NCSU Libraries Focus Online

Volume 21 number 1 - Fall 2000

By Carolyn Argentati, Public Services

The fall 2000 semester ushered in some exciting changes to the NCSU Libraries' Laptop Lending Service. This service offers three different laptop configurations: Dell machines running the Windows '98 operating system, Dell machines with a dual-boot option offering Windows and Linux, and Macintosh laptops. Provost Kermit L. Hall, in recognition of the value of this service to NC State students and as a complement to the university's open-source strategy announced in spring 2000, made a set of twenty-five dual-boot laptops available for this service.

Laptops are borrowed from the Reserve Desk at the D. H. Hill Library and the circulation desks of the four branch libraries (Design, Natural Resources, Textiles, and Veterinary Medical). Any of the library laptops may be connected to the campus network at ports located throughout the Hill library. The four branch libraries provide wireless network access for laptops borrowed there. Beginning in fall 2000, wireless networking will also be available in the Reading Room on the ground floor of D. H. Hill, near the main entrance, for library and personal laptops equipped with an IEEE 802.11-compliant wireless networking card.

But that is not all. The D. H. Hill Library also began supporting "nomadic computing" this fall, in cooperation with the university's Information Technology Division. With nomadic computing, individuals may bring their own laptop computers into the library. After making a few quick changes to network settings and logging in to a special Web page with a Unity identification and password, these library users gain access to the Internet and campus network. More details about nomadic computing are available on the Laptop Lending Service Web page at the URL link http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/ads/laptop.html

From the time the Laptop Lending Service began in August 1999 through June 2000, these laptops circulated 5,288 times. Each loan is for four hours, with an optional four-hour renewal. User feedback on the hardware and software features of the machines and other elements of the service has been extremely positive.