14 Days to have your say

research needs to be more user friendly. Yes, the librarians point you in the right direction. but there are not enough librarians who know research resources. Theres like 3. The website homepage is freaking confusing. JSTOR, America: History and Life, etc should not be so hard to find. I am a senior and It was not until earlier this year that I knew all the resources that were in there. I still have trouble remembering where I found some of those things. Basically, the homepage is a big clutter of confusing links which may or may not take you where you want to go.

Perhaps there should be a required (like English 101, or a GUR) class for the library. Nothing too complicated, but it should include a physical tour of the library (e.g. distinguish between the Haggard and Wilson buildings), a lesson on how the LC call numbers work, and basic searches in the library catalog (e.g. how to find books, reference material, movies, journal articles etc.) It could explain Summit and ILLiad and the differences between the two. It could explain the print stations for the computers and the uses for the Western card (for check-out and as a copy card).

Maps available with every level and area. I had no idea how to get to Haggard 3W to find a book one day and got totally lost.

also, maybe sending out email reminders a day before a book is due... automated so someone doesn't have that as a job (could be extremely boring) or a way to check on a status of a book we have checked out online. I have a hard time remembering when all my books are due and I seem to lose the slips of paper easily.

Blogging is easy and should be a fully integrated feature 365 days a year. Posting on blogs through MyWestern makes students have a greater voice in the library and school. Simply posting comments is outdated.

I would suggest keeping the blog and making the interface look a little bit friendlier (add fonts, change the title picture to something that resembles WWU, change background to school colors, etc).