I don't think it's clear from the original posting that the Professor Weltschmerz is actually in violation. It may be that that Professor Dasistmeinfilm requested HIS video two hours after Prof. W. took it out. Much depends on the length of the loan or booking period. (And also whether it's pornographic or not!!
) In any event, it doesn't seem that the irate Prof. D. is feeling exactly collegial himself. I'd recommend going to whatever lengths necessary to try to serve as an intermediary..
Greg
>Think of it as a kind of academic version of the social contract, if you >will. So, if jerky professor Schmertzkopf chooses to run roughshod >over his or her end of the deal, to bring another class to its knees, to >screw up the study plans of students, by throwing a video in the backseat >for weeks or simply holding onto it for the hell of it...I'm not >particularly sympathetic to his or her privacy; privacy in such >cases, is sorta tantamount to keeping malfeasance nicely covered >up. Now, I don't usually make a practice of ratting out >felonious faculty to their colleagues, but I DO call the departmental >chair if it gets bad enough. Take strong enough action, and >the problem usually ends in short order.
>
>
>
>
>
Even if you have no stated policy, it can >never be a good idea to give out the name of a patron who has material >that someone else is eagerly (and in this case, angrily) awaiting! >The likelihood that Prof. A. will harass Prof. B. is simply too >great. It might be easier to contact the department that your >adjunct works for and ask them to have Prof B. get in touch with you >ASAP. (Since both faculty members may belong to the same dept., I >doubt it would be wise to even hint to the department representative >you're dealing with as to why you need to reach the adjunct prof. >Hope that doesn't sound TOO paranoid). Good luck.
>
>Greg
>
>>From: "Gail Fedak"
>>Reply-To: videolib@library.berkeley.edu
>>To: Multiple recipients of list
>>Subject: Patron privacy
>>Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 13:46:34 -0800 (PST)
>>
>>This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>>
>>------=_NextPart_000_0115_01C2C6E4.A3E98AF0
>>Content-Type: text/plain;
>> charset="iso-8859-1"
>>Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>>
>>I would like to find out if our privacy policy is appropriate or if >we =
>>are being unnecessarily cautious. When a video is checked out to = >
>>Instructor A, and Instructor B comes to check out the same video >while =
>>Instructor A has it, we do not tell Instructor B who has it. Because >=
>>both instructors are probably using the same video in each of their = >
>>classes, although not necessarily on the same day at the same hour, >we =
>>will call Instructor A to ask if s/he can return the program early so >=
>>Instructor B can also use it. This works well for us 99% of the time. >=
>>Also, most instructors know that they can reserve videos to assure >their =
>>availability at a given time. Today I had an "Instructor B" >who was more =
>>than a little aggravated that we had checked out "his" >video (one he =
>>requested we purchase years ago) to an "Instructor A" and >would not tell =
>>him who has it. We have been trying to contact "Instructor >A" for =
>>several days (he's an adjunct, so is difficult to contact), but to no >=
>>avail. Instructor B challenged our privacy policy and inquired if the >=
>>"library privacy act" applied to academic media libraries. >I said that =
>>it did, but would ask other academic media libraries about their >privacy =
>>policies. Are we being too rigid about who knows what someone else >has =
>>checked out?=20
>>Thanks in advance for your input.
>>Gail B. Fedak
>>Manager, Instructional Media Resources
>>Middle Tennessee State University
>>Murfreesboro, TN 37132
>>phone 615-898-2740
>>fax 615-898-2530
>>email gfedak@mtsu.edu
>>=20
>>
>>------=_NextPart_000_0115_01C2C6E4.A3E98AF0
>>Content-Type: text/html;
>> charset="iso-8859-1"
>>Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>I would like to find out if our privacy =
>>policy is=20
>>appropriate or if we are being unnecessarily cautious. When a video >is =
>>checked=20
>>out to Instructor A, and Instructor B comes to check out the=20 >
>>same video while Instructor A has it, we do not =
>>tell Instructor B=20
>>who has it. Because both instructors are probably using the same >video =
>>in each=20
>>of their classes, although not necessarily on the same day at the = >
>>same=20
>>hour, we will call Instructor A to ask if s/he can return =
>>the=20
>>program early so Instructor B can also use it. This works well for us >=
>>99% of the=20
>>time. Also, most instructors know that they can reserve videos to >assure =
>>their=20
>>availability at a given time. Today I had an "Instructor B" >who was =
>>more=20
>>than a little aggravated that we had checked out "his" >video (one he =
>>requested=20
>>we purchase years ago) to an "Instructor A" and would not >tell him =
>>who has=20
>>it. We have been trying to contact "Instructor A" for >several days =
>>(he's an=20
>>adjunct, so is difficult to contact), but to no avail. Instructor B = >
>>
>>challenged our privacy policy and inquired if the "library >privacy act" =
>>applied=20
>>to academic media libraries. I said that it did, but would ask = >
>>
>>other academic media libraries about their privacy policies. Are we = >
>>being=20
>>too rigid about who knows what someone else has checked out?=20 >
>>
>>
>Thanks in advance for your =
>>input.
>>
>Gail B. Fedak
>Manager, Instructional =
>>Media=20
>>Resources
>Middle Tennessee State University
>Murfreesboro, TN =
>>
>>37132
>phone 615-898-2740
>fax 615-898-2530
>email >>href=3D"mailto:gfedak@mtsu.edu">gfedak@mtsu.edu
>
>> >
>>
>>------=_NextPart_000_0115_01C2C6E4.A3E98AF0--
>
>
>The new MSN 8: smart spam >protection and 2 months FREE*
>
Gary Handman
>
Director
>
Media Resources Center
>
Moffitt Library
>
UC Berkeley
>
ghandman@library.berkeley.edu
>http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC
>
>
>--=====================_22989562==_.ALT--