What made you go WTF today?

[GGT]

I don't know how German school libraries work, or even how they work in different US states.

But I do know our PA public universities share their 'institutional' access to journal subscriptions with public high school libraries (rather, their Librarians' requests), because tax payor dollars are considered the common denominator.

It's a complicated process that evolved over time. Vocational and Technology schools had to fight for access to studies/publications/journals once reserved for "colleges and universities" only. Traditional Academia was loathe to give up their special status that way, until they were reminded that state taxes not only helped fund their 'institution', but that in-state students were the bulk of their student population.

[Loki]

Ignoring the rather obvious point that even universities don't subscribe to every possible journal.

The in-state part of your post doesn't make sense either. The in-state students rarely pay the real cost of tuition. Part of that cost is subsidized by the university; it doesn't help that public universities can't raise tuition sufficiently to cover the difference between those two costs. If anything, the state is dependent on the public colleges to continue educating its students at a discounted price, even as government contributions to public universities have plummeted over the last few decades. The real money comes from out-of-state (and foreign) students.

[GGT]

Ignoring the rather obvious point that even universities don't subscribe to every possible journal.

That's not the point. It's access (at affordable rates) that any public school Librarian can use with a pretty simple "request" process.

[Loki]

Did you read anything that was actually posted here? The problem is that schools and colleges don't subscribe to every journal under the sun. When someone needs an article from a journal that the school/college aren't subscribed to, problems arise. Don't see what's so complicated about this...

[GGT]

Ignoring the rather obvious point that even universities don't subscribe to every possible journal.

The in-state part of your post doesn't make sense either. The in-state students rarely pay the real cost of tuition. Part of that cost is subsidized by the university; it doesn't help that public universities can't raise tuition sufficiently to cover the difference between those two costs. If anything, the state is dependent on the public colleges to continue educating its students at a discounted price, even as government contributions to public universities have plummeted over the last few decades. The real money comes from out-of-state (and foreign) students.

Reply to your quick edit:

NO ONE pays the "real cost" of university tuition. But state universities, in general, not only subsidize in-state students...but rely on them. Their citizens built the very infrastructure that grew to support them.

It's absurd to say the "real money" comes from out-of-state or foreign students, when we all know Sports/Athletic programs are the biggest funders.

[wiggin]

That's not the point. It's access (at affordable rates) that any public school Librarian can use with a pretty simple "request" process.

You've clearly never done this process. I have a much easier request process than they do, and it still significantly drops the chance I'll read an article if I can't get immediate access... and trust me, the two major institutions I've worked at while doing research have libraries far superior to nearly any other in the world.

[Khendraja'aro]

Yeah, it drops the chance alright. If that article hadn't been related to an exam I have to go through, I wouldn't have bothered driving to the library just for that. After all, I did not even know if the article was actually worth my time.

[Ominous Gamer]

Had the sheriff arrest a Mr. Batman at work today.

[Loki]

They finally got him.

[GGT]

You've clearly never done this process. I have a much easier request process than they do, and it still significantly drops the chance I'll read an article if I can't get immediate access... and trust me, the two major institutions I've worked at while doing research have libraries far superior to nearly any other in the world.

No, I've never done the process myself. But I watched my ex-husband do it for years....first as a "teacher" at a vocational/technology school, than as a "professor" at a small state college. I was surprised at the resources Librarians can get using the request process.

[wiggin]

The time it takes to receive a requested item completely disrupts a research project. If most articles were request-only, no one would ever get any real work done.

[Loki]

I just used the request process to get a book on the same topic as my dissertation and Dexter Season 6 (which, unfortunately, does not relate to my dissertation).

[GGT]

The time it takes to receive a requested item completely disrupts a research project. If most articles were request-only, no one would ever get any real work done.

The initial discussion was about teachers accessing articles as teaching tools, not collecting data for academic research projects....

[Khendraja'aro]

The initial discussion was about teachers accessing articles as teaching tools, not collecting data for academic research projects....

Same train of thought applies. I don't really want to wait for an approval process when I'm thinking about teaching something next week.

[Ominous Gamer]

Items requested between libraries in my system take 3 days. Items requested from outside the system take on average over 2 weeks. We also do not request DVDs and CDs from outside the system, and this week we cancelled all loaning agreements with jails.

[Ominous Gamer]

everyone here has had the chance to read about the zoo I live in. Maybe my mom has some sort of gift for attracting animals. We found a ferret in the driveway a few months ago, seriously who finds a ferret? And today our front door was blocked by a full grown gopher tortoise. Wtf.

[Loki]

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/natur...g-straight-up/

[Aimless]

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/10/ju...html?hpt=hp_t3

Seriously, wtf is wrong with kids? How can they be so ridiculously dumb?

[Loki]

What's wrong with the police?

[Loki]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthi...witter-account

Terrorist cat.

[GGT]

Twitter is the biggest WTF. Seriously. Just because The White House, The Pope, and the Dalai Lama have Twitter accounts...plus every News agency in the world...doesn't make Twitter a good social media outlet.

[GGT]

Speaking of Twitter....WTF. The Dow took a nose-dive in reaction to a bogus Tweet from AP *claiming the WH had been bombed and President Obama was injured*.

I don't know which is worse: that AP uses Twitter, that their account could be hacked by the Syrian Technology Army, or that traders on NYSE could be so twitchy in response to Twitter posts.

[Veldan Rath]

Hey, we agree on this too. What ever happened to confirmation? AND, I was pretty pissed that the traders were blaming the computers.

[Ominous Gamer]

Why would AP not use twitter? For immediate news its the best place to turn for local and international coverage. News on twitter literally travels faster than an earthquake's seismic waves.

[RandBlade]

that traders on NYSE could be so twitchy in response to Twitter posts.

Surely a successful trader is one who can take actions before the others.

[earthJoker]

Only if they are the right actions.

[GGT]

And only in response to confirmed FACTS.

[earthJoker]

And only in response to confirmed FACTS.

Actually that doesn't matter. As long you do the right thing, nobody ask you for the reasons. Only if things go wrong the guilty is searched.

[GGT]

Actually that doesn't matter. As long you do the right thing, nobody ask you for the reasons. Only if things go wrong the guilty is searched.

But what do traders consider the "right" thing? Exploiting emotions, particularly fear, to make money. Is naked greed the "right" thing?

[Aimless]

http://blog.asiantown.net/-/17945/la...g-too-handsome

True to his roots: Looking pensive in the company of a camel