Printing at Parkway Campus

Comment from a Wascana Student: Is there a printer that can be used at Parkway? This needs to be provided as it’s not practical to be running over to the main Wascana campus.

The printer at Parkway is located by the computer cubby on the main floor. You can use your PaperCut account to print to it and load money on your account at the main library or on Monday and Wednesday between 11:45-1:15pm in Parkway room 108. Although the printing money is administered by the library, the printer is owned by NEPS, so if there are ever any issues with it or it needs paper, you can consult the NEPS office on the 2nd floor.

Robin Canham
Wascana Campus Library

Student Phone in the Wascana Library

Comments: “Can we have a student phone, that doesn’t cost $$, that you don’t feel bad for asking??” and “Student phone free”.

This is a good suggestion and with the new VOIP phones at SIAST the cost to have such a phone would be minimal.  I have passed your suggestion along to the Student Association for their consideration!

Robin Canham
Librarian, Wascana Campus Library

Double Sided Printing

Comment from a Wascana Student: You have got to let people know about the option of printing on both sides in your computer labs (under properties, then finishing in the print screen). I went a whole year printing on only one side! It saves paper and we have twice as much room in our binders.  And can you update the ones in the main area so they have this option? Make this info part of your library orientations and presentations!

Thanks for your comments, it’s great that you are thinking about saving paper. The library is also trying to save as much paper as we can because we care about our environmental impact. We recently began our “one-side-good” paper reuse program and we also increased the amount of paper recycling bins throughout the library.

You should have probably noticed that there have been some changes with the printing in the library over the past week as well, as the main printer has been shifted to the photocopier.  It’s capable of doing double-sided printing and we’ll be advertising this fact in the near future!

Robin Canham
Librarian, Wascana Campus

Wascana Hours Among Others

Comment from a Wascana student: I would prefer if the library was open until 11:00 PM.  Also, extended hours during finals.  Also provide snacks and juice (rum preferable) during finals – need to take the edge off!!

Thanks for your comment! We are constantly evaluating our hours to ensure they are meeting the needs of our students, this resulted in the library being open late on Sundays throughout the school year.  We’ll discuss your suggestion at an upcoming staff meeting.

We usually provide students with coffee one day during finals (however it goes pretty fast) we’ll see about adding juice for next time.  I doubt if you (or anyone else) would get much studying done though if the library were giving out free mixed drinks!

Robin Canham
Librarian, Wascana Campus

Positive Difference at Wascana

Comment: Is it true that the world is going to have a permanent “Great Depression” due to the economic crisis and Global Warming? What can we do in the library to make a positive difference?

SIAST Libraries is constantly striving for excellence to make a positive impact on our students, staff, and faculty everyday.  We believe that the services we provide play a significant role in student success and we are continually evaluating these to meet the changing needs of a diverse number of programs. In fact, our librarian, Juliet Nielsen was recently awarded the prestigious SIAST Innovation Award for her dedication to embedded library instruction.

In regard to global warming, the library has recently formed a “Green Team” and has implemented several green initiatives over the past few months, including recycling bins for cell phones and ink cartridges, the Kill-a-Watt lending program, and receptacles for re-using one side good paper.  The Green Team has many other initiatives on the way as well, so watch out for more green things in the very near future (including some new live plants!)

Robin Canham
Librarian, Wascana Campus

Tropical Paradise in the Library

Comment from a Wascana Student:

The library requires:

1. swimming pool
2. hot tub
3. sauna
4. spa and health club
5. a tropical setting
6. mandatory bikini apparel
7. and sand instead of carpet

SIAST Libraries has priced out your requests, and has come up with the following budget and actions:

1. swimming pool – $56,000 (includes towel service)
2. hot tub – $3500
3. sauna – $2500
4. spa and health club – $5000
5. tropical setting – ask facilities to set library thermostat at 32 degrees Celsius
6. mandatory bikini apparel – will need to okay this with occupational health and safety committee
7. and sand instead of carpet – $2000, plus $500 in reserve for anticipated keyboard malfunctions

Donations to the campaign can be made at the Circulation Desk.

Robin Canham
Librarian, Wascana Campus

Sunday Hours at Wascana

Comment: You should open earlier on Sundays.

Thank you for comment! In the past we have found that there are few students who come to the library early on Sunday morning, there was a demand for Sunday night hours and we will be opening late on Sundays again starting this weekend. However we constantly monitor usage and will consider changing the hours in the future if usage numbers warrant it.

Robin Canham
Librarian, Wascana Campus Library

Debit Cards at Wascana

Comment: Debit cards could be used!

We have explored using debit cards in the past and concluded that we do not have enough transactions to warrant a debit card system. Using a debit card machine demands considerable cost and staff time to implement, however, it has been awhile since we have looked into this and it might be time to re-visit this option if enough library clients would like to see it.

Robin Canham
Librarian, Wascana Campus Library

Debit Cards at Wascana

Comment: The Library should accept debit cards because the min. you can take out of the ATM is $20.

We have explored this in the past and have concluded that we do not have enough transactions to warrant a debit card system.  It does demand considerable cost and staff time to implement.  Then again, that was a couple years ago and it will be soon time to re-visit this option if enough library clients would like to see it.

Rian Misfeldt
Library Program Head, Wascana Library

Accessibility at Wascana Library

Comment: Make the library more wheelchair friendly.

We put a lot of effort into making our Library and its services accessible to all.  If the regular computer workstations are not usable by someone in a wheelchair then there are, in fact, adaptive (i.e. adjustable) stations in computer lab 207.11.  In addition, we also have wheelchair-accessible study carrels.  We also try to ensure that there are not paths or gateways that are too narrow for wheelchair access.  If there are other issues (and accompanying solutions) I would be happy to hear them.

Rian Misfeldt
Library Program Head, Wascana Library