controlling patron internet access time

[DTROFATTER at aol.com]

We have a sign-up system that works fairly well.  Patrons are allowed to sign
up for one hour a day; we do encourage them to sign up from 10 to 11, or 2 to
3, rather than at odd times, but we do make exceptions.  They can sign up in
person or by phone and several of our regulars sign up at one time for an
entire week's worth of one-hour time slots.  We only have one terminal with
Internet access, so the system is easy to monitor.  At the beginning, we had
some patrons who would ask for extra time (especially if no one else was
signed up after them), but we don't allow them to stay on for more than a few
minutes past their allotted time.  We usually try to give patrons a
"five-minute warning" as we find that many people lose track of time when
they are on the Internet.

We have posted our Internet policy by the terminal and each patron is
required to read and sign a policy statement that includes the rules about
time limits.  

Debby Trofatter
Reference Librarian
Blackstone Memorial Library
Branford, CT 
http://www.connix.com/~jbml