[Libs-Or] Questions regarding public computer set-ups & reservation management options

[Buzzy Nielsen]

I originally sent this only to K'Lyn (although I slightly modified it 
since then), but perhaps others of you would be interested.

While I haven't used Userful (although I've been impressed with them), 
my last library in Coos County used home-rolled Linux desktops, and I'm 
migrating Hood River over to them, too. I'd never go back to Windows or 
Mac OS. They're so much easier in terms of security, and you're able to 
get so much more out of the machine in terms of speed and features. I'd 
highly recommend it. In case you're curious, a colleague and I presented 
on using Linux on public computers a few years ago at Online Northwest. 
It speaks a bit to pros and cons. Here are the slides:
http://www.slideshare.net/nbpl/linux-desktops

For what it's worth, Coos County uses Ubuntu <http://www.ubuntu.com/>, 
and Hood River is going to be using Linux Mint <http://linuxmint.com/> 
(which is related to Ubuntu). Userful uses a different distribution 
called Fedora <http://fedoraproject.org/>. All three are very nice, 
stable, and fast dsitributions of Linux.

We chose not to go with Userful not because they have a bad product. 
Quite to the contrary, it's nice and well-thought out. Instead, we just 
wanted to be able to alter the suite of software and the overall 
computing environment more than they were currently offering. Still, 
they are well worth looking into.

We use a time management software called Libki ( http://libki.org/). 
It's simple right now (only time tracking currently), but is improving 
continually.

Please let me know if you have other questions.

Cheers!
Buzzy Nielsen

************************************
Library Director
Hood River County Library District
502 State St
Hood River, OR 97031
541-387-7062
http://hoodriverlibrary.org


On 02/01/2012 12:10 PM, Diedre Conkling wrote:
> The Siletz Public Library has 2 of the multi-station computers from 
> Userful and they are working great.  I think they cost a little more 
> at start-up but over time they are not too expensive.  We haven't had 
> any problems which were not addressed very quickly and through their 
> remote access.  This means staff does not have to spend much time with 
> the computers upgrading or troubleshooting.  We also don't need to pay 
> for technical help, which is great since we do not have an IT person 
> on staff.
> The staff really like the way they can remotely manage the stations 
> from the Circulation Desk.  They had not had a system that would time 
> out users before but this is just part of the Userful package.  They 
> also like that they can set the computers to shut down a little before 
> closing time.  I think there might be an additional cost to have 
> patrons sign-on to the computers using a library card and pin number 
> but we did not have a use for this so I am not sure.
> We don't reserve computers ahead of time anymore.  We did for awhile 
> but it has worked better for the staff and patrons just to have a 
> first come/first served situation.  With the computers automatically 
> timing out at the end of an hour (the amount of time we give users but 
> this can be adjusted) we have been able to quickly accommodate 99% or 
> more of our users quickly and efficiently.
> Here is some information from the Userful manual, 
> http://support.userful.com/wiki/index.php/Manuals/UD/Remote_Monitoring_%26_Control_User_Guide.
> I know that I am not fully addressing your questions but maybe this 
> information will help.
>
> On Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 11:51 AM, K'Lyn Hann 
> <klyn.hann at newbergoregon.gov <mailto:klyn.hann at newbergoregon.gov>> wrote:
>
>
>
> -- 
> /Diedre Conkling//
> /Lincoln County Library District/
> /P.O. Box 2027/
> /Newport, OR 97365/
> /Phone & Fax: 541-265-3066/
> /Work email///: //diedre at lincolncolibrarydist.org/ 
> <mailto:diedre at lincolncolibrarydist.org>/
> /Home email: ///diedre08 at gmail.com/ <mailto:diedre08 at gmail.com>
>
>
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>
>
>
>
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