Finding a book

If a foreign ajarn or student is having problems finding a book on the shelves, there are several English language phrases that may be useful in this situation. We may say:

I will try to help you find that.

This immediately reassures the English-speaking visitor to the library that we care about whether or not the book is found, and we are ready to assist with the problem. Hearing that we are ready to help can help to calm down a situation where an ajarn or student has very little time to look for a book, and there are problems in locating it. The first thing we can do is to ask for the title and call number of the book, to make sure that the library visitor has looked with the correct information:

What is the title? And call number?

We can explain to the library visitor as we check on this information that we are just making sure everything is listed as it should be:

We will just see if this is listed as it should be.

Sometimes the visitor may be looking in the wrong library, for example. We should inform them very politely that they are not in the correct place, to avoid making it seem as if they have made a foolish error that they should feel ashamed about:

That should be in another branch of the library.

or

That should be on another campus.

When we must inform the visitor which library to go to in order to find the book, it is better to avoid using the names of the libraries, which will not be familiar to most foreign visitors. So it is better not to say:

This is the Pridi Banomyong Library and copies of the book are in the Sanya Dharmasakti Library and the Professor Direk Jayanama Library.

To a foreign visitor this information will be extremely confusing, because it involves three Thai names they may never have heard before. It is possible that they do not know who Pridi Banomyong, Sanya Dharmasakti, and Professor Direk Jayanama were. Our statement will just sound like a bunch to meaningless syllables to them. Instead, it is most helpful if we explain:

This is the general library. Copies of the book are found in the libraries of the Faculties of Law and Political Science.

It is possible that the visitor will not know where these Faculties are, so it may be useful if we offer directions. If we see from Koha that the visitor is in the correct library and has noted the right call number, then we may suggest:

Let’s look for it again.

The reader may be very rushed and say:

I already looked for it.

We may politely explain:

Sometimes readers replace books in the wrong spot on the shelves, so it is worth looking.

If the book is nowhere on the shelf near where it should be, then we may add:

Let’s put on a search on the title.

We should always explain how long a search will take. Although visitors may seem impatient or irritated if they cannot find a book on the shelves, international students and ajarns will know that everywhere in the world, books are put in the wrong place by readers, and this is a major challenge for any library shelving staff. If the visitor agrees to have a search placed on the book, we can offer the option:

When the book is found, we can have it delivered to the TU library closest to you. 

We can also offer alternate methods of finding the book in case it is not located in our collection. By looking at Worldcat, we can see if the same book is in a collection nearby in Bangkok, and if the visitor is in a hurry to see the book, then it may be worthwhile for them to look at it in another collection.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)