You might want to fix some of the internet connection jacks in Lilly – there are about 2 that are still in working condition and located near any kind of desk. This is unacceptable. Students should be able to sit down at any desk that has a connection next to it and actually use the internet. Thank you.

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: It would be nice if AP had an Internet connect at AP’s desk . . . whoops, I do. In a perfect world all Lilly Library network ports would work, and in AP’s continuing commitment to achieving perfection, I will pass on your comment. By the way, did you mention the problem to the friendly staff at the Lilly help desk?

I have a link suggestion that might be good for the reference section on your site.

http://www.kplay.cc/reference.html

What it does is make it simple to use different reference works on the Web.

best,
Matt

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: If you make it too easy to find the answers, then where will I be? Still, not every information need requires the superior skills of AP, so maybe something like this (hopefully, without ad pop ups) would be nice. AP will pass it on to the Reference Department.

I really need to download the article from your publication on the NC ECHO project. Can one print an article from your magazine website. Or is there another way to get the article from the internet. Need a hard copy of it very quickly.

Thanks in advance for a quick answer.

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: The DULM is available online at http://magazine.lib.duke.edu/. Click on “Back Issues.” Go to the “Fall 2001” link. Click on “Contents” and then click on “North Carolina Echo.” You can then read and print the article (page by page).
Hope this helps–and that it was quick enough!

Dear Answer Person,
I recently spoke to a professor who discovered your sampler online. She had so much fun with it that she could not stop and do her work. Now she is going to give her students the URL as a reward at the end of class. Do you think she has a problem that needs professional attention?

Perplexed in Perkins

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Dear Perplexed in Perkins:

She apparently did stop to do her work. She made it to class. She recognized that her students deserved a reward. The other good news is that she will get through the sampler, additions will appear at a moderate pace, and she can resume her normal work patterns — in a more enlightened and informed state.

What did college kids do at night when pizza was not yet available for delivery?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: It has been a long time since Answer Person was in college, but even though we had no personal computers, Internet, cable TV or video games, we had pizza delivery. What the even older people (I think they were all faculty complaining about how tough it was in their day) said is they had to cook their own food, after chopping the wood and dragging it through the snow, uphill, in winter. With so few entertaining distractions, they claimed they studied much harder than we did, and were much smarter and knowledgeable. AP vowed never to pass on the same kinds of judgments to offspring and later generations of children, but . . . if you only knew what it was like when we had no personal computers, Internet, cable TV or video games!

Why are so many barns red?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Answer Person is a little rusty on farm history, but, apparently, so were many early, frugal farmers. Sara Begg’s “Why Are Barns Red?” in the March 2000 issue of COUNTRY JOURNAL concurs with many other sources. She wrote that a “primary component of red paint is ferrous oxide (rust), a plentiful ingredient that made red paint very inexpensive . . . [and that an] especially thrifty farmer could even mix stock blood with milk and achieve the same effect.” She also points to other theories, such as Scandinavian farmers simulating the wealth indicated by red brick barns.

Each month I go to the Current Contents web site to check the contents of about 15-20 journals. Because searches cannot be saved, I have to enter the list of journals every time, which is a nuisance and takes valuable time. Could we alter our subscription so that we can save searches?

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Actually, you can save your search strategy; when you have finished all your searches go back to the main and click on the “Save Search History” button. Unless you are a Duke faculty member or graduate student, and have an Ovid Database Account, you are limited to 24 hour saves; with the account you become much more empowered. You can get more information at the Medical Center Library’s “Ovid Database Account” page: www.mclibrary.duke.edu/respub/guides/ovidaccount.html.

One of the comments from Duke Police after the recent attacks in university bathrooms was “keep bathroom doors locked.” Clearly this remark was primarily concerned with dorm bathrooms. But the single-stall bathrooms abutting the far stairwell on the Perkins floors do not have locks, and it would be a good idea if they did.

The locks could be of the kind used in the ground-floor men’s restroom just off the connecting hallway under the Perk: The lock automatically opens if the handle is turned from the inside, but if the lock is closed, the door is locked from without.

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: A good suggestion. So says our building manager. Thanx.

There are about four fluorescent light fixtures burned out in the central study area on the fourth floor (where the couches, etc., are).

In addition, more than half of the lights are out on the fourth-floor landing in the main staircase. It is very gloomy there. Several of the light covers are missing–might be vandalism.

Some of the lights are out on the third-floor landing as well.

The lights out in the stairwell do not improve morale in the wake of an attack in the library–I’ve seen several people looking pretty nervous on 4.

Also, it would be nice if there were an obvious place on the web page to bring maintenance issues to the attention of the library. There doesn’t seem to be.

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: The lights have been taken care of. Also, the web page notice/form for reporting problems is a great idea. Thanx again.

Have you considered subscribing to Current Contents “on-line” service? I realize that you have access to this service through a single terminal in Perkins, but many of my students have complained that the terminal is often busy (or they simply have not managed to find it!). As a graduate student at UC Davis I was able to use the on-line service via the University of California “Melvyl” System (and thus from any computer hooked up to the net). The service is much more convenient than the CD-Rom towers and is kept more up to date. Of particular use was being able to conduct a single search that goes back at least 7 years. Another useful feature was that I could receive weekly updates on journal articles with chosen key words. The list was sent directly to my own e-mail account. (note that access to the UC Current Contents account requires a password and thus is not open to non-uc affiliates).

I realize it is a costly service, but I would recommend it nonetheless!

Thank you for your time, Leslie Digby, PhD Assistant Research Professor Biological Anthropology & Anatomy Duke University Box 90383 660-7398 e-mail: ldigby@acpub.duke.edu

ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: