SFU Library Feedback
Q. Hi, I have a quick question. Will the library computers and printers be accessible to students during the extended 24-hour open period? (for example, at 5 a.m. Saturday on Apr. 20th). Hope to hear back from you soon. Thanks.
A. Yes the library computers and printers are accessible during the 24 hour opening.
Scott
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Scott Mackenzie
Head, Access Services
Q. Can we have a DropBox app installed on PCs or Macs at the library? It is just more convenient to work in the app rather than download and re-upload files every time. Thanks!
A. I raised your question with computing services, who have ultimate authority over what appears on our lab PCs.
Unfortunately the feeling is that installing DropBox would suggest SFU is implicitly endorsing a service that enable students to store what could be considered private data on servers outside of Canada, potentially violating FIPPA legislation.
At this point in time we are unable to install DropBox on lab PCs at SFU.
Please note that there is also SFU’s provided file space, which is mounted on the user desktops as a network drive, and which can easily be accessed from home.
http://www.sfu.ca/itservices/accounts/personal_webspace.html
Neal Baldwin
Manager, Computer Operations
Q. Hi
Please consider changing the keyboards many of the computers at the Belzberg library. The letters have faded and the keyboards themselves are quite dirty. For non-touch typists, it is helpful to be able to see the letters on the keys. Thanks.
A. Hello,
Thanks very much for the suggestion. The keyboards will be replaced within the next month. I appreciate your bringing this issue to our attention.
Best regards,
Karen Marotz
Head, Belzberg Library
Hi,
It is awesome that the library is now open until 10pm on Fridays. It eats into your budget but as you might have noted, the usage is definitely there. Also, it is great to have newer computers, a new color scheme, “quiet” signs, as well as the self-checkout in the reserve books section. I would expect that as an aggregate, GPAs will increase this semester
Some superb decisions have been made! Thanks!
A. You’re very welcome! It’s great to hear that our improvements are appreciated, and we’d be thrilled if GPAs went up.
Q. I foolishly left my black and red 8G memory stick in one of the Macs on the main floor, to the right of the Ask Us desk. If it’s there I’ll be in at 8AM tomorrow morning to pick it up!
A. Your USB key was still in the Mac computer this morning. It was removed this morning and is at the Checkout desk in the Bennett Library for you to pick up.
Regards,
Don Taylor
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Donald Taylor
Ass’t Head Access Services and IR Coordinator
Simon Fraser University Library, Burnaby BC
Q. Hi, Could you please clarify if the 5th and 6th floor computer workstations are quiet study areas or if light discussion is allowed. It seems this ambiguity makes it difficult to enforce quite study, especially on the 6th floor. This has been an ongoing problem for quite sometime and signs indicating quiet study would help CONSIDERABLY.
A. The computer areas on the 5th and 6th floors are quiet but not silent areas. It would be fair to say that light but not prolonged discussion is allowed. Of course, this is ambiguous and will be interpreted in various ways. The NW corner of the 6th floor is Silent, as is the Silent Study Room on the 5th floor. No discussion is allowed in these areas and peer pressure has been quite successful. “Silent” is unambiguous.
Rather than more Quiet signage, it may be that we need to explore creating a Silent computer area, something we don’t currently have.
In the meantime, if you are not comfortable asking people carrying on prolonged conversations to move elsewhere or to desist, please feel free to ask a staff member at a 3rd floor service point to do so. If you don’t want to leave your workstation, send a request via the Feedback link. We monitor these regularly, although we can’t promise an instant response.
Thanks for raising this concern and we will factor it in to our regular reviews of space/facilities in the Library.
Best,
Elaine
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Elaine Fairey
Associate University Librarian, Learning & Research Services
Q. A few evenings ago, near library closing time, the computer I was working on closed down with only a few SECONDS warning. I lost about an hour’s work. Please make sure library computers give sufficient warning before shut-down. About 15 minutes warning seems about right.
A. I’m sorry to hear you suffered a loss of data. I’m guessing you are using one of the northern PCs on the third floor of the library at Burnaby. Those machines are under management of computing services, and I’m told they currently do not have a timeout value set.
For all the library workstations in public areas in the third-floor central area, and on the other floors, there is a warning that is displayed 15 min. previous to the shutdown of the workstations prior to closing. If you experienced this problem on one of these PCs, please let me know the name of the computer and we will test it out and resolve the issue.
We do work together to try to get our images as close to one another as possible and somehow this detail was missed. I have forwarded your message on to computing services as I know they are rebuilding a new image for the new semester.
Regards,
Neal Baldwin
Manager, Library Computer Operations
Q. Hi, I was doing my research assignment on one of the computers at school today. I opened my file from my harddrive, and was doing my assignment from there. When I finished, I saved my work before leaving. But, what I didn’t check was whether or not my work was saved onto my flashdrive; right now I only have a temporary file saved onto there, which I have no idea what that means, but I don’t have my work. I saw a notice by each of the computers saying that files saved onto the computers will not be saved. Does the computer’s settings go back to its default settings, or erasing all new memory everyday? I really hope not. If there’s anything I can do to retrieve my work back, please please please pleaaaseee let me know!! It would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance.
A. Hi, Unfortunately the odds are very slim. Could you tell me which computer you were using and we can take a look. Time is of the essence since automated scripts run that delete everything from the hard drive each day. This may have occurred at midnight last night but we will check the computer that you specify.
Neal Baldwin
Manager, Library Computer Operations
Q. It seems as though people feel they have the liberty to abuse library computer privileges by “setting up shop” at a computer and then leaving it for long periods of time. This results in students who are in need of computers being left to wait in line even though there are available computers that aren’t in use! As I type this, the individual beside me has been gone for more than two hours but left their possessions at the computer so it looks like it’s being used. I find this very disrespectful and ignorant as I’ve seen it happen on more than one occasion, most often on the 5th floor of the library. User of the 5th Floor Library Computers
A. Dear User of the 5th Floor Library Computers,
Thank you for your feedback. I agree that this behaviour is both disrespectful and ignorant and we will look into ways of discouraging this kind of activity. However in the meantime it is feasible to determine where another available computer may be available. The “Computer Availability Tool” is available at http://www.lib.sfu.ca/m/computers . Hopefully this will helps alleviate the situation.
Todd M. Mundle
Associate University Librarian
Q. Hello, I have been looking into different e-readers and noticed that the Kobo can connect to your local public library, not sure how yet although it is wireless so it must be that way. I am wondering if I can connect to SFU’s library with the Kobo as well? Thank you.
A. Hello – The public libraries in British Columbia participate in a program called Library to Go, a province-wide initiative using a service called Overdrive.
http://downloads.bclibrary.ca/
E-books are available for borrowing from your local public library and some of them are compatible with the Kobo e-reader. Many local public libraries also lend KOBO e-readers, preloaded with e-books.
Please contact your local public library to find out more about these services and how their e-book lending system works.
At SFU Library, we don’t have any e-books that are specifically compatible for download to a specific e-reader. Indeed, many of our e-books do not have any download capability at all, you need to be connected to the internet and read it on the screen. It is also not unusual for printing and downloading to be limited for academic, scholarly e-books. These limitations are referred to in the industry as Digital Rights Management, DRM, a way for publishers to protect their copyright and intellectual property from theft and indiscriminate distribution.
However, there are some publishers where the e-book content is simply distributed in standard pdf format, just like journal articles. These publishers include, Springer, CRC Press, Elsevier, Palgrave Macmillan and Wiley-Blackwell.
http://www.lib.sfu.ca/faqs/ebook-reader
If your e-reader is capable of opening and storing pdf documents, then you may be able to download and open pdf documents.
I don’t own a Kobo myself – but I believe it works like your iPod or iTouch for music, whereby you need a separate program on your computer to transfer files, whether wirelessly or with a USB cord. See the following two links about using Adobe Digital Editions to add e-books and pdfs to a Kobo, if you didn’t buy the e-book from Chapters, and something called Kobo desktop.
http://tinyurl.com/3asskuk
http://www.kobosetup.com/
I also think that e-readers with wireless internet connect to their retail store:
KOBO =Chapters
Kindle = Amazon
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Sandra Wong, Electronic Resources Librarian