Wireless Laptops for Library Instruction

Citation

Klump Pilston, A. (2002), "Wireless Laptops for Library Instruction", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 19 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/lhtn.2002.23919caf.004

Wireless Laptops for Library Instruction

Anna Klump Pilston

Located in Erie, Pennsylvania, the Behrend Library serves the students, faculty and staff of Penn State Erie - The Behrend College. Behrend's student body comprises 3,100 full-time undergraduates and 150 MBA students, and there are 257 faculty members. Employing four professional librarians, the Library contains over 100,000 volumes, and 1,000 serial subscriptions. Through the Penn State library system, shared by all 23 campuses that make up Penn State University, the Behrend Library has access to over 8,000 electronic journals and almost 4.4 million volumes.

Last year three of Behrend's reference librarians taught approximately 100 bibliographic instruction sessions to over 2,500 students. Some of these sessions were lecture-style only, while others included "hands-on" instruction at the library's 14 public workstations on the main floor. Unfortunately, these workstations must be closed to the public during "hands-on" sessions. In the past this has been a minor problem, but during the Fall 2001 semester more professors either requested "hands-on" instruction during the session itself, or brought their classes back for a second lesson period, so the students could work individually with the librarian. This meant that there were occasions when patrons had difficulty finding an available workstation in the library.

In the past there has been some discussion about installing desktop computers in the Behrend Library's current instruction room, but there are several problems with this plan. Besides being used for all library instruction, this room is also used for faculty meetings, presentations, and a regularly scheduled library research course, among other things. Above all, the room needs to be versatile, and converting it into a computer lab would seriously hamper that. Furthermore, the room would have to be completely renovated to accommodate new wiring, which would be very expensive.

Laptop computers in the Behrend Library are not a new idea; during the 2000-2001 school year, mobile Ethernet ports were installed in the library for patrons with laptops, and these have proved popular. In October 2001, a staff member of Behrend's Computer Center suggested that the library might be a good place to install wireless access to the Penn State network. Eventually this wireless coverage will probably cover the entire campus, but the library was proposed as one of the first locations to receive these access capabilities. With this announcement of a wireless network on campus, therefore, came the idea to use laptop computers in the library's instruction classroom. Laptop computers are obviously portable and would be put away after every instruction session, allowing the furniture to be rearranged as needed and the room to retain its flexibility. Additionally, the absence of wires would be much safer, since the classroom can get crowded when a large class is using it. Laptops can also be used with the classroom's existing furniture, which would significantly cut down the cost of the project.

A literature search in library and information science databases on the use of laptops for library instruction yielded very little, but searching the Internet with Google was a bit more successful, retrieving a few articles and presentations on the subject. A request for help and information was also posted on two library discussion lists: STS-L, a discussion group for science and technology librarians sponsored by the Science and Technology Section (STS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), and BI-L, the Bibliographic Instruction Discussion Group, sponsored by the Instruction Section (IS) of ACRL. Our request asked list members if they had any experience with wireless laptops in a bibliographic instruction environment and, if so, what advantages and disadvantages they had come across. The responses to our questions constitute the bulk of this paper. A total of 15 responses were received from the lists, as well as a reply from one librarian who forwarded a collection of messages from earlier in 2001, when the subject was previously discussed on BI-L. Most of the responses had comments such as "works wonderfully," "students and faculty love them," "it looks cutting edge," and "it has worked beautifully." A librarian from Canisius College said, "It's a wonderful way to bring hands-on instruction to your students without having to deal with the cost and infrastructure issues associated with a hard-wired lab," which describes Behrend Library's needs very closely.

In the materials found on the Internet, some issues were raised that might be considered to be drawbacks of a wireless classroom. However, as responses from the listserv members came in, all of these concerns were brought up and dealt with. Peterson (2001) had pointed out that wireless networks have a tendency to be slower than their wired counterparts, although that gap is shrinking as technology improves. Most respondents who had experience with wireless classrooms, though, found little or no difference in the network speed between the laptops and their ordinary desktop computers. Occasionally things slowed down, if everyone was trying to print at once, but only one response said that they had had any problems with network speed while using the wireless network. St Louis Community College at Florissant Valley has also had problems with their laptops freezing or spontaneously rebooting for no apparent reason, although they thought that it might be a problem with distance from the wireless network server. This was the only location that had this problem.

Another difficulty with the laptop computers, indicated by Elteto (2001) in a Web presentation, is the time required to set all of them up before each instruction session. In her library at Portland State University, setting up 21 laptops takes 20 minutes, and putting them away after each session takes another 20 minutes. However, they do not own a storage cart for the computers, and Elteto said that a cart would probably ease the problem. Many respondents discussed the extra time to set up the laptops, but most found that the time was not excessive and caused no major difficulties: ten to 15 minutes in most cases, although one or two said that it took 15 to 25 minutes. Initial installation of the system pleased users too; several responses described their wireless classroom systems as "plug-and-play."

A significant initial concern was that of security, but no one using one of these systems has had any problems with theft thus far. A librarian at the University of Rhode Island - Providence said that it might be easy at her location for someone to walk off with one, but nobody had yet done so. Another librarian at Gettysburg College said that they deal with the possibility of theft by never leaving the laptops unattended while the instruction room is in use. All respondents leave their instruction rooms locked at all times, and many also have a lock on the laptop storage cabinets/carts. At Canisius College every student who is getting a computer during the class must bring ID card, car keys, or something of equal importance, which will be returned only when the laptop is returned. Anschutz Library at the University of Kansas also engraves their laptops with the University's property statement and tattletapes the computers. Several people stressed the importance of getting a good storage cart, particularly one that locks.

The problem most often mentioned by list members was that of battery life. A majority of respondents said not to trust vendors' or manufacturers' claims of battery life, but to test the batteries thoroughly before using the laptops in a class. Several people said that one should be careful during back-to-back instruction sessions, since computers could run down by the second or third class. The computers also take several hours to recharge. A librarian at St Louis Community College at Florissant Valley said that their technicians recommended letting the laptop batteries run down completely every two weeks or so, which can be a time-consuming chore. Several respondents also mentioned a few problems with defective batteries, but said that replacements are easy to obtain and install.

Another, less important obstacle was that students are frequently unfamiliar with the laptop's touchpad, and require a little training. A few locations bought mice to use with the laptops, but most found that students became comfortable with the touchpad quickly. The librarian at Canisius also mentioned that it is important to be able to use the laptops on a flat surface, since they are so light that they can easily slide off an angled student desk.

Although a number of concerns had to be addressed, most of the list members were very enthusiastic and positive about their wireless classrooms. One of the chief advantages mentioned was the flexibility of the wireless system. The classroom can be used as a computer lab, but can also retain its previous functions as a meeting room and ordinary classroom, and the furniture can be rearranged, depending on the size of the class. Furthermore, since the wireless network is so easy to install, the cost of drilling holes in the floor and installing extra network jacks or electrical outlets can be avoided. The laptops themselves are adaptable, too; librarians at Gettysburg College have taken small BI classes into the stacks to compare paper reference resources with their online counterparts.

From all points of view, however, the best thing about a wireless classroom is that the students and faculty love it. In Tolson's (2001) article, she said, ". . . the students are motivated, and the English faculty is very satisfied with their students' results." Students who have not previously used a laptop computer are excited at the opportunity to use one, and novice users adapt quickly to the new technology. Furthermore, they like the "hands-on" component of the class; Behrend students frequently express their preference for this type of learning in surveys evaluating their instruction sessions.

Most respondents offered suggestions. A librarian at the Sherman Fairchild Library of Engineering and Applied Science at California Institute of Technology said that they leave their laptops on all night (while they are charging), so their Information Technology department can run virus scans and other updates. She also said that their system has certain data ports "locked down" for security reasons, so they have had access problems with a few databases such as SciFinder Scholar and Beilstein, which do not use standard Web ports. The librarian at the University of Rhode Island - Providence Campus Library recommended getting "ClassNet or some other control software to control who is doing what on the system."

A few respondents specified which platform they use: three Dells, two Gateways, with two locations using more than one platform. Canisius College uses iBooks (Macs) in the classroom, but also has wireless Gateway laptops available to check out at the Circulation desk. The librarian at Canisius said that platform has not been an issue in their classroom, since the majority of library instruction activity is Web browsing.

Here at Behrend Library, the wireless classroom is still in its ambiguous early stages. The wireless network itself will be installed in parts of the library during the spring semester of 2002. A financial source for the project is being explored, and it is hoped that the laptops might be in use in bibliographic instruction sessions by Fall of 2002.

Anna Klump Pilston (acp10@ psu.edu) is an Assistant Librarian at the Behrend Library at Penn State Erie - The Behrend College.