kareina

(recorded here because it amuses me to make a note of it. Edited to add: the request was approved :-)

Dear T.,

I don't think we have had a chance to meet yet, I am (KM)'s new long-distance, half-time PhD student working on geochemistry of Viking Age steatite as a second PhD project (my first was in geology). I am writing to ask about the possibility of getting a small fee paid for by the archaeology department. The library tells me (see below) that, if you are willing to let them do it, the fee they have already charged my account for copying a document on my behalf can be applied to the archaeology account. Therefore I am writing to ask you if this is an option? (I might not ask for help with such a small transaction, but the international bank fees associated with transactions in another currency have the potential to be greater than the charge itself.)

Since I live in Luleå Sweden and don't get to Durham often (I was there in January, and plan to return for the Grave Concerns conference in July) I have been busy learning how to get my hands on the literature I need for my research. For the most part it is pretty easy, many papers are available in pdf automatically either through the Durham library, or, failing that, through the library here at the Luleå University of Technology in northern Sweden where I work half-time. (However, LTU doesn't have an archaeology department, so, for the most part I need to use my Durham library log-in to obtain things.) This works great most of the time, except for those occasions where the Durham library has the resource, but only in paper, and it is necessary to photocopy it, in which case it turns out there is a copying fee if I can't make it there to copy it myself. (I was rather surprise to discover how much more common it is for archaeologists to publish their research as book chapters; geologists normally publish their results in journal articles.)

Now that I have learned how this works at Durham I think that my normal policy will be "keep a list of things the library has in paper that I want to see, and when I am next in town, use the library book scanner to copy it myself without incurring any charges". I know they have one because I managed to copy a few items when I was in Durham, but not as much as I would have liked. The ID card printer was broken my first week in town, so I couldn't get my card or access the library till my second week in town (of two total), which severely limited how much time I was able to spend in the library.

Thanks for considering my request for this £1 charge being covered by the department.