[WEB4LIB] OPAC to Student Ratios

[morganj at iupui.edu]

Acceptable is a relative term: acceptable to the library vs. acceptable to
the students can mean two different things.  And of course the popularity
of the OPAC stations depends on the students need for them, which can vary
depending on the curriculum.

If you have lines for the stations you can consult queuing theory to
determine how much difference x additional terminals will make in the
queue, given a random arrival of students during your peak periods.

Some libraries have tried "express terminals" with time limits (5 or 10
minutes) or no chairs to provide for students with quick lookup vs.
extensive search needs.

In our library we have signs with directions to nearby labs, and we
have experiemented with limiting a terminal or two to our primary users
(medical faculty and students).

But I don't know of any library literature which will say that lines
say three-deep will lead to student riots, or to their leaving the queu to
try to find the books on the shelf or to go across the street to a student
lab. 

Jim Morgan
morganj at iupui.edu



On Mon, 7 Jun 1999, Nicholas Rosselli wrote:

> 
> I know it's a bit off topic (then again our OPAC uses a web interface
> ..) but I was wondering if anyone had ever found any sort of standard
> for how many students per OPAC station was an acceptable ratio.  I've
> been browsing around for a couple of weeks and I've yet to run across
> one.
> Thanks,
> Nicholas
> 
> ===
> Nicholas Rosselli
> Systems Librarian
> Indiana University Northwest 
> Gary, IN  46408
> (219) 980-6929
> work: rosselli at iunhaw1.iun.indiana.edu
> personal: rosselli at ibm.net
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