grumpy days in the library

destiny (the new library catalog) is down and we don’t know why and we don’t know how to fix it. They installed the new Microsoft updates on the server and now Destiny refuses to run. Despite the fact that it is normal class days for us, it is the weekend in the States and we are 11 hours ahead, so we’re having trouble getting technical-support. And by the time it’s Monday morning in the States, we’ll be in Hong Kong. Kenny, the IT crew guy on the ship, knows lots about the server but little about library systems. I know about library systems, but not so much about why the Microsoft updates caused us problems. We tried all kinds of things either of us could think of, but no luck. Ugh. And, Kenny is going off in China. A number of our crew are leaving in Hong Kong and more in China. Kenny’s relief arrives in Hong Kong, they sail together the 2 days to China, and then Kenny goes off in China. I’m going overland from Hong Kong to China and so won’t be on the ship during the transition. I’ll get back on the ship in China and there will be a new crew-IT guy who hasn’t been through any of the Destiny issues with us. I’m a bit nervous – and grumpy -- as you might imagine …

Today, was a Global Studies exam. So, lots of photocopying of people’s notes going on in the library yesterday. First, we learned that the students have the photocopier access code and are making free copies. Which made me REALLY grumpy. The copier requires that one of us put in an access code, so when we see someone standing there, we always ask if we can help. Yesterday, I asked that and the kid said no. I walked over and he had the access code written on his paper. He wouldn’t tell me where he got it. So, then I had to track down Kenny to change the access code, which it took us forever to figure out how to do. Students were copying Global Studies notes all day long. Particularly, one set of notes that was 22 pages long. Students would come up to fill out the invoice form and try to calculate the cost of 22 pages (25 cents/page). We spared them the math. We all knew. $5.50. Those notes got copied over and over. At one point, someone must have miss-copied because all of the sudden all the students were paying for 21 copies instead. I let them know they were missing a page!

And then -- the rest of the day, besides photocopying and catalog woes, was spent tracking down potential plagiarism. I had two faculty ask me for help in trying to prove plagiarism. And students well know that plagiarism is cause for UVA’s single sanction (expulsion).

The only library good news is that the collection is small enough that working without a catalog isn’t the end of the world. And we have a dump of the catalog we did a couple weeks ago to send back to UVA. That’s a little bit helpful. And everyone has been very understanding. We’ve got a backup circulation system going that’s working ok. Clunky, but manageable.

Yours, in hoping tomorrow will be a better day in library-land …