RE: Urggg! A patron review of the III patron authentication screen...

["Mann, James H." <JMann@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Corey
Thank you.
I've just spent my morning explaining to patrons why their browser
security settings are too high, why we require three forms of
authentication, why re_verify just stopped working for no good reason,
and what "request multi" really means.
This has been a interesting and now entertaining thread.

Jim Mann
GCPL
Xenia

-----Original Message-----
From: Seeman, Corey Glenn [mailto:CSeeman@xxxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Friday, September 19, 2003 12:46 PM
To: innopac@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: Urggg! A patron review of the III patron authentication
screen...

Jon -- I feel your pain.  

I had a circulation student at one of our locations say that he was
going to design a better system since ours is no good.  (Funny, I have
not heard back yet).  I also had someone come in once with the answers
to all of Innovative's issues.  

In many regards, the patron has very good ideas and suggestions for
moving the system forward.  In my communication-based presentations on
living with your INNOPAC, I have talked about the need to be responsive
to what people are saying and asking for.  Sometimes this is an
opportunity for considering what you are offering the public,  but in
some cases, involves additionally purchases or changes to the software.
In addressing your patron's points, he might not be too far off the
mark.   Joe Reimers and Martha Driscoll brought up the good points about
the system changes, but may be moot if you do not have e-mail circ
noticed. 

I very much want to hear from our patrons and staff who want to stretch
the system past our current use.  Typically, people come from a much
nicer and kinder position and do not put the systems coordinator on the
defensive right off the bat.  Certainly this makes it much easier and
more enjoyable to make the modifications to the system. 

For people who approach this as your writer did, I must refer to one of
the all-time classic movie moments.  In this exchange early in "Annie
Hall", by Woody Allen (I think I used his Catskill's joke in a previous
posting), Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) is in line at the movies in front of
a guy who is pontificating about the media:  

Alvy Singer (Stepping out of line): What do you do when you get stuck in
a movie line with a guy like this behind you? I mean, it's just
madening!

Man in Line: Wait a minute, why can't I give my opinion?  It's a free
country!

Alvy: I mean, d- He can give you-  Do you hafta give it so loud?  I
mean, aren't you ashamed to pontificate like that?  And-and the funny
part of it is, Mashall McLuhan, you don't know anything about Marshall
McLuhan's work!

Man: Wait a minute!  Really? Really? I happen to teach a class at
Columbia called "TV Media and Culture"! So I think that my insights into
Mr. McLuhan-well, have a great deal of validity.

Alvy: Oh, do yuh?

Man: Yes.

Alvy: Well, that's funny, because I happen to have Mr. McLuhan right
here.  So...so, here, just let me-I mean, all right.  Come over here...a
second.

Man: Oh.

Alvy (To McLuhan): Tell him.

Marshall McLuhan (Played by himself): I hear-I heard what you were
saying.  You-you know nothing of my work.  You mean, my whole fallacy is
wrong.  How you ever got to teach a course in anything is totally
amazing.

Alvy: Boy, if life were only like this!

--end--

Maybe that wasn't the best way to spend the last ten minutes, but it is
one of those great moments of the silver screen that just works for
people like this.

Have a great weekend 

Best -- Corey

Corey Seeman
Assistant Dean for Resource & Systems Management
Assistant Professor, University Libraries
Carlson Library
Mailstop #509 
University of Toledo
2801 W. Bancroft
Toledo, OH 43606

---------------
corey.seeman@xxxxxxxxxx 
419.530.2333 (phone)
419.530-2403 (fax)
http://library.utoledo.edu
http://library.utoledo.edu/userhomes/cseeman/

-----Original Message-----
From: Jonathan Jiras [mailto:jjjwml@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, September 19, 2003 10:21 AM
To: innopac@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Urggg! A patron review of the III patron authentication
screen...


Hello Innopacers:

Here's an email I thought I would share with all of you that we received
from an Information Technology professor informing us that he has placed
our catalog's hold/renew books feature in his "hall of shame".  Some of
what he says here is just misinformed, but what is really annoying about
all this is that it shows that people assume the patron
authentication/request features we designed and programmed and are
things over which we have total control.

It's so frustrating!

Jon Jiras
Library Software Specialist
Wallace Library
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, NY 14623
585-475-7737
jjjwml@xxxxxxxxxx

[snip]
I'm teaching Human Factors this semester in IT, so I'm very attuned to
web design issues right now.  But these would get my attention in any
case.  I hope you find these suggestions helpful.
 
1)  The request/hold system has all the information it needs to email
users when a requested book comes in.  Daily checks are a great job for
a system and a crummy job for a machine.
 
The system requires users to login again (and again) for each inquiry
even within a session.  Furthermore the login is more complicated than
most (name, AND ID, and password) even though little if any extra
security is gained by asking for last name.
 
I actually wrote this up for a classroom "Hall of Shame" entry, so I
share it with you here.
 
Wally is a powerful system and I appreciate it.  These things are hard.
If you'd be interested in having my students perform a general
evaluation and make reccomendations, I'd be happy to discuss this.
 
Best wishes,
[snip] (name withheld)

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