Refrence This

Reference This

By Felicia Whatley

For all of you UMass Bostonians who advocated to keep the library open on Sundays, I really don’t understand your reasoning. I got up this Saturday morning around 11:00am and did some house chores like laundry and bathroom cleaning. Then despite the fact that it was raining cats and dogs, I thought it would be a good day to utilize our school’s library.

I have two term papers that are due in about three weeks. This weekend I did not have Army drill, stuff to do for work, or family commitments. So I showered, bundled up, and made the easy drive from North Quincy to UMass Boston.

I took the catwalk and entered the library from the second floor. I gravitated toward the “Circulation Desk”. There were four of them, obviously young students, occupying the desk.

I asked, “Is there someone who can help me find sources? I have two terms papers, one about Iraq and the other regarding Iran, so I want recent sources. Who can I ask to help me with that?”

“Well that would be the ‘Reference Desk’ but they are not here on weekends, but you can get some online sources from our databases,” said the young female sitting there.

“Um, ok. Which floor?”

She directed me to the forth floor. I jumped on the elevator and made the trip two flights up. I sat down at a computer and attempted to log in. The computer wanted my UMB email address and password. I put them both into the computer accordingly and was not recognized by the system. After the fourth try I said sarcastically “this is great. Just wonderful.” A few people glanced up from their computers but said nothing.

This time I took the stairs. I went back to the Circulation Desk and low and behold the same people were still sitting there doing nothing. I explained what had happened and the chirpy young female said, “Well if you have your ID you can use the Computer Lab downstairs, but they close in ten minutes. Sorry.”

You know if I was still in high school, I probably would have punched her. It would not have solved anything, but I would have felt a lot better. How hard would it have been for one of them to get off their ass and make a little effort to help me?

For those of you who made a big deal about not wanting the UMB library to close on Sundays, I don’t understand why. As far as I was concerned, the library was unofficially closed Saturdays too. What a waste of time.