provide access to
25. Most universities with a number of undergrads grant more
private spaces to graduate students.
26. The Interlibrary loan is not very good. There should be a
possibility to request ILL for items that have been checked out
from the Regenstein, and it would be nice if there were an
expedited service, similar to the Borrow Direct system of the Ivy
League Universities. Sometimes it's important to obtain books or
articles very quickly when working on a publication.
27. remote access and delivery of materials, which is inferior at
Uof C to what I have experienced at other institutions.
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