(Dec 6/08) Last Thursday afternoon, I could not find a couple of books in the stacks, so I asked Unable to Locate forms at the Mills Circulation desk. The Circulation attendant, most likely a temporary worker, advised me that these forms were unavailable at the desk, although they would be found on line. Yet, when I went home and looked online I found that these particular forms can only physically be obtained in the Libraries. Apparently, the Circulation attendant gave me inaccurate and misguided information. I believe the heavy use of improperly trained, nonprofessional (temp) personnel is a cause of disfunctionalities in library usage. May I suggest that the staff librarians should both spend more time training the temps properly and monitor the quality of the temps services more closely. Please, advise how can I alert the Library to the issue of 2 unlocatable books, short of returning to Mills.
http://library.mcmaster.ca/forms/unabletolocate
I'm also copying your suggestion to the acting Director of Learning Support Services, Lynn Schneider, so that she can take any action required in regards to your comments about staff training.
(Dec 9/08)
Answered by: Catherine Baird (Marketing, Communications and Outreach Librarian)
Follow-up Comments:
Was that link even clicked on by anyone? It clearly says that the form is available only at the library and not online. (2008-12-10)
UPDATE: In the past the unable to locate form was not accessible from off campus locations. Due to this suggestion, we have decided to change this and make the form accessible both on and off campus. We are taking immediate action to make this happen and you should see a change in effect fairly soon. (2008-12-10)
FURTHER UPDATE: This form is now available from both on and off campus. Catherine Baird (Marketing, Communications and Outreach Librarian) (2008-12-12)