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: Ann Arbor Streets Feedback
Regarding: website
Patron Comment: Is the Tappan photo copyrighted? If so, who holds the copyright? Thanks
AADL Reply: Do you mean the portrait of University of Michigan President Henry Tappan? If so, yes, it is under copyright. Please contact the Bentley Historical Library for permission to use at 764-3482. Thank you for using the Downtown Historical Streets Exhibit website!
Date Received: 2007-02-03
Type: programs and events
Regarding: exhibits/displays
Patron Comment: Hello, I just read our book "Elegy on the Death of Cesar Chavez by Rudolfo Anaya. Inoticed in the back of the book that the pictures are available for loan from El Paso Museum of Art. The artisi is Gaspar Enriquqez. For more information, contact the musem's curator. It would be great anytime. It would also be nice during Hispanic Awareness month. Thanks, Margaret Flannery
AADL Reply: Thank you for your suggestion for us to pursue an exhibit of the artwork of Gaspar Enriguez. We will take your suggestion into consideration and appreciate you letting us know how we may better serve you. Sincerely, Terry Soave
Date Received: 2007-02-02
Type: compliment
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: Hello! I just wanted to say thank you! I suggested a music CD and a film title recently, and the library staff seemed to give them fair consideration & responded in a timely manner. Also, I think the AADL is doing an outstanding job with the patron requests. It makes it so convenient to use the library and it's obvious that so many people rely on it. Thanks so much! :)
AADL Reply: Thank you very much for your comment. We appreciate that you take the time to use our suggestion form and I'm glad that we were able to add your suggestion to the collection. Sincerely, Josie Parker Director
Date Received: 2007-02-01
Type: general suggestion
Regarding: other
Patron Comment: A safety concern: When traveling westbound on Eisenhower to Mallett's Creek branch library, a Michigan left turn is involved. The pines (one in particular) come so close to the road, that as the driver looks west to complete the turn, the driver has to inch very close to traffic in order to see clearly. I know that this is NOT YOUR JURISDICTION;HOWEVER, perhaps you could be persuasive with the city in a little tree trimming! I note that further to the east along Eisenhower, other pines are trimmed for a better view. If this change is effected, it may prevent accidents in the future. I love trees, and I am not suggesting anything drastic. :-)
AADL Reply: Thank you for your suggestion. I have forwarded your request to the City of Ann Arbor. Tim Minick Manager, Facilities
Date Received: 2007-02-01
Type: web site feedback
Regarding: website
Patron Comment: A couple of comments on your website: First, using Firefox, the menu shows up twice - once as it should, and once as a simple vertical list of links that overlaps part of the main section. Not too good. This behavior is pretty recent - I think it's been since roughly the last week or so. Looking at the page source, I would guess that your isn't working on Firefox. Also, you may wish to check your DOCTYPE. Transitional isn't really the best - Strict will give you much better results across different browsers. Second, the catalog search shouldn't ask me to pick what type of search I want to perform ("Keyword", "Author", etc). A simple text box and a Go button should be all that you have for a UI for the search. Making people use a dropdown to decide what part of the catalog to search is bad, bad, bad UI design. Please read "Don't Make Me Think" by Krug, which is widely considered a classic on web usability. Finally, after I search for something and request it, the verbiage you use to return to the search list (or my account information) makes no sense. How about changing the text so it says "Return to the Search Results List" and "Go to My Account"? And watch the differing capitalization - it really needs to be consistent. - Greg
AADL Reply: Thanks for contacting us. First, in regards to the menu showing up the second time; we recently added the text links for accessibility reasons, but stylesheets are usually cached more aggressively than the webpages that call them, so you may need to force a refresh to get the new stylesheet that handles those links properly. A shift-refresh should do it, we've tested it on all browsers and once the old stylesheet is updated, the links won't show. As for the DOCTYPE, that's a good suggestion, we'll investigate it. In regards to the search, I would love to boil it down to not require the user to select an index, but our front-end still has a vendor-supplied library automation system behind it, and they are not particularly usable (nor flexible) beasts. We could not find a way to avoid requiring an index to be specified to the search engine, and the keyword engine is frankly so bad and unforgiving that it simply could not be trusted to serve as the casual user's only search tool for the catalog. We hope to make our own index in the future and take the top layer of search out of the automation system's black box, but that's a project that remains on the horizon for now. Also, we have a large contingent of users who actively abhor the concept of keyword and have been trained by years of bad UI to want to specify that they are looking for an author, title, or subject... relic conventions from the card catalog years. These same users tend to refuse to follow clicks to advance search forms... it's not pretty. Regardless, we'll get there, but there is inertia to deal with in addtion to the technical challenges. Finally, you're absolutely right about the request results screen, I've always hated it. However, if you can believe it, parts of the language there are actually baked into the catalog server's C code, so changing it requires smoke and mirrors that really ought not to be necessary. We'll get into it on our next pass, though. Thanks for all of your feedback, we really appreciate it, and please let us know if you have any other ideas. Eli Neiburger AADL Tech Manager
Date Received: 2007-02-01
Type: web site feedback
Regarding: inquiry from other institution
Patron Comment: Hi, I was checking out your new catalog features (very cool!), but from http://www.aadl.org/cat/seek/record=1128059 I clicked on Start Over and got a 404 error message.
AADL Reply: Thanks for contacting us, and thanks for your kind words! We're aware of this bug; it's recalcitrant, but we'll get it! In the meantime, clicking the 'catalog' button right above start over goes to the same page. Thanks again for your feedback! Eli Neiburger AADL Tech Manager
Date Received: 2007-01-31
Type: compliment
Regarding: youth
Patron Comment: Resently I logged a complaint reguarding young people in the library, and the use of foul language, etc. It seems better now, however they still seem to loiter near and inside the entry way creating problems, and resently I witnessed a young lady unleashing a tyrade of obscene language directed toward a security person who ask them to clear the area. It's better,but a work in progress. Please don't slack off ( in my opinion) until the foul little rug rats learn to use the puplic library as it was intended to be used. thank you.
AADL Reply: Thank you for contacting us regarding disruptive behavior at the library. All of our staff enforce our Rules of Behavior, available in paper form at every location as well as online at http://www.aadl.org/aboutus/policies/behavior. We try our best but there are times when staff cannot monitor every part of the library. If your visit to the library is disrupted by anyone violating our Rules of Behavior, please let any of our staff know so that they may appropriately enforce our rules. I appreciate your compliments to our security staff and your encouraging words about our efforts to ensure equitable access for all who respect our Rules. Thank you for taking the time contact us again with your additional comments.
Date Received: 2007-01-30
Type: programs and events
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: i want dom to have more programs for little kids.
AADL Reply: Thank you for contacting us regarding programs for little kids. Our librarians strive to provide a variety of programs for a variety of ages at a variety of times throughout the library system. Unfortunately, I am unclear about what programs, exactly, you would like to see for "little" kids. If you have specific suggestions for programs geared to specific age ranges, please feel free to let me know and I'll pass them on to the appropriate children's librarian. Thank you for taking the time to contact us.
Date Received: 2007-01-30
Type: programs and events
Regarding: - NONE SELECTED -
Patron Comment: i want you to have more programs for kids.
AADL Reply: Thank you for contacting us regarding programs for kids. Our librarians strive to provide a variety of programs for a variety of ages at a variety of times throughout the library system. Unfortunately, I am unclear about what programs, exactly, you would like to see for kids. If you have specific suggestions for programs geared to specific age ranges, please feel free to let me know and I'll pass them on to the appropriate children's librarian. Thank you for taking the time to contact us.
Date Received: 2007-01-30
Type: complaint
Regarding: Interlibrary loan/MeLCat
Patron Comment: I have a comment regarding the current state of the ILL online form. It is annoying. It used to be the case that it was easy to make multiple ILL requests using the ILL online form, because when hitting the BACK button, all the personal info was retained, and all the patron had to due each time was change the name of the title and author, publication date, etc. It was a delightful system which no longer operates. Why not? Now, hitting the BACK button deletes everything and I am tired of constantly retyping my name, card number, email address, etc whenever I do multipe ILL requests, which has been several times over the last 2 weeks. Please fix this irritating system! Or, at least, draft up an ILL online form that allows you to make requests for 4 books at a time. Thanks for listening.
AADL Reply: Thanks for contacting us. The functionality you describe is not a feature of our website, but rather, of your web browser. Some browsers do this by default; others must have it enabled. Have you changed or upgraded your web browser recently? If you use Internet Explorer, it is possible that it was automatically upgraded to IE7 in a system update without your knowledge. At any rate, you should be able to reenable this behavior within your browser settings; look for 'autocomplete' and that should get you on the right track. Thanks for your patience, and please let us know if you have any further questions or trouble. Eli Neiburger AADL Tech Manager