network terminals?

[Bobbie McDonnell]

Colleagues,
     We are considering  the use of network terminals for Internet
and Web cat access.  Right now our15 dumb OPAC terminals
hardwired to a DOS emulation catalog, and 3 public Internet stations
are connected to the campus network.
Original plan was to replace all with Internet workstations and a
WebCat and nothing else, especially word processing on them.

   Since all new Macs and PCs are being leased,  our tech dept.
has to remove or hide Microsoft Office, etc.,   should we consider
network terminals and a server as a better, cheaper, more easy to
maintain configuration?
I'd appreciate hearing your experiences or pointing me to some 
discussions.
   Thanks,
     Bobbie McDonnell
     bmcdonnell at andover.edu
      Oliver Wendell Holmes Library
      Phillips Academy
      Andover, MA.  01810
     978-749-4238