Things my Users Could Stand To Learn, part 7

[silveradept]

1. The privacy screens are there for your protection.
2. Just because I know how to do something does not mean that I will tell you how it is done. Especially if such things involve copyright violations or you have a gross misunderstanding (not simply rectified) of how the Internet works.
3. Our patience extends as far as your willingness to learn by yourself.
4. Our patience also extends as far as your politeness and cheer. Fake it if you have to - we probably didn't do what made you upset.
5. The temptation to abuse the on-line Summer Reading mechanisms should be curbed...because there are people watching behind them just in case...
6. If it's a typo, on big paper, on the library...and it's not been taken down, check to see whether it's a joke.
7. The privacy screens are for your protection.
8. No, we do not take kindly to domestic abuse in the library.
9. Our options are limited in getting someone mental health assistance - the police are probably our best option, and that sucks.
10. We like positive feedback - we don't get nearly enough of it.
11. Don't cut in line. You should have learned that by now. No, we don't care if it's "just" a small thing.
12. Respect the closing times. The announcement is there to help you.
13. The busy person at the desk helping someone is the wrong person to return your in-house item to, especially when there's someone right next to them that is available.
14. The computers don't do things past the very basics.
15. I will not be there all the time. You must at least try to learn on your own.
16. The privacy screens are there for your protection.
17. We do not have gremlins that steal your computer time. You can come up to us to ask about computer issues.
18. Similarly, sending your grandchildren over to get me with "my grandma needs you" does not endear you to me.
19. Search engine suggestions are aggregated from millions of searches, not because the computer is somehow spying on you and saving your personal data despite you not being logged in.
20. Forserious, the correct way to summon help is to approach the staff desk and ask. Waving from your computer only ensures that you have a lesser chance of being noticed, and shouting from your computer lessens our chance of hearing you.
21. New systems take time to learn. Stop giving me that animal-in-headlights look when you see that things have changed.
22. We do notice when people print and don't pay. It's why we installed a system that forces you to pay if you want your stuff.
23. For Prime's sake, stop stealing things from us.
24. The privacy screens are there for your protection.
25. Don't interrupt me when I'm clearly helping someone else. If you do, have the good grace to wait when I tell you that I will be with you in a bit. Seriously, this is grade school stuff.
26. If you had to wait, getting shouty at me when I do help you is the fastest way to make me only help you for exactly the question you asked and no more. Or to get asked to leave, depending.
27. Yes, I do need your password to make your reservations now. If that makes you uncomfortable, you can reserve on-line yourself now.
28. I can only help you if you stop and listen after describing your problem to me. Barreling ahead will likely only reproduce the error - helpful for me, but not for you.
29. Parents, we're not a public telephone service. If at all possible, please equip your children with a means of contacting you.
30. The privacy screens are there for your protection, dammit. Use them.

Comments

[nicki]

I get the feeling that the privacy screens are there for their protection?

Entitlement. Sigh.

[silveradept]

They are, indeed, and yet so many forego them when looking at potentially-sensitive or age-restricted material.

Entitlement, indeed.

[auguris]

I'm talking copy shop with public computers, not library, but:

*~*~THE PRIVACY SCREENS ARE THERE FOR YOUR PROTECTION~*~*

No, no, they still won't get it.

[silveradept]

No, they won't. Especially the ones dealing in sensitive information.

[azurelunatic]

So how exactly does one deploy a privacy screen, and what part of you does it protect? (I can think of a couple possibilities, but...)

[auguris]

It's a tinted plastic cover that goes over your computer monitor, designed so that you can only see through it if you're directly in front of it. Many people find this confusing and take it off before checking their bank balances, reading personal emails, and other sorts of things you wouldn't want a stranger seeing, which is why privacy screens are provided.

[azurelunatic]

Aha! That kind! Thank you.

[lilysea]

The consistent thing about the privacy screens make me wonder...

...any chance that the privacy screens make things harder to see for people with reading glasses / short sighted / astigmatism / untreated-need-for-reading-glasses-in-50-plus?

Otheriwse I don't even.

[silveradept]

It's possible. A lot of the privacy screens use a parallax mechanism to restrict viewing to the approved degrees, so if one eye is differwnt than the other, it might cause problems for them. But it's usually apparently able-bodied people taking off the screens, perhaps because it tints the screen or blurs it a little due to the parallax.

[syntaxofthings]

The privacy screens are there for your protection, dammit. Use them.

I laughed. I'm sorry. :(

[silveradept]

There is totally comedic value in this list. No need for apologies.

[lilacstarprint.livejournal.com]

So, why are the privacy screens there again? (sarcasm)

[silveradept]

Hell if I know, with how little they get used.

[lilacstarprint.livejournal.com]

*Chuckle*