[WEB4LIB] WEB4LIB digest 1390

[Monica King]

hi all,
i second marty's high opinion of the third party security software for 
the ability to collect statistics and would add that these programs 
(while occasionally may have conflicts with other software) do make 
administration easier for those of us that are not technical.  while the 
nt policy editor is very good for ensuring the programs run efficiently 
and can be used to prevent patrons from tampering with workstation 
settings, i can see the advantages and disadvantages to both systems- 
using software and using the built-in security features of the operating 
system.  we use both systems in our library system and our front line 
staff prefer the computers that use a menu and a time-out feature as 
well as the statistical reporting functions.  my non-technical 
perspective on workstation security and third party software is 
available in an article in the upcoming issue of Public Libraries.  i 
look forward to reading mike's article in Computers in Libraries for 
another perspective.

and speaking of statistics: this may have already been mentioned in the 
list (my mail was down for a time- so apologies if this is a repeat) but 
john carlo bertot and charles mcclure have begun a national project to 
study electronic performance measures and statistics in libraries.  see 
http://www.albany.edu/jcbertot/libstats
we here in our state have formed a committee to study the same 
information.  we also are planning on testing several programs for their 
ability to collect data on a variety of different operating systems. so 
if anyone would like to suggest their favorites, please pass them along 
to me.  


monica king
ouachita parish public library
other e-mail: mking at ouachita.lib.la.us
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