Seattlest: Small Things We've Noticed at the Seattle Public Library

Courtney Nash

Thu, 06 Apr 2006 09:44:53 -0800

Oh my...here's where the true library dorks reside: http://vielmetti.typepad.com/superpatron/ I can't even hold a candle to most of what's going on there when it comes to my SPL obsessions.

Charles

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 08:29:20 -0800

Want to avoid those nasty library late fees/ website disconnects? Got Mac OS X? Try this: http://haroldchu.id.au/?page_id=3 It's the killer app for library patrons. Works with Seattle, King County and just about any other library. Freeware, but donations gladly accepted.

James

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 14:33:17 -0800

Yeah, trying to manage when your stuff comes in is the true challenge for the power user. Knowing how many inactive holds there are helps, but that Netflix queue idea would be way better. At this point, though, the library is definitely set up to cater to average users rather than power users. I've had conversations with staff who've admitted that -- as someone who gets 6-10 items per week (or used to), I was way above average. Did anyone else have nightmarish experiences when they first instituted self checkout? It once took me 10 minutes to check out 8 items at the University Branch shortly after that went into effect and before they ironed out their kinks.

Michael

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 14:29:51 -0800

I'm just resurfacing after getting a deluge of Holds all at once myself. I love that Netflix queue idea; it'd be fantastic to know up front what's available/how soon and be able to rank things. Yes, you can already see where you are "in line" book by book but there's no way to prioritize. And I'd like that.

Courtney

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 14:07:03 -0800

The "too many overdue" items thing has been around for a while, I've been bitten by that as well. I don't know about power using, but it is inevitable that at least 3 books I want to read will come available all at the same time, with a minimum of 500 pages each. It cripples me. I'd be overjoyed if the SPL system could juggle some form of Netflix queing, where I could say which items I'd like most, and how many I'd like to have at one time. If one I want isn't avail, but one later in the list is, go ahead and give me that one. But only give me 3 at a time no matter what, and keep the other holds "active" in the meantime. I'd be happy just with the option to control the number that get dumped on me at a given time, regardless of overall preference, since that preference order could be hard to do with the library's limited inventory (versus what NetFlix has to work with). I always forget to go in and check where things are in my hold list, to delay items that might clobber me all at once--that's the only mechanism I know to prevent too many items getting dumped on me simultaneously, but it is tricky because your position in the queue is only a rough estimate for when you'll actually get that item. Wow, I am a complete library dork.