I recently started reading Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series. I’ve been checking them out of the university library (I think they have the entire set) and have made it all the way through book 4. However, the next two books are checked out.
Now, as a graduate student, I have the ability to request a recall of an already checked-out book and get it fairly quickly (within about three weeks.) The point is to be able to get the only available copy of some critical book, journal, or so on. (I’m sure a lot of grad students and former grad students have at least one story along these lines.) I don’t think it was really meant to be able to get a bit of pleasure reading material faster. (If you’re wondering why I don’t just go to the city library, well, same problem. Checked out.)
So, do I assert my priviliges and recall the books? Do I go looking at the local used book stores trying to find a copy? Or do I wait until my Audible subscription rolls around again and get the next book as audio? (I got the first book that way and Patrick Tull does a great job with the narration, but audio books are always so freaking slow. Plus, there’s a different reader for these books.)
It depends how long the books have been checked out, IMHO… sometimes university libraries let books go for entire semesters at once- if some kid checked it out two months ago and still has it, I say you’re justified in using a recall. If it’s been out for only a week, well, recalling might be a little douchey, honestly.
I’m pretty sure my University lets you check out books for as long as you want them. If the book gets requested then you have a week or so until the fines start racking up. I don’t think you have any super special grad student powers either. If I request a book as a lowly undergrad I would get it within 3 weeks.
Why not put a hold on it at the public library? When it comes back in a week or two, they’ll call you. If an item has a hold on it, it cannot usually be renewed, so you’ll probably get it pretty soon.
As a longtime fan of the series I recommend you purchase quality used copies, assuming you are really enjoying them. Many fans of the Canon reread the entire series many times (I have at least 2 dozen.) I know it’s wierd but we all do it.
Those soft cover books hold up very well to abuse.
Also check out The Gunroom and if you are really brave join the mailing list, which tops out at a hundred messages a day by a group as diverse, international and interesting as the SDMB (topics on the list long ago swayed way from purely Patrick O’Brian (POB) long ago, and are usually rated in [xx% POB] in their topics…
Won’t happen. I can read one of those things in two days, tops. Besides, as I said, even with the recall, the person with it still has three weeks before it has to get back in.
Yes, that’s what public ibraries are for – though there’s nothing wrong with using an academic library for recreational reading. And if your local public library doesn’t have the series, they should, so you could request that they buy them.
What’s the moral dilemma? Do you use a privilege meant to be used for serious research, to require someone to return a book for your leisure reading? :dubious:
That’s like asking if police officers should be able to change traffic lights, to make their drive home at night a little faster.
Wow, you’re taking that more seriously than I was expecting. Honestly, the reason I asked is because I’m not sure what would happen if I put in a request–would it get treated like a recall, would I get into the hold line, or would they ship the one other copy they’ve got more than an hour away at the Alamogordo campus? I haven’t had a chance to ask an actual person yet, so I’ve been wary of putting in a request.
For what it’s worth, grad students and professors/faculty get 120-day loans. The undergrads get 30 days. When I look and see that the book is due back at the end of April, that tells me that either a grad student or a professor has the thing out and I doubt that anyone is using a historical novel from the 1970s for research. If you can’t read a 400-page book in 4 months, you’ve got other problems. Besides, even if the request went through as a recall, the current borrower would still have three weeks before it was due back (so the middle of March instead of the end of April.)
Eat and drink too much, party with the frats, keep the book until he had so large a fine he got sent to collections, and attack the French.
You know, lots of universities provide services for students and staff that are entirely for leisure, such as athletic centers and movie nights and such. Likewise, school libraries often have popular magazines like Cosmo and People, and obviously most of those ‘Oprah’s Book Club’ books aren’t for research papers. So unless there’s something written on a website somewhere, I actually wouldn’t assume that the recall priviledge is only for academic use. Of course that’s why it was instituted in the first place, but along those lines, the swimming pool was probably built for the undergrads, doesn’t mean you can’t use it. And if the school were to start a seperate ‘DVDs and leisure reading’ library, it would probably operate more or less the same way.
Sounds like misuse of the recall privilege to me. You do not need the book. You want it. Obviously, whoever has it also wants it, and they got to the library copy first. Wait your turn, or hit the used book stores.
This is my take also. If you don’t want to buy the books, you could also put your name on the lists at the public library – they may be returned sooner than the university copies. Anyway, that would double your chances of getting the books from somewhere within 4 weeks. Also, you could ask about inter-library loans (both at the public library and at your own) – I have gotten inter-library loan books within a few days. The longest I ever had to wait for an inter-library loan book was 3-4 weeks and that was a book from the Library of Congress.
I agree with this. I once used recall privileges for a ‘pleasure reading’ book because the person who had it had already had it for 6 weeks, which was more than long enough to get through such a book. It was a popular book, and personally I think if you know you are checking out an in-demand book from any library, you should get on with reading it and return it promptly so that others may have the pleasure of reading it instead of waiting for your lazy ass finish it when you feel like it.