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Public Computers in Cornell's Endowed Libraries

Goals of this document

The goals of this document include identifying all the public computers in the endowed libraries and developing a general idea on how they are supported and by whom. Also, this document can provide a context to initiate a discussion among library staff regarding public computing support issues both within each unit and library wide, both now and in the future.

1 Once we have determined how many public computers we have, where they are, and who is primarily responsible for them, our next step will be to clarify the roles and responsibilities related to the public computers. We seek to do this in order to determine ways we can increase the library staff’s effectiveness in serving our patrons with our public computers. As we refine our understanding of the current situation, we will naturally turn our attention towards addressing our future public computer needs.

2 To clarify, the endowed libraries and units included in this discussion are Olin Lib., Uris Lib., Kroch Lib. including RMC, Music Lib., Fine Arts Lib., Africana Lib., Engineering Lib, Math Lib., Physical Science Lib., Law Lib., Management (JGSM) Lib. and the Annex. The endowed library not covered in this discussion is the Hotel Lib. We also are not discussing any of the contract (state) college libraries. However, we welcome comments and contributions from any CUL staff member!

3 In parallel to this discussion, we will be engaging in a separate discussion focused on public printing specifically.

4 Public computers offered to our patrons within our libraries can be categorized by how they are supported. Some are supported by CIT (over 100?), others are supported by DLIT/Desktop Services (about 220), and still others are supported by individual library units (about 150?). In addition, six experimental SunRays are supported by DLIT/Library Systems. For our current discussion, we will ignore the CIT supported computers and concentrate on the library supported public computers.

[New] means introduced August 2001 or since then.

Public computers supported by Desktop Services (DS) include:

Type and quantity by location	Location summary	Patron needs fulfilled
5 120 Kiosks, in all libraries (Desktop Services). About 80 are traditional kiosks, and about 40 have been re-purposed to varying degrees, to meet unit-specific needs. Accounts for a decrease of 22 in Olin Lib. in January 2002. The approximately 40 re-purposed kiosks are: [New] Unit-specific kiosk, 4 (Law home page) in Law Lib., 5 (15” LCD) in Kroch Asia Reading Room and 6 (15” LCD) Uris Lib, 8 (17” LCDs) Uris Lib., and about 16 (IR QuickBeam) Physical Science Lib.	All endowed libraries. Unit-specific kiosks are located at Law, Kroch’s Asia Reading Room, Uris Library, and the Physical Science Library.	Full web access. SideCar for MyLibrary and Net-Print.
6 8 Internet Express Stations (Desktop Services)	Uris Library.	Full web access. SideCar for MyLibrary and Net-Print. Bear Access, including Just The Facts.
7 [New] 31 Loaner Laptops (Desktop Services). 14 in Olin Lib., 14 in Uris Lib., 2 in Physical Science Lib., 1 in Math Lib.	Olin Library, Uris Library, Physical Science Library, and the Math Library.	Laptops provide mobility within the lending library. Full productivity, including MS Office.
8 [New] 51 Public Productivity Computers (PPCs) (Desktop Services). 28 in Olin Lib. and 23 Uris Lib.	Olin Library and Uris Library	Full productivity, including MS Office and BearAccess.
9 [New] 6 Library Research Only computers (Desktop Services).	Olin Library	Full web access except for certain blocking of popular e-mail sites (Travelers Mail and common web e-mail sites.) SideCar for MyLibrary and Net-Print.
10 [New] 3 Creation Station computers (Desktop Services).	Uris Library (other Creation Stations are unit supported)	Full productivity and more.

Public computers supported by units include:

Supporting unit	Type and quantity by location	Location summary	Patron needs fulfilled
O/U Reference staff	11 About 10 computers in ETC. Within one room (O/U Ref. staff).	Olin Library	Olin CD-ROM subscriptions.
Asia Collections staff. These have commanded considerable Desktop Services support services, however	12 3 computers (Asia Collections staff).	Kroch Library: Asia Reading Room	Asian language (font) display and input support.
RMC staff	13 1 computer (RMC staff).	Kroch Library: RMC	Kiosk with an emphasis on accessing RMC on-line resources.
Music Department (Arts and Sciences) and Music Library staff	14 About 20 Macintoshes with high-end displays. Within one room (Music Dept. and Music Lib. staff).	Music Library	Music score writing and other course-specific needs.
Music Library staff	15 About 12 Listening Lab computers. Within one room (Music Lib. staff).	Music Library	Music and annotations on reserve.
O/U Reference staff	16 1 CD-ROM computer (O/U Ref. staff).	Fine Arts Library	Fine Arts course-specific needs.
ACCEL staff	17 ACCEL Lab's about 80 computers (including 2 Creation Stations) and 10 laptops (2 of which are loaners). Within 5 classrooms (ACCEL staff).	Engineering Library	Engineering course-specific needs.
EMPSL staff	18 [New] 1 Creation Station computer (EMPSL staff).	Physical Science Library	Physical Science-related software and resources.
JGSM staff	19 12 computers, some with high-end displays (JGSM staff).	Management (JGSM) Library	Management-related software and resources, both on-line and CD-ROM based.
Library Systems (D-LIT)	20 [New] Library Systems staff support 6 experimental SunRays. Note: Library Systems coordinates CIT’s developmental efforts and support, both on a contractual and on a partnership basis. Library Systems also works in concert with Desktop Services and Olin Reference staff.	Olin Library	Full web access except for certain blocking of popular e-mail sites (Travelers Mail and common web e-mail sites.) (No SideCar or Net-Print.)
(What’s missing?)