Suggestion Box Responses

13 February 2012
Suggestion Box comment
I have noticed that the library's subscription to the German language magazine, Der Spiegel, has ended after the last issue of December 2011. However, the subscriptions of the German magazines Focus and Stern are still active. It seems strange that Der Spiegel would be chosen out of these three to be eliminated. Der Spiegel has the best international and German domestic reputation in this group with Focus considered its only competitor in Germany. Stern has a shaky reputation and lacks the academic writing style and detail Focus and Der Spiegel provide. These magazines are all valuable to those taking German language courses in terms of international awareness of one of our most important allies and language practice. The library maintains bound editions of Der Spiegel from 1965 until Dec 2011 and it would be unfortunate if this collection stopped growing. The content available from lexis nexis is without graphics and does not make for an attractive consumption medium! . ! Please bring back the foremost in German magazines. Thank you.
The Library once again subscribes to Der Spiegel and we should be receiving issues soon.
06 February 2012
Suggestion Box comment
Nimitz should begin lending ebooks so people can use their Kindle's and other devices to read. Many public libraries render this service. It is the future!
Midshipman –

Thanks very much for your suggestion posted on the Nimitz Library’s web site:

Nimitz should begin lending ebooks so people can use their Kindle's and other devices to read. Many public libraries render this service. It is the future!

Nimitz Library does provide this service for books from the Ebrary Ebook Collection. Items may be downloaded using Adobe Digital Editions (freely available at http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/) and will be available on most devices, except the Kindle. To download items from Ebrary, an account must first be created.

Additional information on downloadable ebooks may be found at on the Ebooks/Audiobooks library guide at: http://libguides.usna.edu/content.php?pid=134874&sid=1445112#8038324.
We hope to have this option available for other collections in the near future.

You will note that the majority of these titles are academic in nature to support the Academy’s curriculum. We have received other suggestions to loan ebooks via Kindle or Barnes & Noble Nook, which we are investigating. These types of vendor-specific platforms present challenges for Libraries, especially in a government environment. Amazon and Barnes & Noble are both very proprietary about books for their devices, only allowing titles purchased from them to be used. This severely limits libraries from providing access to materials to a wide audience. We are learning from other libraries experience in this area.

We regularly consider ways in which to provide more electronic content, and will continue to do so, as it is the future.
23 February 2011
Suggestion Box comment
One of the other options for changing printing in the library for the better would be to take those boxes of unclaimed printing and set up a recycled paper printing station. Many midshipmen print things for projects and papers, but they also print things for their notes so having a random other persons aborted print job on the other side of the paper would not bother them and would increase the paper efficiency of the library.
Recycling paper is very worthwhile suggestion and one we have discussed. We're concerned that the printer would jam frequently, so we'll need to test that theory.
22 February 2011
Suggestion Box comment
Add a link directly on the home page for IEEE xplore. It takes forever to navigate the site and find it.
"Electronic Resources & Databases" is one click away from the main page and IEEE is listed alphabetically. We realize that this may be one too many clicks, so we'll add IEEE Xplore to the "Quick Picks" on that same page.
16 February 2011
Suggestion Box comment

I am a midshipman 4/C who is concerned about the recent paper shortage in Nimitz and would like to provide some proposals that may spur a realistic and adequate solution.

I learned recently that 350,000 pages were printed in Nimitz library in one month, and demand is going up. These "printing stations" are a nuisance, so we must either meet demand or curb demand.

Option #1:
Meet the Rising Demand: "Printer Usage Tax"
Small paycheck deduction of $3 per midshipman monthly paycheck.

If the Academy deducts $3 from each MIDN's monthly pay:
4,500 midshipmen x $3 = $13,500 in supplemental revenue for Nimitz Average cost of 500 sheets of printer paper = $10 $13,500/$10 x 500 sheets = 675,000 additional pages that Nimitz can buy every month, on top of the already-allotted printer budget.

And, most MIDN would not notice nor mind giving up $3 extra per month if it means open printing.

Option #2: Curb the Rising Demand
Impose Regulations on Printing

Set up a system that requires a name and password every time a MIDN prints.
Each MIDN is alloted x pages that they are allowed to print per month.
Once they print their allotted amount, they cannot print anymore.

These are just some suggestions. I will be happy to help shape any future suggestions or decisions if at all possible.

Thank you.

Thanks very much for your helpful suggestions. We are investigating the installation of a print management system which would encourage more responsible printing and reduce waste (i.e., unclaimed print jobs). I will keep your contact information at hand, and I may be contacting you sometime to assist with any changes. – Patti Patterson, Interim Library Director
15 February 2011
Suggestion Box comment
Although changing the printing policy may be needed and necessary due to paper shortages, I believe that there should have been some sort of notice to Midshipmen that the change was coming. This would have allowed for Midshipmen to plan on the delays of waiting for the printing station to be available and eliminated most of the confusion that was witnessed in the library today about the new policy. Thank you for your consideration.
I appreciate your well-worded feedback and your understanding about our change in policy.  I also apologize for the abruptness that this change was put in effect.  Ideally, notification would have been sent out prior to the change, but that wasn't possible.  We are exploring numerous options for how to provide some printing service, while maintaining some control over rising costs.  I will attempt to better communicate changes in the future. --Patti Patterson, Interim Library Director
22 January 2011
Suggestion Box comment
I'd like to see a box for the catalog alone on the home page like the new one for Nimitz Navigator, especially as Nimitz Navigator doesn't seem to work for me when I am using vpn off the yard.
In the past, we used to have a quick search box for the catalog, but when we launched the Nimitz Navigator we thought this might be confusing.   Instead, we left the two other links to the catalog on the main page: one under "Research Tools" and the other on the menu bar.  They both should be accessible to anyone regardless of whether they are using VPN.