[WEB4LIB] RE: E-mail in libraries

[Floyd Ingram]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: web4lib at webjunction.org
> [mailto:web4lib at webjunction.org]On Behalf Of Jon Pearson
> Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 1998 1:39 PM
>
> >Here we all are, probably at our jobs using a computer that
> doesn't really
> belong to us to post messages to this list. We take that for granted and
> feel we are entitled to it, but when it comes to some hapless "bozo"
> suddenly they are taking up time and space and wasting valuable resources.
> I guess the most vociferous opponents of the idle time and
> resource wasters
> have never used their computer at work for personal business or
> recreation?

I use the PC in my office for that purpose of e-mailing my colleagues...the
ERC is not even for the library staff to use to access e-mail or chat.  BTW,
some students are getting their own PCs...and some colleges and universities
are requiring that students have computers...dorms are being wired.  BTW, we
don't provide phone or fax services for users (and no one on the campus has
a problem with that)...why e-mail or chat?  I am on the Information
Technology Committee on our campus...I see a place for everything under the
SUN!  There is a place for e-mail and chat, a place for...  As long as the
labs are open and functioning efficiently, we don't have a problem with our
"no e-mail or chat" policy.  We try to have at least one lab open during the
same hours as the library...late at night.  Our BIG problem is providing
FREE printing from our laser printers...and some of those are not
scholarly...example, a user prints a photo of a model for their personal
collection.

> My suggestion? Those who are so quick to foam at the mouth and point the
> finger (a little Floyd Ingram joke - get it, fingram) should stop sitting
> on their backsides posting messages to this and other lists and get out
> there and be of some assistance or use to somebody. Don't let your fancy
> job title or your techno-elitist posturing get in the way!
> >

Oh, I AM e-mailing you all from my PC AT HOME!  I don't waste time on my
work phone in my office or elsewhere on the job gossiping or talking
personal business.  Our rules are across the board and apply to most means
of communication (e-mail and chat are two of them).  BTW, I am at home
now...see what time this message was composed.

Question...what do you think about those users who try to load their own
software or programs on your public PCs in the library?  Do you have a
policy for that?  Viruses?  Let's talk about security...or do we rather risk
security (and lose all access) for the sake of utopian unlimited access?

*******************************************************************
Floyd Ingram
Columbia, South Carolina
E-mail: <mailto:fingram at mindspring.com>
Homepage: <http://fingram.home.mindspring.com>
"'Tis better to be flamed and burn than to drown in the deep waters of
silence."
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