Hot water

Question/comment:

I don’t understand why the women’s bathroom serves hot water. Hard to wash hands!

Response:

Thanks for letting us know about this. We try to have warmer water in our restrooms to facilitate effective hand washing for flu prevention, but occasionally it gets too hot. I will let our facilities people know that the temperature should be adjusted down a bit.

Disinfecting wipes

Question/Comment:

With cold & flu season around the bend and because I am a cleanliness freak, it would be amazing if library patrons could have access to self-serve wipes or spray & towels to clean off various identified & unidentified “particles” on work surfaces throughout the library. Thank you!

Response:

Thank you for your suggestion.

Our administration takes flu prevention seriously, and have been increasing efforts to safeguard our patron’s health. As part of this, we will be adding canisters of sanitary wipes to our service desk and other strategic points around the library, so be on the look out for them. If these run out, let our desk staff know.

Dry Erase Markers

Question/Comment:

We need more erasable markers in the upstairs group rooms. Different colors also help a lot with pathways and tables. They all run out relatively fast as well. Thanks a lot. Boards have been helpful!

Response:

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We try to keep the study rooms well stocked with markers, but occasionally fall behind. More markers are on order, and will be placed in the rooms when we get them.

In addition, you can ask for additional markers at the front desk if you need them. We usually have some in our supply cabinet and are happy to give them out.

Summer Study Hall

Question/Comment:

I was sad this summer that there wasn’t any study hall! Lots of us have to take summer school classes – there is a real gap on campus in terms of late night places to study on weekends.

Response:

Thank you for the comment. Our library administrative team base our hours (including study hall hours) on gate statistics gathered by our staff; so far there has not been enough customers to justify having study hall hours over summer recess.

However, they are reassessing our policies constantly, so I will forward your suggestion to them for consideration.  In the meantime, you can use other space (such as the atrium)  in the HSLC for studying. Though it isn’t as nice and quiet as the Ebling library, seating is available, and you still have access to our wireless network.

Dirty Laptops

Question/Comment:

Most of the laptops are not as clean as they should be when we check them out. This is normal because they are used by so many people. I think it is a good idea to provide some wipes or tissue and alcohol based solution so we that we could clean them ourselves if we wish before taking them home. This will also reduce the possibility that some disease will spread by the equipment.

Response:

Thanks for the suggestion, and for offering a possible solution to our dirty laptop problem. However, cleaning the things should be our responsibility, not the customer’s. Moreover, cleaning the laptops requires some special supplies and should really be done by our own staff.

We try to keep our laptops clean, but they circulate so quickly we sometimes cannot do our best. If you find one of the laptops is dirty, let us know and we can clean it for you. This will be more important in the coming semester when we have some new, nice laptops that we want to keep looking good as long as possible.

Hot water

Suggestion/Comment:

The water in the women’s restroom (on 3rd floor) is too hot!!! Can’t tolerate.

Response:

Thanks for alerting us. I have notified the building managers that this is an issue and they are looking into it. They should adjust the water temperature to something more reasonable soon.

Weekend Hours

Suggestion/Comment:

I wish the library opened earlier on the weekends. Opening by 8 would be great year round, but especially before finals. At a minimum, could “study hall” be extended to include weekend openings from about 8-10? Us early birds need somewhere to study!

Response:

Thank you for your suggestion. This will be passed on to our Administration Team.

In the meantime, feel free to study in other parts of the HSLC in the morning before the Ebling Library opens. Though it is not quite as nice as the library proper, there is lots of seating and you will have access to the HSLC wireless network.

Trash Cans

Suggestion/Comment:

We need more (or larger) garbage and recycling bins in the library. Too much garbage overflowing, especially on weekends. Can we get recycling bins that are clearly marked, like those in the HSLC? Thanks!

Response:

Thank you for the suggestion. Our administration team is already discussing this issue with HSLC building operations, as your’s is not the first complaint we have received about this. New trash and recycling bins will be added during the summer – look for them near the Infocommons computers and next to the K-Z stacks on the third floor, among other places.

Laptop Checkout Notices

Question/Comment:

It would be nice to get a notification that a computer (laptop) was returned not just checked out.  That is the more important documentation side of things for students.

Response:

Thank you for requesting this enhancement.

Our Infocommons manager will bring this up at the next campus-wide meeting and see if this feature could be added. Doing so would be trivial, but would effect the laptop-checkout in every Infolab on campus, so it needs wider approval. One issue could be that we will be “spamming” our users with extra email, something we try to avoid. If they manage to reach a consensus on this, expect to see this show up in mid-May (when the meeting is).

In the meantime, if you have an issue with returning a laptop, don’t hesitate to contact our Infocommons manager, Adrian Gay (adriang at wisc.edu). He can answer any laptop related concerns you may have.

iTunes

Question/Comment:

Please get iTunes updated on computers. Every time I need to load lectures onto iPod I have to download/install a new version.

Response:

Our version of  iTunes was once up to date, but we had to revert to an older disk image due to a printing problem. When the printing issue is resolved we will be able to update iTunes on our computers.

However, old versions of iTunes will work fine for most purposes (including interfacing with iPods). When iTunes asks you to upgrade, you can hit cancel and use the old version. If you encounter a serious compatibility issue with your iPod, talk with Adrian Gay, our Infocommons supervisor.