Librarians: What are your workplace Pet Peeves?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Hopefully one of the other ‘annointed’ will see this.
As an academic librarian one of my ultimate pet peeves are the professors who either don’t feel like teaching that night or else decide their students need better research material so… I know… let’s send all two-dozen of them to the library!

Never mind that here (a very small campus) there’s only one librarian on duty, that he doesn’t know they’re coming, that he’s already busy with other patrons, that there are nowhere near enough computers for them all, and that none of them seem to have a clue what they’re looking for, let alone where to find it.

I don’t mind teaching people how to use the computers/databases/catalogs, etc., but P-L-E-A-S-E do me the courtesy of a little bit of notice before I’m currently surrounded like I’m Jesus and it’s LeperFest 29. For all you (the professor) know I might be about to take my dinner break (which means you’d have nobody to show them much for 30 minutes) or I might be teaching a class and thus unable to help other students*.

Some of these are the same professors who’ll assign them to “check out a book on Lewy Body Dementia from the library” without ever once checking to see if the library has any books on Lewy Body Dementia (in fact we have one and it’s checked out already) or on Maya Angelou criticism (exactly how many books of Maya Angelou criticism do you think we have? Or did you want the 24 students to share the 3 copies?) Or “Find an article about adrenal failure among marmoset farmers” or something equally “THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS AN ARTICLE ON ADRENAL FAILURE IN MARMOSET FARMERS!* I can find you articles on adrenal failure, maybe even adrenal failure and farmers, I might be able to find something somewhere about marmoset farmers, but I can guarantee you there’s not any that mention adrenal failure in marmoset farmers!”**

So for other librarians- public, academic, private, you name it- what are some of your biggest workplace pet peeves?
*Though I have had classes interrupted by students needing help- always jawdropping- I’m standing in front of 20+ seated students demonstrating databases in a darkened room with the projector going and they’ll ask “Excuse me, are you busy?” (No shug, I was just about to get into my slides of Camp Teotwawki.)

**The Adrenal Failure in Marmoset Farmers is obviously fictitiuos but there have been some at least that obscure or highly specific that the professor seems to assume there’s just abundant information about on the databases.

2

Was a school librarian here…

  1. People who don’t read signs. I tried all sort of fonts, font size, clip-art to go with the sign, but all the time the students would try to march in without reading what’s the on the door…which leads to

  2. People, a locked door is not going to open no matter how hard you pull on it or twist the knob. A percentage of the above-mentioned students would not go away when they encounter the locked library door. Instead, they keep tugging at it, until I have to unlock the door, and say, “The library’s closed.”

  3. Some students, after a round of football/soccer in the fields, or basketball, would come into the library, hide in a corner and take off their shirt because of the air-conditioning (only happens when the temperature is summer-like)

3

IANAL

I’m reasonably sure that one of the pet peeves of the librarians at my uni is teachers who don’t let them know in advance the books they’ve added to the “Must Read” section of the bibliography. In theory those books get placed on “3 hour loan,” but that won’t happen unless someone, you know, tells the librarians. They’re nice but not telepathic.

4

Forget people who don’t read signs, how about people who don’t read anything? Most of the “I need some help on the computer!” people just did. not. read. Look, when you fill out a form and red stuff pops up, you have to read that red stuff because that’s what you got wrong! I spend hours of my day reading stuff to other people, and I do not do storytime.

Also, mumblers.

Also, people who refuse to do anything for themselves.

Also, free range children. We have escalators. They will eat your children if you let them play on them.

One of our biggest problems, though, is that we have a great technology department that totally doesn’t know dick about patron service and never asks us for input before they do something completely lamebrained that’s just going to make the public explode. (They’re hopefully adding 50, that’s FIFTY, more public computers to this building. They haven’t thought at all about adding more print and reservation stations, or where they’re going to go. They’re just going to dump them in the middle of the building, I think.)

ETA - also, the previous administration HATED signs, so I spend all day explaining that you were supposed to know that the salmon colored wave on the wall means “restrooms”.

5

Does being a long term reference intern count?

My pet peeve is people who think librarians/interns/etc are the be-all-end-all of knowledge - that we possess superpowers. Figure A: I got the wackiest phone call a few months ago. My boss, with a shine in her eye, put the person on hold and gave the call to me, the new hire. I clear my throat and answer.

The woman would like the publisher’s address of a small community newspaper. I grab the paper and offer the woman the editor’s address, which she angrily refuses.

Me: Ma’am, why were you looking to contact the publisher exactly?
Her: BECAUSE I HATE THE WAY THEY DO THINGS AROUND THERE
Me: thinks Okay, but the editor has control over the content. Would contacting him be all right?
Her: Fine, give me the address
Me: babble babble address
Her: Oh there, OH I’VE BEEN THERE BEFORE.
…I’m getting stranger and stranger vibes at this point…
Me: Will that be all?
Her: How do you know he’ll read it?
Me: I’m sorry?
Her: How do you know he’ll read it? That some secretary won’t read it and throw it away or not give it to him?
Me: deeeep breath Ma’am, I have no idea how they do things at that paper.
Her: Oh? Well I figured that YOU WOULD KNOW.
Me: Nope…I certainly do not. Thanks so much, have a nice day.

So yes, this woman - who is not THAT outside of the norm(!) - thought that I had mind reading powers into how a community newspaper editor read its mail. Also, should I have been more worried she’d been to the newspaper’s address before? Probably.

Also, as the reference intern, I get the unlucky job of answering jailmail. Sorry, but I can’t give you the death records for people (a scam to steal social security numbers of dead people), even if it, as you swear on your mother’s grave, will fully and completely exonerate you from your triple homicide.

6

you are high priests in the temple of knowledge. that’s been my lifelong attitude.

7

I work for a medium-sized public library, and what drives me crazy lately - as we’re heading into cold and (swine) flu season - are the hundreds of people who are sick as dogs and run to the library to get some reading material. I understand that you want to have some entertainment while you’re sick at home, but at least send someone else! Don’t come in here and sneeze and cough all over the staff!

8

I haven’t been an academic librarian for about a decade, but in my experience that one book is already checked out to the same professor (how many staff or students are going to be interested in the topic, anyway), and he/she refuses to return it when the library recalls it.

9

I worked for a year or two in a medical library. Strangely… I don’t think I really had any pet peeves when I worked there. At least, none that could be directed at patrons. Only thing any of them did that sort of annoyed me was using our tiny reference section as a nap room, and even that wasn’t terrible if they didn’t snore.

10

Yep, and he’s had it for two years. (IF YOU NEED IT THAT MUCH BUY A DAMNED COPY!)
Luddite professors are also a pain in the ass, and surprisingly they’re not all the older professors. The ones who will not understand that- 1) an article from an academic database is EXACTLY the same- word for word- as the one from the magazine in print 2) is NOT an internet site 3) is increasingly the only version available.

One of the photocopiers here has a BIG RED ARROW in the right hand corner of the plate that says Place Document Here. you wouldn’t believe how often you get people complaining the copier doesn’t work and the problem is… you guessed it… they’re putting it on the wrong side of the screen. The side without the BIG RED ARROW that says Place Document Here.

Patrons who you have shown 15 times how to find a book in the catalog, and the 16th time they need a book what are they going to do? “Hey, do you have any books on _____”. Have you checked the catalog? “No… I forgot how.”

11

Public librarian. Actually, library clerk, but we are all cross-trained and use one desk. Aside from master’s degree we are all practically librarians.

Mumblers. Who will only repeat the second half of the sentence if you tell them you didn’t hear.

People who toss their card, papers, etc. at you instead of handing them over (or placing them on the table if they see you’re busy).

People who do not allow you to finish instructions, so they go off in the middle of your sentence and only know how to get through half of the print screen, catalog, etc.

People who either do not watch their children or remain close by but do not discipline them. I am tired of kids pulling down, well, everything, and the parent ignoring them the entire time. People - there are plenty of perverts at the library. This is a public building.

People who are sick but still come in, or bring their sick children in.

People who allow their children to chew on books just before handing them over to be checked out. Actually, anyone who chews on anything is a big pet peeve. I had to stop a 16 year old from chewing on the plastic part holding a sign up the other day, and at least a couple people a week stand in line chewing on their library card.

People who assume we are all volunteers. Yeah, I wouldn’t volunteer to be here… I don’t get paid enough as it is.

The people who wait near the door and nearly barge it down at 8:59 (we open at 9) on Tuesdays. They are all there for our new release movies, which are put out Tuesday morning. There have been people assaulted, run over, screamed at, and shoved aside in their quest for the new DVDs on Tuesdays. People run like small children to the shelves. We have tried many things, including staggering when we put the new DVDs out, but they assume it will always be Tuesday morning at 9 so they run for the shelves anyway.

12

(emphasis mine)

And here’s one of my pet peeves with some librarians. I’m an editor for an academic journal. We need original copies of our sources, or exact facsimiles, so we can see the spelling, punctuation, typos, etc. in the work as it was originally published. These academic databases often have the word-for-word text of the article, but they have it hand-transposed, so there are subtle differences. (Commonly, the original has an error, and the data entry person accidentally fixed the error for the database. We need to know there was an error in the original!)

I assign one of my staffers to track down some article from three years ago. She finds a copy on a database, but it’s not an actual image of the original. So she heads to the undergrad library and asks a reference librarian how to get her hands on a copy. The librarian, speaking very slowly, tells the staffer to check the academic database. The staffer explains that she needs an actual copy of the original, and perhaps the librarian knows of a database that has it as a .pdf? Or perhaps it’s on microfiche? The librarian rolls his eyes and pulls it up in the original database, turning the screen to show the staffer. The staffer says, yes, I know. But that’s essentially organized like a web page. I need to see, for example, how the margins were set on this article in its original publication. Where the line breaks were. Whether the original author actually forgot to italicize res ipsa loquitur.

Oh, the librarian says, well you could check that on the microfiche, but we don’t have that periodical on microfiche. Or anything on microfiche, now that you mention it, since we got rid of all our microfiche last year. You’ll have to request a copy of that in inter-library loan.

Fine, says my staffer, can you help me make sure I get the right copy?

So the librarian helps navigate ILL. A week later, the staffer gets an e-mail saying her book has arrived. She goes to the library, and discovers that a librarian at some other library has just printed out the electronic database copy and sent it to our library.

Yes, I know librarians do much more than this, but it seems like helping patrons find dead trees is one of their major functions. Many librarians I deal with are ineffective at this, and many insist that I don’t know what I really want.

And in the spirit of the thread, I have a pet peeve on behalf of librarians.

I will assign one of my staffers to research a point, and a week later he’ll come to me and tell me he doesn’t know where to start. Or he’ll say he knows where to start, but it’s a really obscure source and he can’t find it on Google.

Well, what did the law librarian say? I’ll ask.

Huh? He’ll reply.

I swear, these people are some of the most under-utilized professionals on the face of the earth. One of their primary jobs is to facilitate your research. Most of them have masters degrees for this. Some of them probably have doctorates! But most students think they exist only to swipe your library card. I know they’re not “high priests in the temple of knowledge” but they know how to get you started on your research question. And they know how to pull the official copy of 148 Cong. Rec. 1290, 1382 (2002) (statement of Rep. Tom Davis), fer example.

13

Sampiro, my wife is a university librarian, and she has the exact same phenomenon of professors sending their students in en masse.

I’ll tell you, though, the best part of being married to a librarian is when she gets home at night. She’ll put some Whitesnake on the stereo, grab her glasses off her face, pull the pencil out of her bun, and slowly shake her hair loose. It’s like she’s a different person afterward.

14

Look, 99.99999999% of people do not need the print edition. Sorry that you do. There are a zillion professors out there who just don’t get what a database is. Much bigger problem. One I deal with every stinking day.

And we do still have our microfilm, thanks. We can’t order everything and we can’t keep everything - there are physical limits. I have my issues with the Big Deal the same as everybody, but the bottom line is that it gives my patrons access to stuff I could never give them otherwise.

15

Yeah, on rereading, I think I gave the wrong impression in my rant. I’m not upset that the library doesn’t have what I need close at hand. I’m annoyed that some librarians don’t believe me when I tell them what I want, and then they don’t understand why the thing they got me isn’t the thing I need.

And again, this is just some librarians.

16

But my biggest pet peeve is that I bust my ass doing a really fantastic blog from my department, and everybody else’s blog gets on the main page but they hide ours. And ours is SO MUCH BETTER than theirs. So much better. (Who doesn’t want to read the periodicals blog?)

17

<never mind, I’m not a librarian…>

18

In fairness though you must admit you’re rather the exception; for 99.999% of needs for freshmen writing papers the database is just fine (and the majority of our articles are PDF anyway- literally photocopies of the article).
My irritation is with professors who don’t realize that we no longer even subscribe to print periodical indexes and for most backissues the ONLY way to find them quickly (this not being a research university but a very small Community College) is on databases. We keep back issues for about 3-5 years only as we just don’t have the room and it’s extremely rare to have anybody need one from 1998 or whatever (and when they do, it’s on the database).

ETA: What Zsofia said (which I hadn’t read but she we both put the 99.999% thing [though she included more 9s- must be a cataloger]).

19

I do the exact same thing. Except instead of Whitesnake it’s Broadway Revival Cast Recording of ZORBA. And instead of the pencil from the bun it’s just the pens out of my shirt pocket. And basically when I remove the glasses and all it’s just a middle aged fat guy who can’t find the CD cover for ZORBA because he took his glasses off. Otherwise though… same story.:wink:

20

By my authority I deputize you for librarian for the purposes of this thread. Say what you like.:smiley: