I’m not sure if many people know, but the Bentley library has changed the way to maintain a reservation for study rooms via the touch screens.
In order to reserve a study room in the library, you must first reserve online through the Bentley website. What has changed from previous years, though, is that once you get to the library room, you must start your reservation on the touch screen regardless of whether you already made the reservation on the website.
Out of pure habit I most of the time forget to start the reservation. If you do not begin your reservation by pressing the start button, then after 15 min another group can make a reservation and take your room. On a few occasions my group has ended up getting kicked out of a room we had previously reserved because we had not started the reservation.
I understand the point of this is to avoid empty library rooms, but based on my experience I feel the new change is unnecessary. Many times, even if a room is reserved, students will walk around and take any empty library room until the next reservation starts and they are kicked out. Rarely are library rooms left empty.
In the chaos that can arise in group meetings, it is hard to remember to have to begin the reservation. Sure, it is easy to go out and simply press the start button on the touch screen, but when you are stressed about a project, simple tasks slip your mind. Further, being kicked out of a room you already reserved adds even more stress and frustration.
Therefore, I feel it is sufficient to have students only make reservations through the library website and not have to begin the reservation using the touch screen.