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Effective Complaining

Started by The Doctor Alt 8, 27 September, 2012, 05:41:59 PM

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The Doctor Alt 8

I have had it with my local libarary. (Those who know we know that this is m only route for internet access)
Regaurdless of which pC I am using evey type of page I try to access runns slowly & sometimes not at all

One PC has a broken headjack stuck in the headphone socket. I have pointed this out & 3 months later it is STILL THERE

They block access to sites which they concider are "occult" first of all some of these site are NOT occult. (Such as the Fortean Times Web site)

secondly even if they are I am an ADULT and I am pretty sure that this is illegal under human rights (If I knew which act it was under I could quote it at them)

I lose at least half an hour out of the limted 2 hours permitted waiting for pages to load.

They don't update opperating systems for months...

Now I have lost twitter. can't use it at all

I have made complaints before. I just seem to be fobbed off.

What canI do to get my points taken seriously?
I have complained a


The Legendary Shark

You'll need some cheese to fix that broken jack plug for a start.

As for complaining, how about writing to your local newspaper, M.P. or parish council? See if you can get a petition together with others who feel the same way, maybe even including local teachers and pupils. Maybe get all your friends to write letters to the head librarian and the Minister of Words (or whomever is in charge of libraries).

Remember, though, that there's not a lot of money about for luxuries like libraries, so maybe you could organise a bit of help instead of just complaining. Perhaps you have a qualified IT buddy who will give the library computers a once-over occasionally; perhaps the IT class from a local school could assist for extra course credits; organise a raffle (eg.) to raise funds to fix the computers; beg some local businesses and private individuals for second-hand computers, practical aid or cash; have a look if there are any Lottery, government or private grants aimed at IT.

How's that for a start?
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Banners

Quote from: The Doctor Alt 8
What canI do to get my points taken seriously?
I have complained a

Looks like you ran out of the permitted two hours.

The Doctor Alt 8

Yep, you've guessed it.
In fact the council is bringing in volenteres for certain jobs. (So they can cut staff) They want to privatize the service (and if they had their way close down at least 2 out of the 8 libaray branches.) The locals are putting up a brave fight but I am thinking it's inevitabe.
But what do these people exspect when, asked how much council tax they would like to pay... most oppted for the lowest rate rise?



The Legendary Shark

The council tax is an unlawful charge anyway (did you ever sign a contract with the council? I know I didn't).
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TordelBack

Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 28 September, 2012, 05:36:32 PM
The council tax is an unlawful charge anyway (did you ever sign a contract with the council? I know I didn't).

We have missed you something awful, Sharky.  :D

I am blessed with a bloody fantastic local library, which is the primary source of weekly entertainment for my whole family, and at various times has been my office and my only legitimate source of free internet.  I hate to hear stories like the Doc's, a library is a society physically asserting the value it places on information access and community education, and a crappy one says a lot. 

However, my experience is that practical IT skills are in short supply in almost every organisation, and libraries are no exception.  I'd agree entirely with the Shark, and suggest your best course of action might be to approach the librarian with a proposal rather than a complaint.   

Perhaps a local tech-savvy business could spare some tech support in exchange for some good publicity, or as Sharky says, perhaps a third-level college could take it on as a project.  It's definitely worth asking around, and then coming back to the librarian with a firm proposal.

As I've found out as my scavenging activities have expanded from mushrooms and seaweed to electronics, spare parts for computers, especially PC desktops more than a few years old, can be snapped up at any decent recycling centre and in many skips.  Once you have someone with a screwdriver and a bit of confidence to hand, a new (free) headphone socket could be swapped in in about 5 minutes.  If there was any willingness to embrace change, a switch to Linux would eliminate the updating OS problem, but I suspect that's asking too much of any public service. 
   





JTurner

Librarian here...

You're out of luck if your borough is anything like the one where I work. I don't work in the public library side of things, but our library runs it's systems via corporate IT in the borough and our counterparts in public do the same (we all have to).

The 'occult' thing is common - a school where I worked blocked access to websites about Chinese New Year for this exact reason.

You want to ask for someone who handles IT queries in the library (either the local or central branch). Whenever I get an access issue I will need to forward it to corporate who 9 times out of 10 solve it without any further questions. Give them a list of URLs and say that it's for research purposes. I do take enquiries like this seriously - we deal with researchers and trainers. Your library may host external training courses and so should have a system for unblocking web filters for legit sites.

Regarding hardware, you're probably out of luck. Councils are rolling out virtual networks (as a money-saving/ outsourcing scheme) so depending where you are there may be upgrades coming, but public library terminals tend to be down the list priorities.

Software and operating system wise - again rollouts are very slow. We're still on XP and not long ago wern't even allowed IE8. Our best PCs have 2GB RAM, most have just 1GB and that's eaten up by the masses of monitoring and anti-virus systems.

JTurner

Regarding getting your mate in to fix the PC - good luck. I've bypassed IT to strip down PCs here but I'm friendly with the staff there and they know that I know my stuff. I got disciplined once, though for breaking IT rules and regs, though so don't expect council staff to let a random bloke with a screwdriver loose - it's more than their jobs are worth!

A.Cow

Quote from: The Doctor Alt 8 on 27 September, 2012, 05:41:59 PM
secondly even if they are I am an ADULT and I am pretty sure that this is illegal under human rights (If I knew which act it was under I could quote it at them)

Not sure what 'human rights' has to do with anything here.  They are giving you free access on computers which were bought with taxpayer money.  Right or wrong, as democratically-elected representatives of the people, the council have a remit to decide what you should or shouldn't be allowed to do with it.  If you make the right people aware that they will lose votes as a result then things may change.

The Doctor Alt 8

It would appear that the Libarary has now banned & blocked access to all sites it regaurds as "Social Networking"

So now I cannont gain access to my FAcebook Twitter or other sites... and it may only be a matter of time before they figure out a way to stop me comming here to.

What is even MORE STUPID is the fact that they allow Windows Messenger to exist (Although They will be discontinuing the service themselves within the year so perhaps they felt that they didn't need to BOTHER)
they have now blocked access to YUKU... on the same basis that it is a social Networking site.


This means that I can't even manage my own web site....

comming here may well be next...


The Doctor Alt 8

The block still continues.
I am going to be writting to my MP, the two local newspapers & to our radio station.

Any tips/ assistance would be appreciated.


Buttonman

In times where basic services are being cut back or eliminated completely is it really a worthwhile use of resourses to provide Twitter and Facebook access to the general public? I've not been in a library for years but when did their remit start to include the provision of Farmville and 2000adonline?

As for the council tax being illegal I'm pretty sure I never signed a form for VAT or income tax or national insurance either but I tend to take the view that taxes are needed to provide basic services for all. And Bebo.

Dandontdare

Quote from: Buttonman on 02 January, 2013, 05:57:08 PM
In times where basic services are being cut back or eliminated completely is it really a worthwhile use of resourses to provide Twitter and Facebook access to the general public? I've not been in a library for years but when did their remit start to include the provision of Farmville and 2000adonline?

libraries are becoming more and more like big internet cafes with fewer and fewer books these days, so it's a remit they've taken on. It wouldn't cost any morte to allow access to these sites. It may be worth while writing to ask for an explanation of why certain sites are blocked - if it's not a cost thing, I'd be interested to see what reason they give.

COMMANDO FORCES

I gotta agree with Mr Buttonman, in these times of austerity the tax payers money should be spent on services that are really needed.
We in Conservative controlled Maidstone have just had a multi million pound library built and yet front line services will be cut even further than they are at the moment. Until we are out of this mess, I think we need to sort out other things first.

As for the speed of the internet in the library, I think it should be the bare minimum. Why should people on benefits be on a slower speed just because they can't afford 50mb along with their Sky Sports and Movie package :lol:

The Doctor Alt 8

Apparently the block on facebook twitter ect was caused by a programe fault... caused by the the Libarary technicions trying to do something they plainly didn't have the skill to do...


Honestly they are like monkey with bleeding hammers round here.
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