« Lost comments | Main | Good news from Upper Norwood »
May 16, 2007
The people's not work
In this large town, as I have explained, there is no internet cafe so I have taken to carrying my work around on a memory stick.
In the local "community" library I tried to attach a docuiment to an email and send it. This failed several times so I asked the nice lady at the desk (who was working on her own, I might observe, to all those who refuse to staff a library desk alone).
"You can't use a memory stick in our computer" she said. "I can't even use one in my computer behind the desk. It's only possible at the central library. Sorry"
Number 15 bus to the city centre and I tried the same thing in a computer in the Central Library. It still didn't work. The lady at the desk was less pleasant. "We have two computers that can read from a memory stick, but they aren't connected to the internet"
"Why?"
"Well you can't expect everything. We are a free service."
"No you aren't. But why?"
"I don't know. It's because of viruses." She said that to make me feel dirty.
"But any internet cafe would allow you to use a memory stick."
"Pete, there's someone being difficult."
Hasty retreat. Actually after wandering the streets for a while and asking in shops a friendly but nervous young man told me that you can use the computers in "CSV" - community service volunteers. So here I am.
Posted by Tim Coates at May 16, 2007 2:00 PM
Comments
There are a lot of pub libs with no USB access. To get it you'd need to upgrade PCs- on no new money. A dilemma indeed.... Of course some PCs have USB ports and its policy that needs to change.
As for the customer service described here, not good. I hope it wasn't typical of that library.
Posted by: Pete at May 16, 2007 2:25 PM
Hmm... sounds like there is an opening for any enterprising internet cafe owner who can allow people to upload information from a USB stick...
On a more serious note, it sounds as though there might be a staff training issue there. The reason that you can't use a memory stick may well be "because of viruses" but the staff ought to be able to explain it in a little more detail than that.
Posted by: Miriam Palfrey at May 16, 2007 2:57 PM
Whenever we have unhappy library users, I always encourage them to submit informal comment/suggestion forms. Quite often, the library staff will have limited control over policies, particularly where IT is concerned.
If a substantial amount of library users request an amendment to a particular policy, that is often enough to make it happen (at least, that's what happens where I work). It's also a more contructive way of expressing dissatisfaction with the service that actually has a chance of improving it for next time you and others need to use it.
Posted by: deargreenplace at May 16, 2007 3:37 PM
Libraries (in common with a lot of places, I'm sure) seem to be stuck in the stone ages, technologically. The computers in my library which have floppy disk drives have those drives locked, "because of viruses."
However, they also have CD-RW drives which can be used with no locks at all. I've yet to get any answer as to why *that* isn't a virus risk. I suspect it's the case that the council can't be bothered to change their policy and send IT people around to unlock all the floppy drives because that would cost them too much money.
Posted by: morricone at May 17, 2007 4:19 PM