Most of our libraries with more than 7 public computers have at least one as 'immediate use'. These are computers which cannot be booked in advance and can be used for a maximum of 30 minutes. They are very popular and do help to reduce the queuing time when the library is busy. In fact, several libraries which did not originally have immediate use PCs have now swapped some of the standard PCs (60 minute sessions, bookable in advance for anyone with a library card) onto the other set-up. Thankfully this can all be done remotely and very quickly by our IT Services department.
I cannot think of any drawbacks we have come across, even where the immediate PCs are physically grouped with the standard PCs. The computer shows clearly how long the session length is before the user logs on and there are warning 15 minutes and 5 minutes before the session ends, so no-one should be taken by surprise. Staff do have the facility to increase the session length if the library is quiet, so we are not cutting back usage unnecessarily.
Regards,
Kirsty Robinson
People's Network Development Manager
Hampshire Library and Information Service
Library Headquarters
81 North Walls
Winchester SO23 8BY
Email: [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: lis-pub-libs: UK Public Libraries
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of David Tanner
Sent: 29 March 2005 09:56
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: PN machines session times
Hi All
Do any of you have experience of having one or two machines as
"quick-access" say 15-30 minutes only?
If so any thoughts on pros and cons of this?
thanks
David Tanner
Project Officer (Lifelong Learning)
Business and Community Services (Information)
North Yorkshire County Council
Library HQ
21 Grammar School Lane
Northallerton
North Yorkshire
DL6 1DF
Tel: 01609 533814
Fax: 01609 780793
email: [log in to unmask]
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