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Planning a Lab Set-Up
Planning a Lab Set-Up
3:02 PM EDT 6/20/04
Hi -

We are tossing around the idea of establishing a computer lab area.

I was hoping that some of you could give me some input on your labs/classrooms - such as:

? Layout ideas (did you use an existing room, did you enclose an open space, what did you use to do so?)
? Staffing (do you staff it, do you use library staff, do you use volunteers?)
? Security concerns (what security issues have you encountered that you did not foresee, how did you address them?)
? Time management software (do you use it, which one?)
? Experiences in general

If you would prefer to e-mail me, I can be reached at [url mailto:celler@co.gaston.nc.us ]celler@co.gaston.nc.us[/url].

Any and all help would be appreciated greatly.

Thanks - Chad
RE: Planning a Lab Set-Up
3:02 PM EDT 6/20/04 as a reply to Chad Eller.
Wow! Great questions.

My first suggestion is to look at the Technology Planning resources in the "Technology Resources" section. There are some good articles & links in there that may provide some good ideas/tools for *general* tech planning in libraries (not necessarily specific to computer labs).

Re: the timing software, you might head over to the "Software" forum for the discussion under the "reservation software" topic posted by aneis. There are some great suggestions in there for software or other solutions appropriate for (in this case, a 19 station) lab.
RE: RE: Planning a Lab Set-Up
3:02 PM EDT 6/20/04 as a reply to Chad Eller.
Chad,

We converted an existing room for our lab. It was the law library and we essentially gave that back to the county and reclaimed the space. We did have to run electrical and network cabling. We also put up a partition around the lab area.

Staffing has been the biggest problem. I used to have to supervise the lab 2 hours out of every day until I had some back and neck issues that would not allow me to do that anymore. We use some volunteer help, but it is mostly our YS librarians that handle the checking out and logging on of the patrons.

A couple of suggestions that I would make are, to place the lab as close to the desk you want them to check out from as possible. Our librarians have to walk a bit of a distance into another room to log the patrons in and it is a big time-waster. Also, it is harder for them to keep an eye out for patrons (especially kids) misbehaving.

The second suggestion would be to avoid buying the furniture where the monitor is under the desk and the patron has to look down through a glass panel to see it. Though it looks nice, it violates ever rule of ergonomics and is very hard on a person's neck and back over the long term. The tope of the viewable area should be about eye level.

Wendell
RE: Planning a Lab Set-Up
3:02 PM EDT 6/20/04 as a reply to Chad Eller.
Hi Chad,

As a traveling trainer for the Gates Foundation, I trained in a lot of different labs and can share some quick thoughts about my personal opinions/experiences.

Layout - I personally really like a horse-shoe shape, with participants facing one another, rather than classroom style rows. Class seems to flow better and there's more opportunity for interaction between participants. I also am not a fan of recessed monitors. I realize they increase privacy, but they seem to be difficult for people to see. They are also hard for the instructor to see when walking around assisting people. An LCD projector is essential for classes and I like when libraries attach them to the ceiling in a permanent position (rather than storing them in a room until they are needed). Don't forget to leave room for people to write.... Wireless is nice because you don't have the spaghetti mess to deal with....

Staffing - I have seen this handled a lot of different ways. The main branch of the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library has a computer lab with full-time staff monitoring the lab. It seemed very well organized. I was also recently at the LaCrosse, Wisconsin Public Library - they also have a computer lab with timer software (Pharos??) - the patrons were doing self-check in and sign-up and it was all handled by the software. Seemed pretty slick....

Those are just some random ideas and examples. I'll try to think of other places I visited and will post more as I do.

Good luck!

Brenda
RE: Planning a Lab Set-Up
3:02 PM EDT 6/20/04 as a reply to Chad Eller.
Thanks for the feedback.

We were looking into some of the time management software ourselves, SAM by Comprise I believe is one of them.

This "project" is down the road but it is coming and I thank you all for your help!

Chad