[WEB4LIB] RE: Wireless on the cheap (or not) .. comments?

[Oberg, Steve]

Zondervan Library at Taylor University's main campus in Upland, Indiana has had a wireless network (802.11b) in place for almost a year now.  Earlier this semester, the network was upgraded with new equipment that expanded the reach of the network to all floors of the library and the galleria (for a better idea of the library's layout, go to http://www.tayloru.edu/library/upland/index.asp?page=info/building.html), whereas before, access was restricted to just the main level.  We have a wireless access point on the main level, and another on the lower level.  We have three wireless enabled laptops available at the Circulation Desk for anyone to check out for use within the library.  There are also a limited number of wireless cards that can be used by those who don't have them in their laptops.

This wireless approach was taken as a cheaper and (hopefully) more forward-looking alternative to expanding the number of Ethernet access points throughout the library, e.g. in group study rooms, which would require a lot of wiring and possibly other costly network-related structural upgrades.  The cost for this network is being shared between our Information Services (IS) division and the library.

We've seen tremendous interest, especially on the part of students, in using this service.  For instance, circulation stats for the laptops show such high usage that we are planning to purchase six new, more up-to-date laptops with wireless cards.  This will dovetail nicely with other plans (to hopefully become reality this summer) for converting a heavily used classroom in the library into a flexible teaching lab complete with twenty or so wireless laptops.  Zondervan is the first publicly-available wireless implementation on campus, and our positive experience has boosted efforts to ramp up the broader implementation of wireless throughout the campus.  We are planning to implement other wireless-enabled devices soon, including PDAs and tablet PCs, and the library will probably be the "proving ground" for that effort.

Security has not been a problem as of yet, probably because implementation has been rather limited.  Setup and configuration (e.g. setting an encryption key), as well as maintenance, are done through IS.  If a student shows up with her own wireless enabled laptop and wants to use the wireless network in the library, she needs to first go to IS for a one-time configuration.  This is not ideal and will obviously have to change with a broader roll-out in future, but it works for now.  I'm hearing more and more often the question:  "I heard the library has a wirelss network.  How do I get access?"

For perspective, Zondervan serves a population that is predominantly undergraduate with a population on the main campus of about 1,800 students.

Steve

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Steve Oberg -- Electronic Resources Librarian
Taylor University -- Zondervan Library
http://www.tayloru.edu/library/