[Web4lib] adobe acrobat and kiosk terminals

[Barkovich, Greg]

We have several kiosk terminals in our library using Public Web Browser.
These terminals are intended to be used for subscription database use
only (eg, no open Internet access). I am using PWB's 'blacklist'
function to deny access to the obvious links on database pages that lead
to the Internet at large, etc. This has been working reasonable well
until patrons discovered that in the newer version of acrobat (7.0)
there is an option to run a Yahoo/Internet search on the menu bar.  This
option opens a search window which then opens an unrestricted version of
Internet Explorer (eg, with address bar available) and the way to the
Internet is open.
 
Background: we are using thin clients running windows terminal server
and IE is installed, and needed, on the server (our general access
Internet terminals use IE). So removing IE from the server running the
kiosk terminals is not an option. The adobe search function, even though
it is opened within PWB, will call up and open IE on the database/kiosk
terminals, so a PWB blacklist is useless when a pdf file can be opened.
Obviously, with Ebsco and other database vendors putting so many docs
into pdf format, it is not very hard to find a pdf link on these kiosk
terminals.
 
Has anyone seen this before? How do you deal with the adobe Internet
search feature on kiosk terminals? Is there a reliable alternative to
acrobat, that lacks these bells and whistles, that would be more
appropriate for a kiosk terminal? 
 
Thanks for any help,
 
 
Greg Barkovich, Librarian
Burnaby Public Library
6100 Willingdon Ave.
Burnaby, BC V5H 4N5
604-436-5425 phone
604-436-9087 fax
www.bpl.bc.ca <http://www.bpl.bc.ca/> 
 
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