[Web4lib] Outside disk usage

[Richard Wiggins]

Wild, outrageous, risky prediction: This will change. :-) /rich

On 8/16/05, Michele Haytko <michele.haytko at gmail.com> wrote: 
> 
> We dont allow plugins like thumb drives, either. We've had maybe a
> dozen in the last year try to use them? Maybe?
> 
> Thanks,
> michele
> 
> 
> On 16/08/05, Richard Wiggins <richard.wiggins at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Somewhat related question: how often do people show up with pocket USB 
> flash
> > drives and expect to plug them in?
> > Many geeks such as myself always carry one -- I have for years now -- 
> but I
> > see these as offering so much value that I expect everyone who is 
> computer
> > literate to carry one. Yet the penetration rate seems lower than I 
> would've
> > expected.
> > Do your patrons have any problems accessing the USB port? Many computers
> > now offer front USB ports, but they don't always work. At our 
> university, we
> > have some models of Dell computers in our computer labs that have the 
> curved
> > panel you have to raise in order to get to the USB port. The USB port on 
> the
> > computer is at an awkward angle, not 90 degrees as it ought to be. And 
> the
> > space is constraned so that if you have a bulky USB device, you cannot 
> plug
> > it in.
> > Over time I would expect folks to use USB devices as a large data pail 
> to
> > carry home oodles of useful content they find at the library. In fact as
> > prices for USB flash devices continue to fall, patrons may walk up to 
> the
> > desk hoping to buy a flash drive. (Some universities are already looking 
> at
> > distributing antivirus tookkits to students on flash drives instead of 
> CD.
> > The student loads the software and then has a usable flash drive with 
> the IT
> > department's logo and contact number imprinted on it.)
> > /rich
> > PS -- I predict that mass-market USB flash drives will often double as 
> MP3
> > players -- THEN they will be in everyone's pocket.
> > On 8/16/05, Phillip Whitford <PWhitford at braswell-library.org> wrote:
> > >
> > > Like some of the others who have responded I think your policy against
> > > outside storage media may be to restrictive. But to answer your 
> question
> > > we treat left behind storage media just like any other personal 
> property
> > > left in the library. We hold on to it for at least 30 days in case 
> they
> > > return for it. After 30 days it is disposed of.
> > >
> > > For the record we allow patrons to bring in their own floppy disks,
> > > flash drives, zip disks, and blank CDs. They can buy disks and CDs 
> from
> > > us if they don't have their own. It hasn't caused any security or 
> virus
> > > problems.
> > >
> > > Phillip B. Whitford
> > > Manager Information Technology
> > > Braswell Memorial Library
> > > Rocky Mount, NC 27804
> > > Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of my organization.
> > >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Web4lib mailing list
> > Web4lib at webjunction.org
> > http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/
> >
> 
> 
> --
> **************)0(**************
> Mrs. C. Michele Haytko
> Montgomery County-
> Norristown Public Library
> MC-NPL Computer Lab
> 1001 Powell Street
> Norristown, PA 19401
> 610-278-5100 Ext. 141
> 
> "Be the change you wish to see in the world." -Gandhi
>