What you have told us
Here you can search through numerous patron comments and the corresponding AADL replies. Search by the type of comment, in general by what the comment is regarding, or by a particular issue.
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Filter Patron Comments
Type: other
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: Do you have "The red & the black" in DVD?
AADL Reply: A search of our catalog, http://catalog.aadl.org, for the DVD title "The Red and the Black" indicates that, while we own several books and a sound recording, we do not own the DVD. If you wish, you may "suggest a title" for purchase via our Contact Us page, http://www.aadl.org/contactus. These suggestions are routed to the appropriate librarian for a purchase decision. I hope this answers your question. Thank you for taking the time to contact us.
Date Received: 2007-02-26
Type: compliment
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: Dear Sir: I have been working on a project as Miss Amtrak. The project involves municipalities on the Amtrak Michigan Line putting up signage for the comfort of passengers. The signs would indicate where the train is travelling. Also, I am asking the cities, towns, etc. to remove debris from the sides of the tracks. The staff at Northeast branch of the library has been fun, always able to give me a computer, friendly and professional. The computers ran excellently, quickly and clearly. I was able to do all my work quickly and efficiently. I told my boss I would complete the project in a month approximately and it is completed (except for e-mail information back to me) in two days less than a month. I wanted to thank you for the use of the computers and the library. The unlimited time I was allowed is what made the endeavour prompt and accurate. Thank you.
AADL Reply: I am very glad that the staff at NEB have been so helpful to you. Thanks for letting us know. Sincerely, Josie Parker Director
Date Received: 2007-02-26
Type: compliment
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: I'm new to Ann Arbor, and also to the AADL, and just wanted to tell you that your website (and online services in general) are excellent! I use tons of sites to do everything online, and few are as convenient, attractive, and functional as this one -- especially other library sites I have used. As a software engineer, I know that that creating usable software isn't an easy feat, so send along my appreciation to your web team!
AADL Reply: Thank you very much. This is great feedback and I will pass it along to staff. Welcome to Ann Arbor! Sincerely, Josie Parker Director
Date Received: 2007-02-26
Type: other
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: Hello, I am a student at the University of Michigan and I am doing a project on Library Software for my English 229: Professional Writing class. I am trying to evaluate how user-friendly different library computer programs are. Would you be able to tell me what software you use at the Ann Arbor District Libraries and who I might contact to discuss possible brief interviews or surveys? If you could e-mail me at marynl@umich.edu with your response, I would really appreciate it. Thank you for your time and consideration!
AADL Reply: Thank you for contacting us with your question about the software we use. I am not clear about the kinds of software you wish to ask us about. Do you mean software we offer on our public machines to our patrons, or software on staff machines? Do you mean the software that runs our catalog, our ordering system, or our website? Feel free to contact me directly and I can determine to whom you should speak.
Date Received: 2007-02-25
Type: web site feedback
Regarding: login/password
Patron Comment: Dear Sir/Madam: I have always found it odd, if I search the catalogue and then request a book and then am asked to log in, that my search is not saved, and I have to re-search the catalogue all over again in order to requwest my book. ALso, I think there should be a reminder on the search page that authors must be search last-named-first, followed by a comma. Sincerely,
AADL Reply: Thanks for contacting us. The problem you describe is one that we have on our list to solve, but it's been a little trickier than it should be on the first few passes. Rest assured that we find it odd too, and we will keep working on it. In the meantime, you may wish to log in before you begin searching, or, if you want a truly ugly solution, you can click the back button three times after logging in to get back to your request, which should then work. As for the search page, author search generally works better in keyword mode (which is the default), which does not require last name first or a comma. However, we will keep your suggestion in mind as we continue to improve the catalog. Thanks again for your feedback, and let me know if you have any further questions or trouble. Eli Neiburger AADL Tech Manager
Date Received: 2007-02-24
Type: general suggestion
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: I would like to see a complete listing of your large print books. I have friends who need this service. I searched by large print and only found 29 books. Can you help us?
AADL Reply: Thank you for contacting us about searching the library catalog for large print titles. From http://www.aadl.org/catalog, click on the "More Search Options" link, then click on the "Call Number" tab. In the "Call #" text box, type "large type" and hit Enter on your keyboard or click the "Submit" button to view your results. Thank you for taking the time to contact us. I hope this answers your question.
Date Received: 2007-02-24
Type: general suggestion
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: Given that Ann Arbor has so much culture and diversity, including parents who value reading and language, I am curious why the libraries do not offer regular Spanish and/or German story time. If you can offer any of these programs, or even a Spanish or German playgroup, I'd love to join. I'm sure if a flyer were put out, many people in the area would like to bring their babies/toddlers/kids to such events. I don't think it would be difficult to find someone who speaks Spanish or German in Ann Arbor, either. Please contact me. Thanks!
AADL Reply: Thank you for contacting us about storytimes in other languages. We offered storytimes in other languages, and saw low turnout. After surveying the families that were attending and getting their feedback, we now offer Family Cultural Days throughout the year, with each Day focusing on a particular culture. Our children's librarians work with cultural contacts and groups in the community to plan and implement each day, and we have seen greater success with this approach, which covers music, food, and cultural history. We held a German Cultural Day in December, for example, and will jointly hold a Spanish Cultural Day/Dia de los Ninos celebration with the Ypsilanti District Library (at the YDL) on April 29. That is not to say that we won't offer storytimes in other languages again, and we will keep your comments in mind for the future. Thank you for taking the time to contact us.
Date Received: 2007-02-23
Type: web site feedback
Regarding: website
Patron Comment: Where on your website do you explain what TAGS are for? And, what is a Personal Card Catalog? I looked on your HELP page, but found nothing. These website features should be listed under SERVICES on the site index, at the very least.
AADL Reply: Thanks for contacting us. We do need to add information about these services to our help page and our services page as you suggest. In the meantime, let me answer your questions. Tagging is the practice of attaching any word to an item in our catalog. By tagging an item with a word, you can make that items easier for yourself and others to find, or you can make personal notes on an item that benefit all our users. For example, you might tag a book of soup recipes 'cooking' or 'chowder' or 'awesome gazpacho' or 'my favorites'. There are no rules, no limits, and anything goes. The end result is a catalog that is collectively tagged by our users with many different approaches and intents, with emergent organization that is more detailed that what could have been done by library staff. Our tag cloud (http://www.aadl.org/sopac/tagcloud )shows the most common tags in our catalog, with the larger, darker words representing the most frequently used tags. It's an interesting way to get a quick look at all the things that people have tagged so far in our collection. For more information, you might like this wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tags The personal card catalog is a bit of a novelty feature; you can view an old-style catalog card for each item in our catalog, and even write your comments onto it for others to see. You can then save these cards to your personal card catalog, or email them to friends, or share your personal card catalog with other users. It's a way to save a list of items in the collection to a personal list for any purpose. You can view the catalog card for an item from the list of results or from the item's full description page, and you can save or comment on cards when you're viewing them. I hope I've answered your questions. Thanks for your feedback, and please let us know if you have any other questions or trouble. Eli Neiburger AADL Tech Manager
Date Received: 2007-02-23
Type: web site feedback
Regarding: website
Patron Comment: I can barely read the words in your listing of Services because of the very poor contrast between the color of the letters and the white background of the screen. If the letters have to be red in color, a darker red would be helpful. Even the "Send Comment" is barely visible to me.
AADL Reply: Thanks for contacting us. We're sorry you've had trouble reading the text on our site. We will take your feedback into consideration as we continue to improve the site. In the meantime, you may find it easier to read at a larger size, which you can choose from your browser's view menu. Thanks again for your comments. Eli Neiburger AADL Tech Manager
Date Received: 2007-02-23
Type: complaint
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: Dear Ms. Parker: We had a potentially very serious situation arise at the new Pittsfield branch library this morning that should be addressed in some manner very, very soon. We take our day care group (9-10 children ages 15 months-3 1/2 years old) to the story time on Friday morning in our van. Today was a very well-attended story time, with more parents and children that we had ever seen before. Unfortunately, parking was not adequate to hold all the visitor's cars that came today. As a result about five very inconsiderate people parallel-parked along the space just opposite where we had parked our van, leaving us no way to back out. We were completely blocked in. One of our children had unexpectedly become sick shortly after story time was over, and we just had to leave to allow the parents to come to attend to their child. I had to run back in and make a frantic announcement to all the parents still in the multi-purpose area that we were blocked in, and also tell the staff about the problem. Finally enough of the parents came out and moved their cars so we could leave and get back home. This was not a very good day for us and could have become a very serious situation. What needs to be done is make a posted policy at the library that people cannot park anywhere but in the legal spots (ticketed and/or towed?). Also an announcement before storytime that anyone that is not parked properly should move their cars somewhere else. Perhaps re-negotiating with the Ice Cube would be in order. They have a million spaces to spare. David Langley
AADL Reply: I am so sorry that your trip to Pittsfield ended so badly. Our arrangement with the Cube for overflow parking was renegotiated and you will be pleased to know that their lot is now available to library patrons for overflow parking. Our staff is instructed to judge the size of audiences and to place signs in our drive alerting patrons that overflow parking at the Cube is available. If we find that cars are doubleparked and blocking other vehicles and cannot locate owners, we will call a towing company. There are No Parking signs where parking is not allowed and there are signs that indicate what towing company will be called. People are not always courteous, and do willfully park in a way that clearly blocks others. Sadly, this also happens when the lot is not full. Again, I am sorry that your storytime trip was unpleasant and hope that the overflow parking option will solve the problem in the future. Perhaps your staff can use the loading and unloading lane and then park your van at the Cube when you attend storytime as a matter of course? I appreciate your taking the time to contact me. If you wish to speak with me further please don't hesitate to call me at 327-4263. Sincerely, Josie Parker Director