At the risk of sounding like a Philistine aren't we running the risk
of confirming some rather hackneyed stereotypes about ourselves?
Whilst as the manager of an academic library I accept the need for
discipline, including noise nuisances, the social reality is that
mobile phones and their successors are here to stay. The question is
not how do we exclude them, but how do we manage their use. In our own
service we point out to the students that the phones are disruptive to
other users so would they use silent alarm modes where possible, and
when in conversation use the "dead" space of the centre, e.g.
stairwell landings to conduct their phone calls. By and large most of
the students met halfway like this respond fairly positively.
Donald
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From: [log in to unmask] [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 17 February 2000 19:09
To: collery
Cc: [log in to unmask]; Brian Hackett; Laurie on Outlook
Subject: Re: : Re[2]: Mobile phone detector?
> disturbance in a library. Is it not possible to ban
their > use in a rule and expel offenders?
We do and we do but there comes a point when you are confronted with a
stroppy teenager that there is not a lot you can do if they refuse to
tell you their name and refuse to go. Most of them do leave the
library when asked but it doesnt stop them doing it again the next
time and it doesnt make them switch off when they come in.
A signal scrambler would be by far the best solution then library
staff can get on with helping readers with information queries rather
than acting as security guards all day.
Marina
-----------------------------------
Marina Bruce
Deputy Librarian
St. George's Hospital Medical School
University of London
[log in to unmask]
Opinions expressed those of the author and not the institution
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