Patron: Do you have Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and A Comedy of Errors?
Librarian:Â Yes we have The Complete Works of Shakespeare.
Patron: Does it have Hamlet in it?
Librarian: Yes it has The Complete Works of Shakespeare in it.
Patron: Does it have Romeo and Juliet in it?
Librarian: Yes it has The Complete Works of Shakespeare in it.
Patron: Does it have the comedies in it?
Librarian: Yes it has The Complete Works of Shakespeare in it.
Patron:Â Oh well, thanks anyway.
Originally uploaded by ashkev.
We now have the server running. We have had data poles installed in our Children’s area and in the reference room. In the reference area we are using two study carrels that were previously in storage. We purchased 15″ Acer flat panel monitors for about $150.00 each. We will also put new black keyboards and mice out, and I think the whole thing will look sharp.
In the Children’s area we found a short round table, also in storage. Our maintenance man drilled a hole in it, and I think that we will be able to put four small stations there. We bought little 14″ monitors and are looking for cute colorful keyboards and mice.
I have seen the “How addicted to blogging are you?” meme all over the biblioblogosphere recently…so I took the test…. but rather than post the findings, I found the Zombie apocalypse meme much more entertaining, so here it is:
Let your curiousity guide you… toward open source | The MaintainIT Project
The MaintainIT project is working to help libraries see how others are keeping up with their technology challenges. From their web site:
The Maintain IT Project is a three-year project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. We are working with public libraries to identify best practices of technical support for public computers. The Project works with libraries throughout the U.S. and Canada, while focusing on libraries in the 18 states that are receiving the first round of hardware upgrade grants from the Foundation.
MaintainIT is a project of TechSoup, (www.techsoup.org) a nonprofit with extensive experience helping other nonprofits use technology effectively. TechSoup has also worked with community technology centers (CTCs), who provide public computing programs similar to those in libraries. Techsoup Stock (www.techsoup.org/stock ) has distributed over 2.5 million donated and discounted products to nonprofits and public libraries, freeing more than $600 million dollars for other uses.
So here is where things stand with the Edubuntu project at the Cass District Library. I purchased a server from a local computer shop. Here are the specs:
The server cost me about $700.00. I also purchased an 8 port switch for about $30.00. I was going to try to get PXE boot NIC cards, but to save money, I opted to use rom-o-matic to get my current NICs to boot to the LAN. I managed to scrounge together six computers to use as terminals. These along with the two I have running as a test will give me a total of eight terminals. This will more than double our total number of Public Access Computers. I have them ready to go. On the server, I installed Edubuntu-server and the server add-ons. I created user accounts and locked down menus using Sabayon. I did run into this problem, but fixed it using the advice given. I have installed java and flash, and have made sure that flash sound is working. This issue is covered in the FAQ’s. I have a quote for a new data pole, and there are outlets in the floor, so once the pole is in, I should be ready to put these babies out for the public. We have some old study carols which we will use to house the adult stations, and we have a short round table for the kid’s stations. Our maintenance man has drilled a hole in the table for us to run cables through. I am very anxious to get these stations out. I will keep everyone updated as to progress on the project. When I am finished, I also plan to put together a step by step how-to for other librarians to use.
Well, my garage door is kaput. Should I go with Green, White or Almond? Here are the colours from the manufacturer’s web site. Here are some renderings of my house with a white or green door.
Please let me know your opinions in the comments to this post.
Originally uploaded by ashkev.
So, I was inspired by these youtube videos to use some old junk machines we had at the library as Edubuntu thin clients. For a server I used an old Gateway Gates Grant server a PIII 600M computer with about 500 megs of ram. The clients are all pII or PIII workstations (some of them old Gates grant machines.) The setup was fairly easy (I was simultaneously setting up my home computer as a server with an old machine as a client for my kids.) So far the cost in equipment has been zero. We had PXE bootable nic cards in the clients. The server seems to be working, although there were some problems with the installation, because of the unusual nature of this particular server.
So far the patrons seem to like the machines. I don’t yet have them ready to play sound in java and flash games….but I have figured out how to do it.
The next step is to acquire a decent server…maybe a 2 gig processor and a gig or 2 of ram, so that we can use the rest of our junk machines as Edubuntu clients. This will more than double our available internet stations.
Fourth of July Events | WSBT – South Bend – Your Local News Leader | Related Content
Granger
Fireworks display (all ground effects, no aerial shells) begins at dusk (approximately 9:30-10:30 p.m.) Saturday; Sunny Haven Recreation Park Family Nudist Resort, 11425 Anderson Road; (574) 277-5356; carpooling suggested because parking is limited, and bring a lawn chair or blanket for seating (ages 18 and younger must be accompanied by an adult).
