HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
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Date:         Fri, 20 Nov 1992 15:10:36 HST
              <CIRCPLUS@IDBSU.BITNET>
From:         "Susan Murata" <SMURATA@UHUNIX.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: courtesy hold shelf

We do have a Hold Shelf located next to the Circ desk where users may put
their books if they forgot their card.  The books can be left for two days;
so a staff member clears these daily.  Periodicals, Library Use Only or short
term loan items may not be left on this shelf/table.

We do not issue temp cards to students who have forgotten theirs, but we do
allow them to borrow if they have their proof of registration for the
semester with their registration receipt and a photo ID.

Susan Murata
University of Hawaii
From: LGERSITZ@FULLERTON.EDU
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Date: 18 Nov 92 22:17:59 GMT
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We are going to be undergoing a library expansion project in the near future
and part of our plan calls for compact, high density shelving.  I would
appreciate any useful information on compact shelving.  The compact shelves
will be in a non-public area and the materials housed there will be paged by
library staff.  What type of compact shelves are you currently using?  Are you
happy with them?  Are they easy to use?  What are the costs involved?  What
guidelines did you use in your selection process?  Thank you for your
 responses,either directly to me or to the list.

Lorraine Gersitz
Access Services Coordinator
CSU - Fullerton
lgersitz@fullerton.edu
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Date:         Mon, 23 Nov 1992 08:45:12 +1100
              <CIRCPLUS@IDBSU.BITNET>
From:         Marian Desaxe <mariand@EXTRO.UCC.SU.OZ.AU>
Subject:      Designing a new Circ Desk

Our library was asked to design a new Circulation Desk, without warning,
by the University, who intend to refloor the entrance to the library.

We issue and discharge half a million items annually from this service
point so it is crucial that we get the design right.

I'd be interested in others' experiences particularly with respect to the
ergonomics of desk design (eg height of desk, width, length per issue
point etc). I am especially interested in how you arrange discharge points
to cater for half a million returns. Do you have issue and discharge
physically separate? Do you have the same staff rostered to issue and
discharge? Do staff sit or stand when they discharge? Do they wheel dump
bins to a discharge point? Do they open items before discharging?

I have searched the literature for relevant material but little has been
written. Any references?

Marian De Saxe
Circulation Librarian
University of Sydney Library
Sydney, Australia
mariand@extro.ucc.su.oz.au
From: wilsond@LIB.UCSF.EDU (Danny Wilson)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.circplus
Subject: (no subject given)
Date: 18 Nov 92 17:34:39 GMT
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Newsgroups: bit.listserv.circplus
Date:         Fri, 20 Nov 1992 08:33:00 PST
              <CIRCPLUS@IDBSU.BITNET>
From:         Valerie Rom-Hawkins <ECZ5STX@UCLAMVS.BITNET>
Subject: Re: courtesy hold shelf

> >From: Luisa Orlando, LAII McHenry Circ. UC Santa Cruz
> >
> >Hello, I'm curious if any of you have "courtesy hold shelves" in your library
.
> >How does yours work? What will you accept?
>

At UCLA Research Library, if you forget your card, we will put
your books on hold for two days.



> If students have left their card at home and need to use Reserve Collection
>  they are given a note signed by the Loan Services Supervisor which allows
> them use of the Reserve Collection for that day only. We do not have any
> formally printed cards etc in order to impress on them that this is very
> much an exception to the rules and is not encouraged.
>


If a student needed some type of card for reading Reserve
material, we would issue a Reference card.  Reference cards are
designed to be used by those who desire on-site access to closed
stacks material only, do not want or cannot afford to buy a
borrowing card.  Reference cards were origianlly intended for
non-students, but they have come in handy as a stand-in for a
regular library card.
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Date:         Thu, 19 Nov 1992 15:32:04 CST
              <CIRCPLUS@IDBSU.BITNET>
From:         kendall <KSIMMONS%UKANVM.bitnet@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject:      emergency questionnaire

We're getting ready to present the draft of our revised lending code to library
 staff.  I am so sick of looking at other libraries' lending codes it isn't
funny ( as well you can imagine).  One problem I keep running up against is tha
t not all codes list all the information I need.  It may be because it doesn't
apply, but I can't tell from the codes.

At any rate, would you-all please answer some questions for me a.s.a.p.  I
know this is late to ask, but I'm working on writing stuff from which to
make transparencies for this Monday meeting.

Anway,  1) if you charge courtesy borrowers, how much do you charge them for
borrowing privileges; 2) what is your hourly, daily and maximum reserve fine;
3) what is your hourly, daily, and maximum short-term fine (assuming you cir-
culate periodicals...if you don't, please let me know; 4) what is your hourly,
daily, and maximum recall fine; 5) how many recall notices do you send out,
assuming you send them out (if you simply allow holds to be placed, please let
me know that); 6) once a recall has been placed, do you send the recall
notice out immediately or wait until a certain time has passed.

I think that's all I HAVE to know, although there's a lot of other information
I'm working on.

Don't worry about repeating my questions back to me.  I've got a copy and
#1-6 will be fine.  I wish I had known I'd need more answers than I can
figure out sooner so as not to try to hurry you, but I'd REALLY appreciate
info a.s.a.p....and you folk are great about that.

Many thanks,

Kendall
ksimmons@ukanvm

P.S.  BYU - I only got a copy of your faculty code...what are the loan period
and fines for students and community borrowers. Help.

And DUKE, I didn't get a listing of ANY charges.  Double help.
From: v462etnn@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (David L Anderson)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.circplus
Subject: Re: Disassembling reserve materials
Date: 23 Nov 92 20:05:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <JENSEN.921119164432@portland.maine.EDU>, JENSEN@PORTLAND.BITNET (Louise Jensen) writes...
>This may sound stupid, but what about one staple in the far corner of
>the material.  The students can still copy but do not have to take it
>apart (unless you have a document feeder) in which case I'd be
>interested in hearing the response.
> 

Well, in our little corner of the world, the students are a bit
more, well just more.

I've learned to take a strip of 1 1/2" wide clear tape, fold it
over an edge, staple through it, then fold another piece of
tape over it.  Prevents 'em from removing that staple!

David Anderson
Circulation Lib.
Medaille College Library
Buffalo, NY
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Date:         Fri, 20 Nov 1992 17:29:45 U
              <CIRCPLUS@IDBSU.BITNET>
From:         Joanne Leary <joanne_leary@QMRELAY.MAIL.CORNELL.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Mending of library mater

        Reply to:   RE>Mending of library material
Casey -
At Cornell, there is a central preservation unit to handle book repairs and
other (more involved/serious) conservation problems.  Book repair, in general,
is NOT something that can or should be left in the lap of random troll... even
at a minimal level, there is a lot of judgment involved, manual dexterity, good
eyesight, etc.  It is possible to irrevocably ruin a book by a poorly done, or
even inappropriate repair.  We used to do terrible things to our books, out of
ignorance and the need for a quick fix (lotsa thick tape everywhere, slathers
of glue).  Sounds like you're in the same boat we were in.

If the funds are not available to set up even a very small-scale operation (and
you would of course need to get help from experts who knew what they were
doing), then I would be inclined to leave it alone entirely, until such time as
somebody somewhere allocates the cash to get you what you  need.  It sounds
like your repair operation (as it currently exists) is not answering any
problem: the books are piling up, frustrating the staff; the repaired books are
not passing inspection, making the whole operation futile.

About five years ago, we at Engineering were fortunate enough to set up an
in-house book repair unit (as an adjunct of circulation), separate from the
system-wide central preservation unit.  One of our staff members, who was
interested in book repair, was initially trained by experts from the central
unit, and that staff member has trained others in the work (we hire one 10-hour
per week student, and are beginning training with another regular staff member
who has expressed interest).  The vast majority of the repairs are done by the
student worker, and he does a *really* fine job.  I have calculated that our
in-house repair expense for last semester was something like $1.30 per book,
which is not bad.  If you can find a good student worker, as we have, then
you're on velvet.  Turnaround time is usually a few days; high-priority rush
repairs can be done the same day, and are usually ready to use with a few
hours.  There is seldom a backlog, except during the summer and over January
intersession.

Books to be repaired come almost entirely from circulation returns.  Some  are
identified by student shelvers who spot a book in obvious need of help on a
shelf, but these get lower priority.  Since books that have circulated are very
likely to circulate again, it is worth making the investment to repair them.
They form the most valuable component of your collection, and represent the
books you can least afford to lose.

Good luck.

Joanne Leary
Cornell Engineering Library
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Newsgroups: bit.listserv.circplus
Date:         Fri, 20 Nov 1992 10:29:34 +0800
              <CIRCPLUS@IDBSU.BITNET>
From:         Helen Wallace <hwallace@UNIWA.UWA.EDU.AU>
Subject:      Re: courtesy hold shelf

>From: Luisa Orlando, LAII McHenry Circ. UC Santa Cruz
>
>Hello, I'm curious if any of you have "courtesy hold shelves" in your library.
>How does yours work? What will you accept?
>
>We do have a "Hold shelf" for occasions which the borrower could not have been
 expected to foresee and which prevent them borrowing. Our limit for Hold items
 is also 24 hours.

If students have left their card at home and need to use Reserve Collection
 they are given a note signed by the Loan Services Supervisor which allows
them use of the Reserve Collection for that day only. We do not have any
formally printed cards etc in order to impress on them that this is very
much an exception to the rules and is not encouraged.

Helen Wallace
============================================================
Helen Wallace                          Phone : (09) 380 2338
Acting Humanities Librarian
Reid Library
The University of Western Australia
NEDLANDS  WA  6009                  hwallace@uniwa.uwa.edu.au
============================================================
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Date:         Fri, 20 Nov 1992 09:09:00 EST
              <CIRCPLUS@IDBSU.BITNET>
From:         "A.ANGELO" <ANGELO@TRINCC2.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: emergency questionnaire

#1- $50.00 #2 10 cents/minute to a $50 maximum #3don't circulate #4 $1/day to a
   $50 max #5 l recall #6 recall notice mailed day after processed
Alice Angelo
Trinity College Library
300 Summit St.
Hartford CT 06106
alice.angelo@mail.trincoll.edu
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Date:         Thu, 19 Nov 1992 07:24:41 MST
              <CIRCPLUS@IDBSU.BITNET>
From:         ICMENU <IACVRS@ASUACAD.BITNET>
Subject:      compact shelving

At Arizona State University we opened a new addition in January 1989 that
contains over 100,000 volumes of bound periodicals on compact shelving.
We love it as it uses so much less space!!!  We are using Spacesaver
equipment.  OUr installation is in a public access area (journals floor),
and the users are expected to operate the compact shelving themselves.
Our compact shelving is electric and we have safety floors, safety sweeps
and safety bar on top (we were nervous about crushing folks!)
We shelve all periodicals prior to 1970 in the compact....the rest is
in the regular shelving on the same floor.  We have had very few mechanical
problems..no motor problems, just occasional times when the springs for the
safety floor stick and the equipment won't move since it "thinks" someone or
something is on the floor.  Our Music Library has just added some compact
shelving for their records.  Theirs is a manual system, but also in an
open access area.
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Newsgroups: bit.listserv.csg-l
Date:         Sun, 22 Nov 1992 16:30:00 GMT
From:         Henry James Bicycles Inc <0005096370@MCIMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Fowl Language, Foul language

[From Hank Folson (921122)]

From the Los Angeles Times, November 18, 1992: A researcher, Irene
Pepperberg of the U. of Arizona has been teaching an African Grey parrot
named Alex how to talk (i.e. communicate, not just mimic) for 15 years. The
bird has a 90 word vocabulary and can label items by color, shape &
material. When Alex compares 2 items, he can tell which is larger, and what
attribute is the same or different.

Pepperberg teaches Alex the way she thinks the birds learn in the wild:
While Alex watches, she teaches another person, rewarding or scolding them
as they learn the new word. The process is then repeated directly with Alex.
As a reward to reinforce (their word, not mine) the meaning, Alex is not
given food, but is given the object he identifies to play with.

There may be a lot of language basics available from this research. Too bad
they aren't using PCT as there are obvious connections and both the
researcher & the bird could learn more.
--------------------
Students of Language:

In a recent post on language, I noticed something missing from the post and
the replies: No one said or asked what the speaker and listener were
controlling for. What is even stranger to me is that the language posts in
general, while clearly concerned about applying PCT principles to language,
often approach the example sentences from the point of view of stimulus-
response observers who are observing and completely accepting the behavior
of the speaker and listener. Is there ever any discussion of the controlled
variable(s)? Doesn't most of the discussion of these linguistic examples
evaporate when you consider what the speaker is controlling for? The
statements then usually make perfect sense as controlling actions, even
though the language structure may leave a lot to be desired.
-----------
Mary Powers(921116):

Thank you for the excellent capsule summary of PCT research. It was so good
I must remind the 'net that this was a test of a list of questions based on
PCT principles to make it easier to initially evaluate theories. Any of you
interested in PCT applications, please type up if you have a refinement or
replacement for the list.
---------------------------
Best, Hank Folson

Henry James Bicycles, Inc.         704 Elvira Avenue, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
310-540-1552 (Day & Evening) MCI MAIL: 509-6370 Internet: 5096370@MCIMAIL.COM
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Date:         Wed, 18 Nov 1992 14:29:49 EST
From:         Avery Andrews <andaling@FAC.ANU.EDU.AU>
Subject:      Re: Modeling and linguistics

[Avery Andrews (921118.1430)]
(Bill Powers (921116.1400))

 >The least ambiguous way to do this, it seems to me, is to translate the
 >text into an image, which you can then compare with the actual perceived
 >images. When I hear "large tree at the top of a hill next to the path" I
 >construct something like an imagined top of a hill with an imagined big
 >tree next to the path.

This won't work, because images have the wrong kind of information in them.
A classical example from  philosophy:  an image of a triangle has to
either be isoceles or not isoceles, but the concept triangle is neither.
It's got to be something that subsumes both.  Or another example, an
image of Ronald Reagan on a horse, unobscured, will have the horse
white or not white, Reagan with or without a hat, etc., while if I
say `walk down the corridor until you get to the picture of RR on a
horse', neither of these attributes matters.

It is indeed something of a mystery how anything can translate between
images and the `concepts' that we like to represent as propositions in
logic, but that mystery has got to be solved anyway, & once it is, this
solution could be used to build a concept-to-image comparator.

On the other hand, thinking about this stuff, it does strike me as quite
plausible that one's interpretation of instructions could be quite
strongly influenced by images formed at the time they were heard, so that
what one did on the basis of a given set of instructions would be based on
a confused mixture of what was remembered of the text, & of images & maybe
other constructions formed on the basis of the text when it was heard.
This looks like a possible subject for experimentation - I wouldn't be
at all surprised if work had already been done on it.

Sorry to have to be brief, but busy day today.

Avery.Andrews@anu.edu.au
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Date:         Sun, 22 Nov 1992 13:44:09 EST
From:         Martin Taylor <mmt@BEN.DCIEM.DND.CA>
Subject: Re: Complex perceptions

[Martin Taylor 921122 13:40]
(Bill Powers  921120.1300)

Bill,
One of us is missing, badly, a point the other is trying to make.  Everything
in your posting seems crystal clear to me, up to the point where you say:

>I think that the idea of complex perceptions, vectors that have
>meaning in themselves, is a vestige of an older way of modeling
>behavior based on a realist epistemology. We certainly experience
>multiplicity of perceptions. But until we form the right perceptual
>functions at a higher level, we do not perceive pattern in them, and
>none of the implicit patterns, infinite in number, has any effect.

If you are talking about "meaning in themselves" from the viewpoint of
the person in whom the vector of perceptual signals exists, I quite agree.
But remember that, right at the beginning of this discussion, we stipulated
that the meaning of the vector is in the mind of the analyst, not of the
perceiver.

I'm afraid I can't continue this here.  I am spending more time editing
out bad characters on the line than on the text I want to send.  I'll send
the rest when I get back to work.

Sorry.

Martin
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Date:         Wed, 18 Nov 1992 12:38:48 EST
From:         "Bruce E. Nevin" <bnevin@CCB.BBN.COM>
Subject:      patter

[From: Bruce Nevin (Wed 921118 12:07:22)]

(penni sibun 921113.1300) --

You described two situations, which you subsequently
characterized as party patter and as flirting.  You said that in
party patter, little information was communicated though language
was much used, and in flirting much information was communicated
though language was little used.

My response was that in the party patter in fact considerable
linguistic information is in the language used, but that it is
not information that the participants care much about; and in the
flirtation little information is in fact transmitted, however
much is imagined, and that the most important thing communicated
is interest in and availability for negotiating mutual agreements
that have a more explicit foundation.

>in my description of flirting, i gave specific instances of
>information being conveyed (eg, ``i like it when you do that'').

You are imagining that you have conveyed the information that is
in the sentence "I like it when you do that." He may very well be
imagining something else, such as "she thought that was funny".
Over time you can rule out a general emotional tone in what he is
imagining (e.g. if he were imagining "she's making fun of me
again" the flirtation would soon come to an end), and you can
assume the general tone of "I'm enjoying your company", but
probably nothing even as specific as your really rather vague "I
like it when you do that" (e.g. doing it again would be boring on
the second or third iteration and repulsive soon after).  Even
the more specific "I liked it when you just did that" has this
problem.

There is information here, to be sure, but it is information
about relationship of the same sort that all mammals communicate
nonverbally.  Nonverbal, gestural communication is more reliable
than language in its proper domain, relationships and attitudes,
but the kinds of information that are constituted in utterances
are quite beyond its capacities.  Conversely, this is why
language is good for error-free transmission of linguistic
information, but not particularly good for communication, in the
sense of communication that happens in flirtation and is
restrained in party patter.

        Bruce
        bn@bbn.com
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Date:         Sun, 22 Nov 1992 11:06:56 EST
From:         Avery Andrews <andaling@FAC.ANU.EDU.AU>
Subject:      pain & reorganization

[Avery Andrews 921122.1102]
 (Bill Powers (921120.0830))

 >You're reinventing S-R theory. Your proposal is essentially how neural
 >network people are trying to use neural nets -- to connect inputs to

I don't think so (and neither, it seems does Martin Taylor, who thinks
I'm reinventing reortanization of perceptual input functions).


 >The catch in this is "in such a way as to typically induce behavior that
 >will alter the sense-vector" [in the right direction and by the right

Well, there is a bit of a catch there, but I think you've already come
up with two ideas that would work some of the time.  For an e-coli
type creature, having the fear wire make a positive contribution to the
tumble rate.  For more complicated critters, the fear wire might make
a positive contribution to the reorganization rate.  There are doubtless
other possibilities, but either of these ought to tend to keep the
critter out of circumstances like those in which the pain wire fired.

Perhaps the idea could be described as one of ceating `derived intrinsic
(negative, in this case) reference levels.  Or have I missed something,
and am sitting somewhere way out in left field?



 (Martin Taylor 921120 11:30)


 >This looks to me so much like Bill's reorganization of the perceptual
 >input function that I can't tell the difference.  I had originally thought

It would be, I think, that what I'm suggesting is a sort of one-shot
`freezing' operation, which could be used to drive reorganization, &
perhaps in other ways.


Avery.Andrews@anu.edu.au