Low-Cost Prototype OPAC System

[Brice, John]

OK for sake of argument here is a price list for a brand new Kiosk station
using a Pi or some other APC

Main Board         28 to 55
Case  &  PS         0    to 30
Mem Card 8 gig            12
Monitor (HDMI)              95   (I just bought one today from Walmart 19"
widescreen)
Keyboard and Mouse   15
USB Extender                15  (we mount our thin client stations to
underneath the table (see attached picture) so we need the extenders

Total potential cost    $222

For the sake of argument I kind of over estimated the costs.  A careful
shopper should do better on RAM, mouse and keyboards.  If you use the Pi
then the cost goes down to under $200.  Most library's have extra keyboards
and mice so costs could realistically be in the $170 to  $200 range.

As you can see in this picture the small form factor of the computers
allowed them to be completely hidden.  All wires are run underneath the
table so the only thing you see on the table top is the monitor, keyboard,
mouse and USB/audio extender.  We also have everything hooked up to an
automatic timer so there is no need to shut or start the computers up in
the morning.

John Brice
Meadville Public Library



On Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 8:08 PM, Ross Singer <rossfsinger at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Dec 18, 2012, at 6:52 PM, Cary Gordon <listuser at CHILLCO.COM> wrote:
> >
> > I can't imagine putting together a package like that using an SBC for
> > that price. Just the monitor would be more than that.
> >
> A lot of places have a lot of old monitors in surplus.
>
> And keyboards.
>
> And mice.
>
> But, agreed, not everyone.
> -Ross.
>
> > Cary
> >
> > On Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 12:01 PM, Christian Pietsch
> > <chr.pietsch+web4lib at googlemail.com> wrote:
> >> John,
> >>
> >> this is so cool, especially considering that the costly Kiosk PCs my
> >> home town's public library has just acquired do not offer more than
> >> your extremely cheap solution: they run a web browser.
> >>
> >> In contrast to your solution, this public library (like so many) has
> >> wasted money ...
> >> - on many licenses for Microsoft's Windows operating systems
> >> - on licenses for proprietary software to keep Windows in check
> >> - to buy the powerful computers required to run Windows
> >> - and harmed the environment because of the hight energy consumption
> >>  of these computers.
> >>
> >> Congratulations for avoiding these pitfalls!
> >>
> >> My own academic library offers Linux-based PCs as OPAC terminals which
> >> by and large avoid these pitfalls as well, although I do hope they
> >> will eventually be replaced with more energy-efficient hardware such
> >> as the options you mentioned.
> >>
> >> Cheers
> >> Christian
> >>
> >>
> >> On Tue, Dec 18, 2012 at 01:49:25PM -0500, John Lolis wrote:
> >>> Has anyone else been looking into a low cost alternative to the usual
> OPAC computers?
> >>>
> >>> Here at White Plains Public Library, we're testing the feasibility of
> an APC system board that retails for about $50.  I have it booting Raspbian
> Linux from a microSD card and running Chromium in kiosk mode to access our
> catalog.  So far after about a month in operation, it's looking good.
> >>>
> >>> See
> http://whiteplainslibrary.org/2012/11/our-new-low-cost-experimental-online-catalog-pc/and
> http://whiteplainslibrary.org/?p=3780 for more information, the latter
> page having detailed information about its setup.
> >>>
> >>> Btw, I also looked into the less expensive Raspberry Pi; however, it
> only provides HDMI out, and no VGA.
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >>  Christian Pietsch <http://purl.org/net/pietsch>
> >>  LibTec (Library Technology and Knowledge Management),
> >>  Bielefeld University Library, Bielefeld, Germany
> >>
> >> ============================
> >>
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> >>
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> >>
> >> 2012-12-18
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Cary Gordon
> > The Cherry Hill Company
> > http://chillco.com
> >
> > ============================
> >
> > To unsubscribe: http://bit.ly/web4lib
> >
> > Web4Lib Web Site: http://web4lib.org/
> >
> > 2012-12-18
>
> ============================
>
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>
> 2012-12-18
>



-- 
*John J. Brice, III*
___________________________________________________________________________________
Executive Director
Meadville Public Library
848 North Main Street
Meadville, PA 16335

814-336-1773 ext 302

============================

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2012-12-19
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