The Jean and Alexander Heard Library
Acorn User Survey Results
I. Oct. 22 - Dec. 1, 1999 270 results
II. Feb. 11 - Mar. 8, 2000 74 results

The Library is conducting this survey to better understand your knowledge of and general satisfaction with Acorn, our online catalog.

Responses received by Time of Day.

Section A. Please help us to analyze your survey responses by providing the following background information.

[1] I am currently:

 
I
II

Total
Faculty
24
8.9%
9
12.2%
33
9.6%
Graduate or Professional Student
118
43.7%
25
33.8%
143
41.6%
Undergraduate
88
32.6%
21
28.4%
109
31.7%
Staff
19
7.0%
10
13.5%
29

8.4%
Visitor
14
5.2%
5
6.8%
19
5.5%
Other
7
2.6%
4
5.4%
11
3.2%

[2] and the library I use most often is:

Section B. Please answer the following questions about your patterns of use with Acorn.

[3] I have been a user of Acorn for:
I
II
Total
less than 1 month
7
2.6%
2
2.7%
9
2.6%
1 to 3 months
47
17.4%
2
2.7%
49
14.2%
4 to 12 months
14
5.2%
13
17.6%
27
7.8%
1 to 5 years
152
56.3%
43
58.1%
195
56.7%
more than 5 years

50
18.5%

14
18.9%
64
18.6%

[4] I use acorn:

 
I
II
Total
seldom/never
5
1.9%
11
14.9%
16
4.7%
less than one time a month
15

5.6%
6

8.1%
21
6.1%
one or more times a month
99
36.7%
26
35.1%
125
36.3%
at least once a week
102
37.8%
21
28.4%
123
35.8%
daily or almost daily

49
18.1%

10
13.5%

59
17.2%

[5] My usual place for accessing Acorn is:

 
I
II
Total
A campus Library
89
33.0%
23
31.1%
112
32.6%
Home
107
49.6%
24
32.4%
131
38.1%
Office
61
22.6%
25
33.8%
86
25.0%
Computer Lab
6
2.2%
0
0.0%
6

1.7%
Other
7
2.6%
2
2.7%
9
2.6%

[6] The search screen I usually use is (Incomplete data):

 
I
II
Total
  
Quick Search (default)
94
63.5%
48
64.9%
142
64.0%
Complex Search
8
5.4%
3
4.1%
11
5.0%
Call Number Browse
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
Depends on my search
41
27.7%
18
24.3%
59
26.6%
Not Sure
5
3.4%
5
6.8%

10
4.5%

[7] When searching Acorn, I usually (Incomplete data):

 
I
II
Total
type in my search word(s) and hit enter
24
16.2%
15
20.3%
39
17.6%
enter the word(s), select a search type (e.g. Keyword, Begins with, Browse), then click a red button (e.g. Keyword
Anywhere, Author, Title, etc.)
50
33.8%
24
32.4%
74
33.3%
enter the word(s), select a search type (e.g. Keyword, Begins with, Browse), then hit enter
14
9.5%
8
10.8%
22
9.9%
enter the word(s), then click a red button (e.g. Keyword Anywhere, Author, Title, etc.)
60
40.5%
27
36.5%
87
39.2%

[8] The search type I usually use is:

 
I
II
Total
Keyword
123
45.6%
31
41.9%
154
44.8%
Begins with...
24
8.9%
2
2.7%
26
7.5%
Browse
1
0.4%
1
1.4%
2
0.6%
Depends on my search
110
40.7%
35

47.3%
145
42.2%
Not sure

12
4.4%
5
6.8%
17
4.9%

[9] I usually search by:

 
I
II
Total
Keyword Anywhere
63
23.3%
12
16.2%
75
21.8%
Author
14
5.2%
9
12.2%
23
6.7%
Title
22
8.1%
7
9.5%
29
8.4%
Periodical Title
20
7.4%
4
5.4%
24
7.0%
Subject
25
9.3%
7
9.5%
32
9.3%
Medical Subject
1
0.4%
1
1.4%
2
0.6%
Series
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
0
0.0%
Depends on my search
124
45.9%
30
40.5%
154
44.8%
Not sure

1
0.4%
4
5.4%
5
1.5%

During a typical Acorn session:

[10] I print search results:

 
I
II
Total
Don't Know
1
0.4%
0
0.0%
1
0.3%
1 Never
34
12.6%
19
25.7%
53
15.4%
2
52
19.3%
16
21.6%
68
19.8%
3
61
22.6%
16
21.6%
77
22.4%
4
85
31.5%
16
21.6%
101
29.4%
5 Always
37
13.7%
7
9.5%

44
12.8%

[11] I download search results:

 
I
II

Total
Don't Know
9
3.3%
0
0.0%
9
2.6%
1 Never
130
48.1%
46
62.2%
176
51.2%
2
57

21.1%
12
16.2%
69
20.1%
3
47
17.4%
8
10.8%
55
16.0%
4
16
5.9%
8
10.8%
24
7.0%
5 Always
11
4.1%
0
0.0%

11
3.2%

[12] I e-mail search results:

 
I
II
Total
Don't Know
3
1.1%
0
0.0%
3
0.9%
1 Never
135
50.0%
44
59.5%
179
52.0%
2
59
21.9%
10

13.5%
69
20.1%
3
46
17.0%
9
12.2%
55
16.0%
4
19
7.0%
11
14.9%
30
8.7%
5 Always
8
3.0%
0
0.0%
8
2.3%

[13] I click on author hyperlinks to access further
resources:

 
I
II
Total
Don't Know
6
2.2%
0
0.0%
6
1.7%
1 Never
46
17,0%
18
24.3%
64
18.6%
2
60
22.2%
14
18.9%
74
21.5%
3
83

30.7%
20
27.0%
103
29.9%
4
60
22.2%
22
29.7%
82
23.8%
5 Always
15
5.6%
0
0.0%

15
4.4%

[14] I click on subject hyperlinks to access further
resources:

 
I
II
Total
Don't Know
6
2.2%
0
0.0%
6
1.7%
1 Never
27
10.0%
12
16.2%
39
11.3%
2
42
15.6%
12
16.2%
54
15.7%
3
85
31.5%
24
32.4%
109
31.7%
4
79
29.3%
22
29.7%
101
29.4%
5 Always
31
11.5%
4
5.4%
35
10.2%

[15] I click on hyperlinks for electronic access to
materials:

 
I
II

Total
Don't Know
12
4.4%
2
2.7%
14
4.1%
1 Never
42
15.6%
11
14.9%
53
15.4%
2
41
15.2%
8
10.8%
49
14.2%
3
59
21.9%
17
23.0%
76
22.1%
4
66
24.4%
29

39.2%
95
27.6%
5 Always
50
18.5%
7
9.5%
57
16.6%

Section C. Please answer the following questions about Acorn's ease of use

[16] Finding what I want on acorn is:

 
I
II
Total
Don't Know
1
0.4%
0
0.0%
1
0.3%
1 Very Difficult
10
3.7%
6
8.1%
16
4.7%
2
25
9.3%
7
9.5%
32
9.3%
3
88
32.6%
27
36.5%
115

33.4%
4
115
42.6%
22
29.7%
137
39.8%
5 Very Easy
31
11.5%
12
16.2%
43
12.5%

[17] Navigating within Acorn is:

 
I
II
Total
Don't Know
1
0.4%
0
0.0%
1

0.3%
1 Very Difficult
8
3.0%
5
6.8%
13
3.8%
2
34
12.6%
6
8.1%
40
11.6%
3
83
30.7%
17
23.0%
100
29.1%
4
107
39.6%
26
35.1%
133
38.7%
5 Very Easy
37
13.7%

20
27.0%
57
16.6%

[18] Viewing records is:

 
I
II
Total
Don't Know
2
0.7%
0
0.0%
2

0.6%
1 Very Difficult
1
0.4%
7
9.5%
8
2.3%
2
15
5.6%
3
4.1%
18
5.2%
3
65
24.1%
15
20.3%
80
23.3%
4
118
43.7%
29
39.2%
147
42.7%
5 Very Easy
69
25.6%

20
27.0%

89
25.9%

[19] Printing records is:

 
I
II
Total
Don't Know
23
8.5%
5
6.8%
28
8.1%
1 Very Difficult
4
1.5%
6
8.1%
10
2.9%
2
27
10.0%
5
6.8%
32
9.3%
3
46
17.0%
14
18.9%
60
17.4%
4
96
35.6%
20
27.0%
116
33.7%
5 Very Easy
74
27.4%
24
32.4%
98
28.5%

[20] Downloading records is:

 
I
II
Total
Don't Know
129
47.8%
40
54.1%
169
49.1%
1 Very Difficult
3
1.1%
3
4.1%
6
1.7%
2
16
5.9%
5
6.8%
21
6.1%
3
48
17.8%
5
6..8%
53
15.4%
4
46
17.0%
12
16.2%
58
16.9%
5 Very Easy
28
10.4%
9
12.2%
37
10.8%

[21] E-mailing records is:

 
I
II
Total
Don't Know
125
46.3%
39
51.4%
164
47.7%
1 Very Difficult
3
1.1%
3
4.1%
6
1.7%
2
12
4.4%
1
1.4%
13
3.8%
3
37
13.7%
5
6.8%
42
12.2%
4
54
20.0%
13
17.6%
67
19.5%
5 Very Easy
39
14.4%
14
18.9%
53
15.4%

[22] Identifying the complete call number for an
item is:

 
I
II
Total
Don't Know
5
1.9%
0
0.0%
5

1.5%
1 Very Difficult
3
1.1%
6
8.1%
9
2.6%
2
17
6.3%
6
8.1%
23
6.7%
3
32
11.9%
8
10.8%
40
11.6%
4
90
33.3%
15
20.3%
105
30.5%
5 Very Easy
123
45.6%
39
52.7%

162
47.1%

[23] Recognizing which library holds the item is:

 
I
II
Total
Don't Know
4
1.5%
0
0.0%
4
1.2%
1 Very Difficult
2
0.7%
4
5.4%
6
1.7%
2
18
6.7%
2
2.7%
20
5.8%
3
34
12.6%
13
17.6%
47
13.7%
4
81
30.0%
13
17.6%
94
27.3%
5 Very Easy
131
48.5%
42
56.8%
173
50.3%

Section D. Please answer the following questions about your satisfaction with Acorn

[24] Acorn is better than other online library catalogs
I have used:

 
I
II
Total
Don't Know
65
24.1%
12
16.2%
77
22.4%
1 Disagree
16
5.9%
8
10.8%
24
7.0%
2
28

10.4%
1
1.4%
29
8.4%
3
58
21.5%
19
25.7%
77
22.4%
4
69
25.6%
18
24.3%
87
25.3%
5 Agree
34
12.6%
16
21.6%

50
14.5%

[25] I find it easy to use Acorn from off campus:

 
I
II
Total
Don't Know
76
28.1%
24
32.4%
100
29.1%
1 Disagree
10
3.7%
2
2.7%
12
3.5%
2
18
6.7%
2
2.7%
20
5.8%
3
25
9.3%
3
4.1%
28
8.1%
4
70
25.9%
22
29.7%
92
26.7%
5 Agree
71
26.3%
21
28.4%
92
26.7%

[26] Overall I am satisfied with Acorn as a research
tool:

 
I
II
Total
Don't Know
1
0.4%
1
1.4%
2
0.6%
1 Disagree
9
3.3%
6
8.1%
15
4.4%
2
22
8.1%
1
1.4%
23
6.7%
3
46
17.0%
11
14.9%
57
16.6%
4
124
45.9%
31
41.9%
155
45.1%
5 Agree
68
25.2%
24
32.4%
92
26.7%

Section E. [27] Please discuss any additional observations you may have about Acorn or any suggestions for how it can be improved.

I.

ACORN should defenitely include recalls in the personal records. It has happened to me that a book was recalled and I never knew about it until I received the second reminder and a fee was imposed (the first recall notice never reached me). I make sure that my status is O.K. about once a week (on-line), so I was very angry to have these troubles. ACORN should also include a link to all used abbreviations, e.g., what does "stacks" mean, what does "verificatn" mean, what does "3FL" (or something like that) mean?

I am also a UTK Nashville Social Work Student and use Acorn for research related to my graduate work. I would like to know more about how to utilize Acorn for research purposes related to my job in research and my school work. I feel there are a lot of materials I cannot find because I do not know how to utilize the search tools.

1. The serial holdings in ACORN are not consistently cataloged or findable. Sometimes a series will be found doing a periodical title search; sometimes will be found with a series search; sometimes book title search. Very difficult and aggravating. 2. The way journal titles are cataloged and the ACORN data displayed does NOT facilitate a quick and easy understanding of the history of the journal's title--these are also inconsistently referenced between related records. There is no highlighted info. re: this journal you've located USED TO BE CALLED BY ANOTHER NAME, starting in 1980, etc. Those alternate names also ought to be linked together in a consistent fashion. 3. Journal Locations: would be nice to have, again, a quick easy reference at the TOP of a journal page re: partial subscription, Central; complete holdings, Education. You have to look to 2 different parts of the record to see a) where can go and b) if I go there, will they have the volume I need.

It would be good to be able to search by ISBN as well, akin to an Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.com. Also what is the difference between a Series and a Periodic Title? What is the difference between the red Keyword Anywhere and the radio button for Keyword? Just an observation.

It is annoying when the search result brings up only one possible title, and yet you still have to click it again to view the entry for the document. while this would not normally be a problem, extensive use of acorn makes this a hassle.

Try to find: 'The Computer in the school' with 'Begins with ...' and 'Title'. ACORN never comes up with LB1028.5.C547 on the topof the list (well maybe after viewing 40 other records). I am never lucky to find a title like this! I usually use Amazon or Barnes and Noble and then try to look it up in complex search. It is very hard to find books where you have an EXACT reference with all data!

I have never been successful in accessing Vanderbilt from my home computer nor has any one else that I have talked. It is a real pain since I also work here and need information for work

1. When you look up what materials are on reserve for your classes, the screen does not tell you how long the check out time is. Some of my teachers let you check it out for a few hours, while some do not; knowing this would be helpful, because then I would know whether I can take the material out and copy it somewhere cheaper. 2. The capture option (I think that this is what it is called) only works when you check boxes for items that you have done the most immediate search on. i.e. If I needed to do several searches, I would only be able to capture (for printing later) what I had found on my latest search. It would not carry into my other other searches. 3. Also, several times, I have found Acorn to be not working. I don't know why this happens.

Acorn is a great resource, however greater electroic databases would be helpful.

Electronic Journals could be more user friendly

Acorn takes forever to load using my 56K modem from home.

IF A BOOK, JOURNAL, ETC. IS CHECKED OUT, IT NEEDS TO HAVE THE DATE IT IS TO BE RETURNED. IT WOULD MAKE THE TIME FOR WAITING ON LITERATURE EASIER.

Acorn Sucks!!!

Not overall intuitive. Impossible to email to someone a copy of the record. Would be good to have reviews or maybe a link to Amazon or BN.

The call number browse would be an extremely useful tool if it worked correctly (which it does not). Also, it would be good if when things are checked to a carrel, ACORN could tell you "checked out to carrel # x" so we could check whatever we need from the book at the carrel, and not have to go through the librarians, etc., to take a couple-of-minutes look at the item. The non-uniform use of "The" in the title search is also confusing. Sometimes titles cannot be found if you omit the "The" and sometimes they can. I have had some trouble with online recall requests or annex requests not being completed, even though I got the confirmation message that says my request has been sent. Whatever bugs are in that system should be worked out. I'm not sure if that's an ACORN problem or not.

The main difficulty with ACORN is that you can't search for titles of articles within periodicals--you must know the periodical and issue number to find articles--often pertinent works by authors which appeared in periodicals do not show up in a search at all, even though they actually exist in the library! I find it odd that you can have the name of an author and the title of an article, and still have the search come up with "no holdings". Also--there are a few periodicals that appear on the 7th floor of the library as opposed to the 6th--there is no indicator for this--(e.g. Studies in Chaucer appears on 7th floor/ Chaucer Review appears on the 6th floor--both are periodicals)

When using printed results with multiple records on one page, the location of the call number in relation to the rest of the record (i.e. below the record and nearer to the left margin than any other information in the record) makes it difficult to distinguish which call number goes with which record. I often search for a book in the stacks and then realize that I'm using the call number of the previous record.

I would like a system for placing a hold on a book for when it is returned, rather than only being able to recall a book from the person who has it checked out. I would also appreciate an email reminder of books being due a few days prior to the due date, instead of receiving a card a week after the books are due along with a fine.

Matching journal titles exactly is a pain. please make the search method more fuzzy.

Being new to Acorn, I wanted to print out just marked selections, but acorn printed out all the selections. It is at least thorough. Similiar servers I've used printed out only marked entries. I understand using a new system takes some time and practice. But our coursework does not often give us the luxury of time. If there is not a reference libararian around, attempting to problem solve using Acorn can be pretty frustrating. Thanks for asking for our feedback.

ACORN is sometimes a bit slow over the modem, and the research databases, especially, tend to drag.

Acorn is much easier to use at home now that you've gotten rid of those awful frames!! It loads much faster now, although from home it is still slower than most other sites I use. That's really my only gripe about Acorn -- it's a bit slow to load, especially from home. Otherwise, it is well-structured and operates very reliably.

Iit would be nice to search for articles by keyword and author (journal). it is difficult to go and get books and then go back for the articles listed in the bibliography.

Maybe when looking up an author, under the title of his book...the view box could show a larger variety of other links. for instance if it could cconnect the user to critical essays that would be great.

Acorn can be confusing. i do not enjoy using acorn because it seems that one needs to know tricks for how to use it rather than it being straight forward.

Finding recordings of a particular title piece or by a certain performer is difficult. and, it is hard to look up concertos for multiple instruments without getting all of the solo stuff as well.

Sometimes an item that I know is in the library does not come up. I don't know why, but this is frustrating. I sometimes have to be creative to have it appear.

Too many clicks from search to print with multiple searches inablilty to print multiple searches at a sitting without individually printing each search

When an acorn record indicates a journal is On-line, it would be helpful if it explained that the link is not going to take you directly to the journal you are looking for, but it takes you to the database that holds the journal. I was confused the first time I clicked on the link.

Perhaps, showing if an item is checked out from the search result screen, also, mabe use color codes for the different libraries. E.g the returned search text is red for Central, and Blue for Science and Engineering.

Good job with Acorn... please continue to keep it updated!

In section 1 I indicated that I am a visitor. The correct category would actually be alumnus. I graduated from the Graduate School of George Peabody College in 1980. I was an Art major.

Slow to load. Too pretty, not functional. Poor start-up page. Not enough options. Silly to have to reclick which library limits you want for every search, particularly since that button involves moving around the screen (it's visually off the page). ***Having to search first before limiting to media type is slow, cumbersome, and a waste of server time.*** Too many clicks needed to do the tasks. Make it more typing-friendly. The number of missing items (present in the library, invisible on ACORN) is deeply troubling. Items in series are particularly poorly served--I'm glad I arrived before ACORN was implemented, because I have records of what Vandy actually has.

I think it's awesome and feel very fortunate to have such a wide variety of access locations to it. Great Job!!

The only major complaint that I have regardig acorn is that it resets after five minutes. I understand that there was a programming problem and terminals need to be reset, but, often times I will have a few navigator windows open (doing research) and when I click back to acorn it is reset and I lose my place. I would suggest that maybe (if possible) make the time limit a little longer than 5 minutes. Thanks.

The worst thing about Acorn is the inability to keyboard commands for searching. Using the mouse is cumbersome, especially when searching long lists of resources. It would be much faster with some kind of keyboard command system, where the user would not have to keep switching between keyboard and mouse. Or perhaps the user would choose the search type BEFORE entering the search, and then "Enter" would be an acceptable search tool.

I like it that acorn tells whether or not the book is already checked out, so I don't have to walk all the way to the library just to find out the book isn't even there.

It has improved in accessability in the 3 years I have been using it. Sometimes it is difficult to print from the computers in the Ed library. E mailing searches also doesn't always work perfectly. But downloading searches is great. Also really like the feature that tells if the periodical is available at a VU library--this has saved me much time over the past few months! Thanks! How about getting machines that would allow downloading or e mailing documents on microfilm/fiche? It would save time and money for students!

Acorn is a very good tool. I went to Undergrad at Vanderbilt and am a Grad student at Kent State in Ohio. The database that KSU has is difficult to use and understand. I come back to Acorn often and sometimes even have friends get articles for me that can not be found at KSU. I am really glad that Acorn is able to be accessed by the public. It has made my research much easier.

I like that the newest version gives the due date for books that are out. I use "Begins With" more often than "Keyword" for searches, since most of my searches are for titles or authors. It would be nice if this were the default setting. When a search turns up only one item, it ought to go to the next screen (e.g. showing the book information) automatically, instead of making you click on the one thing available.

I've found it difficult to find the books I am looking for. The more "complex" searches yield only a handfull of books, usually not well related to my topic. Sometimes I just go to the Georgetown University Library on-line catalogue, which I used as an undergrad, find the call number of the books I need using their system, and then go look up the books here. It's the easiest way for me. I think the problem is that the links and the search options, and particularly the options for limiting searches, are too limited to do a meaningful search.

Even though I have been to a training session, I feel as though we need to be better educated on theoptions available in ACorn and in the databases. It gets really confusing

Basically, it becomes difficult sometimes to identify which type of material is in which library location. For example, dissertation abstracts are found in book form at central library, and I thought they were available in microfilm at the cetral library as well. I found out at 10:15 pm (when the EdLibrary closes at 10) that the only new additions were here at the Ed library. This has happened with seveal different resources. At times I wonder why there aren't copies of some journals in both libraries. Also, and this pertains not at all to Acorn but the library in general, what has become of the selection of Black or other culture periodicals. the other day I noticed no Essence or Emerge magazines, two which are very socially conscious.

I dont know what it is that makes the opening screen(s) confusing. Print/capture doesn't work very well; I would like a simple way to dump the screen to a printer. The speed of search is good, the function of keyword anywhere is good--no complaints there thanks

Acorn is always faster on campus than it is at home. I suppose that is unavoidable and has more to do with the internet than with Acorn, but sometimes it is very difficult to access at home, getting almost no response. This sometimes happens even when other internet web sites do not seem to be slow at all.

I have been very upset with the fact that if a book is checked out, it does not always come up in a search for it. A search for the title will not bring it up, so one has to search for it using, for example, the author's name. Therefore, I have made the mistake of ordering books through ILL, when I simply could have saved the time and recalled the book. This has cost me a lot of valuable time!

We need improved access to electronic journals & periodicals. This is invaluable for those of us who typically access from remote and off-campus sites. The WebSpirs interface for periodicals is slow and cumbersome. The previous (non-web"enhanced") version was superior for remote use because it was faster and had a more powerful interface.

I would like a simple way to print out records with primarily the call # and title which would make it simple to take to find the books on the shelf. I usually just write down the call # myself so that I don't have to fool with trying to figure out how to print it out. The time I have printed it, I get way too much information on the printout to be useful for finding a book on the shelf.

Acorn does not search well by title. It also does not search well for listening materials in the music library.

Shouldn't have to keep entering pin number each time you access your record

When one prints the results of a search, two pages are output: one contains the results; and the other contains the electronic form's search criteria. Paper usage is doubled. A text-only printable version of search results would conserve paper.

Acorn works fairly well for author, title, and keyword searches, though keyword searches tend not to pick up publishing information (publisher, date, series title, etc.) , which can help identify a particular edition. The major problem is that it is difficult to navigate through a large number of records. The jump function helps some, but it would help even more if you knew where you were jumping to. The usual way to accomplish this is to provide an index that would appear prior to the individual records--except perhaps when you would get only one page worth of records. Harvard's Hollis does this and is in some ways easier to use than ACORN, even though it still does not have a true Web interface. For subject searches, I find myself missing the old card catalogue. It can take a lot of exploringin ACORN to find the right heading, which then turns up a bunch of titles in arranged by date or some other criterion that does not facilitate the search. The browse functionprovides only an alphabetical list. Unless I've missed it, there seems to be no way to browse through nested subcategories, as in the old card catalogue. This seems to be a general problem with electronic catalogues, though some work better than others. Here again it would help to display an index prior to the records, When you access ACORN remotely, the server is sometimes quite slow to respond, even if you're going through an on-campus ethernet connection.

As of the new Acorn (last year?), I can no longer browse Acorn from home on my Macintosh (powermac OS 7.5.5, 28.8 modem). I can use virtually all other web engines and access sites, etc., so I don't know if the problem is the age of my configuration or an incompatability b/n mac and Acorn. I could browse the previous Acorn from home, but now have been limited to using my pc laptop or going to the library.

Checking your libr record could be easier......almost everytime i use it i find i am always passing in and out of the gateway where you enter your ID. it would be easier to use if once you got thru the ID check you could access various functions....renew, list etc.

PRINTING is a pain in the sense that there isn't an easy way I can find to print compactly information about a bunch of returned records -- seems like you have to print out the full record, so if I want to print out a list of, say, a half dozen things to go fetch in the library, I have to waste several pages. Perhaps printing brief forms of many records is possible but it is not easy to discern in the user interface. Anyway that's my complaint; otherwise a fine system for me. --Bruce Barry, Assoc. Professor, OGSM (bruce.barry@vanderbilt.edu)

The one thing that really angers me about Acorn is when I put in an author or title and it is not exactly right it gives me a list that is not at all helpful for browsing. I wish when I only partially know an author or title Acorn would give me a hand alphabetical list for browsing. Often the World Wide Web does a better job of getting me what I am looking for when I don't know the exact name of what I am looking for than does Acorn - and the database for the WWW is a million times larger than Acorn!!!!!

There is no search method if you just want to find a Journal, which is what I use most.

Generally, Acorn meets my research needs quite effectively. I have, however, a couple of suggestions. First, it would be helpful to have a less graphics-intensive version of Acorn for dial-in use, since it goes rather slowly from home (and I used to have lots of crashing problems related to all the graphics) Second, and I'm not sure exactly how you could deal with this one, but it's not clear from the electronic access hyperlinks what the range of dates is available electronically. In other words, I may be looking for an article from a May 1992 issue of a journal, but the electronic access only goes back to 1994, but I can't find that out until accessing the journal electronically, checking the date ranges, etc., which, when repeated over and over, ends up wasting a lot of time. Thanks.

It would be easier if one could email all of their search results from different pages at the same time. for example if the print/capture could hold for more than one page. and if it can i haven't figured it out yet.

Love being able to recheck books on line.

Sometimes it seems if I make a small typo or leave a word out of a journal title ACORN does not find the item I am looking for (which has lead me to request inter library loan materials that are in the library). Aside from me being more careful, is there any way to make ACORN "smarter" in these situations?

Since the library is so large and I seldom go--I find it hard to find books when I do go. It would be helpful to me if you could indicate what floor to find the book or material and what section or area if possible.

After i search topic, author, etc. and find a list of sources that i want i can tell if vandy holds the source. but i can't tell where the source is located - biomed, ed, central, etc. as easily. i have to go into acorn search by title and find the source. also if it is a journal i have to find out if it is on fiche, film, hard copy etc. it would be nice to have a more efficient system to tell me which library holds the source and how it is stored. thanks

I would like to be able to use acorn to search journals as well as books. I usually search journals through proquest. Thanks.

The complete call number of an item should be made more visible. The same applies for the name of the library that holds the particular item. A hyperlink to a campus map would be appreciated.

You do a great job! What a miracle a library is. Thank you.

My biggest complaint is the way journal holdings are listed when some are at Central, some are at Education- especially when some of the volumes at Ed are on microfiche, or the subscription ended and the rest are at Central. A more systematic way of presenting actual journal holdings would be nice.

There are too many buttons! When I know what I want to search for, I don't like to have to stop typing, adjust the mouse to select the right button, click the button, type again, etc.

I am told by numerous staff members at the library that library staff have access to a search catalog which, in their opinions, performs better and more reliably than ACORN. While this may be mere rumor, if it is not, I would recommend making any other search engine of our libraries available to students. ACORNS faults as an engine are primarily in its inability to search with efficiency by subject, and it is only after several months that I have learned the tedious route to finding what one is really searching for. If any other remotely comparable engine were available, I think I would use it over ACORN.

I am using acorn via the web from purdue university. i found the title that my advisor wanted me to check into. all my advisor recalled was a reference by thackston and parker, no title, publisher, or even first names of authors. i could not find any references in the purdue university library system. i linked to vanderbilt engineering by doing a word search of thackston and parker. i was linked to the civil engineering faculty page. then i linked into acorn to see what publications by these 2 faculty members were on file. i found the reference that i was looking for TD 427.H4 V35. your system worked fine although i am more comfortable with thor, the online search program for purdue libraries. thanks

Some of the printing methods are a waste of paper.

Acorn is not at all efficient. Many times, being a library employee, I have tried to use Acorn to find something, and couldn't, but using Unicorn, I have no problem. Also, at the music library they maintain the card catalog before they do acorn, which is absolutely ridiculous as you can't find anything in there, and it is tremendous waste of time, energy and paper. The rest of the libraries are better, but not much.

Acorn often reports that the library (Eskind) does not have a book or journal when it actually does. Searches often come up empty even if the book is on the shelf--not because the search is hard to use;it just seems like it doesn't have a complete listing of all the library's resources.

One difficulty I have with using acorn is that my computer and modem are slow. So efforts to keep graphics to a minimum and make it easy to use in text-only versions would be appreciated.

There are not enough copies of a book, if there is a research project or paper on a certain topic, even if there are multiple books, they are all checked out to one or two people for the duration of the project time! it is sooo annoying -cant there be a faster recall system- or something??

I have often had trouble using acorn via a proxy server. Actually, I have found it impossible. Calling for assistance from the library attendees was to no avail.

I think that freshmen should be required to take a library course. My friends at other schools have to take a "getting to know the library" type of course at their schools and they get one credit hour for it. They also all really valued it and have all improved a lot on their research and library skills.

A wonderful service. I have trouble often with Psych Abstracts and its variants. Otherwise, I'm pleased. The "email" send is a VERY helpful feature. It would be useful,if possible, to download titles and authors in a format that matches usual citation structure: e.g, Author, date, title, city, press, etc.

I was disappointed to find only one entry for archaeologist Martha Joukowshy when I inquired of Acorn this morning.

Acorn is more user-friendly than the online catalog at my undergraduate institution. i've had no difficulties with it thus far.

I find that acorn often does not show databases or datasets held by the university (e.g., data stored on acis site). in addition, i've had trouble locating census documents more recently. for the more general stuff, its pretty good.

It would be beneficial if you could not only see the status of a book (ie. checked out) but also when it will be back in the library, or even who has checked it out.

Thoroughly appreciate being able to print with ease! The laser printers have been a terrific upgrade. I commute five hours for the weekend program at Peabody and the ACORN system has made my research easier---I can email materials to my work office, print ed abstracts, and download! GREAT SYSTEM!

It would be great if in the record you could add the items from ILL, because sometimes they are easy to forget.

As I am a distance learner, I would like full text articles available for printing.

If you could search for journals in the libraries in a similar manner to the way you search for electronic journals, it would be easier to determine if the journal of interest is in any library on campus.

My main frustration with ACORN is that I have often looked up items (books, especially) I KNOW the Central library has but finds no record for. Often, one must resort to another field of inquiry (i.e., author, not title) to determine the call no./location of the book.

I would like to find out if I can read certain chapters on-line from a medical book that you currently have. I do a lot of research and I am wondering if I have to check out the book or if I can access it from my computer for reading. Thanks, Donna Roy bdrjwine@aol.com

I do have trouble with the periodical searching, and identifying which volumes the library has. Also, I think the annex requests could be better integrated, so that you don't need to cut and paste from one screen to the nexyt (or retype).

It would be nice if the acorn catalog was merged with psychinfo and such so that you don't have to do two searches. Psychinfo does indicate that the journal is held but not which library. The electronic access to journals through acorn is FABULOUS!

The printing process needs to be revised. Having to hit print/capture, then print, and then print off the edit menu is a pain in the neck. It should just print off the first print after the print/capture command. Also, when it says that you can't renew, it needs to give a specific reason. There should also be an email that reminds you the day before that you have books due back soon.

Periodical titles (by using the tool begins with) do not always appear on the screen, even though VU may have them. Sometimes I have to type in an abbreviated journal title from Medline/Ovid as a whole title, in order to find it.

We need to list information about whether a book is checked out or not at the top of the record, not the bottom.

It is kind of hard to know whether or not an article is available to be printed or emailed to the user. I find it difficult to realize how to print a full article and not just the search results.

I find acorn to be very difficult and often can not locate items by author, even if I find the same item by title. I am used to melvyl and orion systems and find Acorn and webspirs to be bothersome, slow, and inefficient. I am thoroughly dissatsified with it.

I wish that the print outs of record entries were easier to read, I wish the title and call number were more clearly offset, and at the begining of each entry

When more than twenty records are hit by a search, the terminology to access records 21 and higher is confusing, Instead of "forward," which is internet terminology meaning go to the page you were just on before hitting the "back" button, I suggest using a term like "next" or "records 21-__" or the like.

I enjoy the option of hyperlinking from a book-description window directly to the book-recall window, if that book is already checked out by another user. A suggestion for improvement: since it's 99.9% sure that the book that I want to recall is the one that I've just been checking on, why not reshape the book-recall window so that the title, call number, and author fields are already filled in by the computer, if a user has gotten to that window from the book-display window? Another wish: I'd love to be able to do complex searches over a set of years, e.g. 1980-1985. As it stands now, one can only search by specific year, e.g. 1983. Overall, though, Acorn is very good.

II.

It just works fine for me. Thank you

I would like to be able to have access to ProQuest and other research programs from my computer at the office. Is there any way for this to happen (e.g., using our username and password to log on)?

improve interlibrary loan process...quicker if possible

I think it would be incredibly useful to have some way studentscould save into a file the call numbers of certain, or their "favorite" publications. For instance, if I am doing a paper on Mozart piano concertos, I would love a way that I could enter a password in acorn and get my previously saved, organized list of all the call numbrs of every pertinent score, cd, and book to my topic, especially those works like cds, where I will want to refer to them many times. This would save paper, time on Acorn and and make each publication more easily accesible.

I really appreciate ACORN, don't get me wrong. It is, however, so highly graphic intensive that it takes a long to time to load, especially on home computers that don't go through the ethernet.

making the list of LIbrary of Congress subject headings more readily available so that searches can be more acurate

The system itself is wonderful. I am not able to use the web-based ACORN from my home computer because a system error occurs and the computer freezes whenever I request for the search to begin. I am, however, able to access the system from home through the EndNote program I am using.

Sometimes I cannot find books in the library that Acorn says are available.

Ability to perform Boolean Search would be great

usually I just ask the librarians where the books are

My undergraduate library had a catalog that was easier and more straight forward than this. You could request materials directly from the screen where the item was -- you didn't have to type everthing over again-- like title and call number. You also could reada the holdings and know when something was added. The easiest thing here is just to ask someone. I've decided Vanderbilt has this catalog so the librarians have job security!!

The public library has a better catalog. Why ask about printing -- here in the law library, that's not an option.

I always have problems getting books when they are located in the Law Library. Although Acorn will tell me that the book is available, it is never where it is supposed to be in the Law library, and no one in the Law library is able to help. Since Acorn identifies the book as available (although it is not available in reality), I am not able to ask for the book thru inter-library loan. I must simply go without those books. THis is terribly frustrating since my dissertation is focused legal issues. All of the graduate students in my department who have attempted to use the law library have been equally frustrated. Even now, Acorn tells me that a book which I had requested is on hold for me at the Law library (this has been the case since September), but each time I go to the Law library to receive the book, it is NEVER there. I have no recourse by which I can request these books because Acorn identifies them as available, but they are not. I would like to be able to request these books via inter-library loan since the Law library is unable to locate their own books.

If I got notice about due materials at least one day before they are due, I would often be more likely to bring them in to return them rather than simply renewing them to give myself more time.

The electronic database search Webspires (?sp) DOES NOT WORK FROM MY HOME, and it used to. Can you please fix that?

This is the worst -- half the time even the librarians can't figure out what's here. Last wek we had to figure out whether Law had the 1980 Federal Register -- the record was so confusing. And there's no way to tell if something has been updated -- let alone figure out where it is.

After renewing items online via Acorn, it's inconvenient to log in AGAIN in order to check my record in order to verify checkout status...

This is my third semester at Vanderbilt and I still am not able to access my library renewal records. I have brought this to the attention of the staff at Eskind on numerous occasions. What am I to do? This is very frustrating.

Slow interface could be improved. Maybe have a simpler, "less pretty" option that would load faster on old machines.

During the course of my doctoral research, I have used library catalogs from numerous libraries in the Southeast. The searches I conduct are often done on-line with my pc. However, I have library privileges at Vanderbilt because I am an alumna; therefore, I do make trips to VU to use the library. Also, I have a membership to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville library system. Vanderbilt has the best catalog system of any of I have encountered (and those include Emory University, Duke University, UTK, Southern Baptist Seminary, McGill University Montreal, and others). Since I am not a resident of Nashville, the ability to renew books on-line is especially helpful. Even UTK doesn't have that service.

I'm visiting a friend -- there is no way to print; so why ask if I print. This terminal has no printer attached. My law school has a catalog that's easy to use and clear. This is confusing. I still have no idea where the law review is -- or whether it's been received here. If this is a top school, why don't you have a top catalog????

I do most of my research from my home computer. Even accessing the library via proxy server I still am unable to visit many research databases that the library makes available to my slow computer on campus. Those sites include: WSJ, Lexis-Nexis, and ProQuest.

I just ask the librarian -- I'm only completing this because she asked me to. I gave up using the catalog when I was a first year as it is more difficult to find things