Maroon Opinions

Purchasing a book?

Is there a path by which I can request the library to buy a copy of a book I want? I was surprised to find that the library doesn't have a copy of 'The "God" Part of the Brain,' by Matthew Alper. How can I request that the library buy this book, and how long would it take to process the request and have the book in circulation?

We are always happy to take book suggestions via our Purchase Request Form (http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/using/purchaserequest.html).  Sorry, you have to be a UChicago student, faculty, or staff member to make requests; we don't accept solicitations.

The form gets sent to our Acquisitions department, which does some initial searching and forwards the request to the appropriate bibliographer/subject specialist. Bibliographers tend to respond favorably to requests (because they know at least ONE person will read the item!) but there's also the cost, "fit" with the existing collection, and other factors to consider.

While we attempt to obtain requested books quickly (and can do so even more quickly if you are in a time crunch; let us know when filling out the form), if you need the book RIGHT NOW we suggest consulting a reference librarian about other libraries in Chicago that might have the title. Many libraries will let you use the material on-site; and some may even let you take it home.

Gerontology Journals

Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences and The Gerontologist are two of the most commonly read journals in the field of social gerontology. However, U of C library has full-text access only after 2000. It would be great if the library subscribes to <Proquest research library> database which covers these journals. Thanks.

Thank you for the purchase request -- we have forwarded it to our friends in Acquisitions for review.

[Readers: you can also request that the Library purchase a book or ejournal subscription:
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/using/purchaserequest.html

Pashto and Modern Greek, But That's All

My alma mater recently added the Rosetta Stone to its library database listings, and I've found it to be a wonderful resource for language learning. Is there any chance that the University of Chicago Library will add this to its database listings in the near future?

While we have purchased a couple of Rosetta Stone CDs, the software is very expensive, making it unlikely we will make further purchases.

Generally, our focus in language and linguistics is on theoretical works and reference books, rather than language instruction. However, the Humanities Division maintains the Center for the Study of Languages in Cobb devoted to teaching and learning foreign languages. We don't think they have Rosetta Stone, but they do have videos and other instructional materials available for use.

Cambridge E-Books

Would the Regenstein please consider subscribing to the following service offered by Cambridge University Press: Cambridge Collections Online? See http://cco.cambridge.org/public_home. I think this would be of great use to our community here.

The product certainly looks appealing, and we'll investigate.

[Readers are reminded that they can submit purchase requests via the purchase request form: http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/using/purchaserequest.html]

Tracking Purchase Requests

Would it be possible to set up a system like that of ILL that allows users to see all of the purchase requests that they have made as well as the outcome of the request?

This would be helpful as I sometimes wonder if I have made a purchase request more than once.

Although our Acquisitions folks do have a database they use to track requests, it's not running under the same software as our ILL system, and doesn't have a web-accessible interface.

However, they also said that if you aren't sure whether you've submitted a request for a desired item, to go ahead and turn in another request: they would rather err on the safe side and receive duplicate requests, than have you assume they were acquiring an item when actually they knew nothing about it.

Database of Recorded American Music

We'd really love to have a subscription to the Database of Recorded American Music, a website only accessable by other schools and institutions of the level of UChicago.

Thank you for the  suggestion -- we've  referred it to our Acquisitions department, which handles such requests, for review and decision.

[Readers: you can also make such requests via our purchase request form.]

The Visual Thesaurus

I would like to suggest that the library get a subscription to
http://www.visualthesaurus.com

Thank you for the suggestion -- we have referred it to our Acquisitions Department for review and decision.

[Readers: The "word cloud" technology behind the Visual Thesaurus has also been applied to library catalogs: search the Grayslake Public Library for a demonstration.]

Encyclopedia Universalis

dear dears at the library,

why not get online access to the encyclopaedia universalis in french?

just an idea   ;)

Thank you for the suggestion -- we have forwarded to our Acquisitions Department.

[Readers: [You can also make purchase requests using the purchase request form.]

Quiche-English Dictionary

Could this be purchased?

Quiche-English dictionary /
Munro S Edmonson
1976, 1965
English  Book x, 165 p. : facsims. ; 27 cm.
New Orleans : Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University.

Real libraries are proud to order Quiche! Thank you for the purchase suggestion-- we have passed it along to our Acquisitions Department for review and decision.

[You can also make purchase requests using the purchase request form.]

Purchase Request

Could the library look into acquiring a copy of this important work:

Title: Thesaurus verboru[m]: vocabulario de la lengua cakchiquel u [el] guatemalteca : nuevamente hecho y recopilado con summo estudio, travajo y erudición

Author(s): Coto, Thomás de (d. ca. 1656) & Acuña, René

Publication: México : Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México,
Edition: 1. ed.

Year: 1983

Description: cclxvii, 565 p., [5] p. of plates : ill., facsims. ; 31 cm.

Language: Spanish

Standard No: ISBN: 9685801576 LCCN: 85-144819

Thank you for the purchase request; we've forwarded it to our Acquisitions Department for review. (Gold star for giving us the ISBN number: thank you!)

[also, a reminder that we have a special purchase request form for such suggestions.]