The Andrew Mellon Library now boasts a new educational tool for Choate students. The relatively recent addition of several new laptops has begun to make group collaboration more convenient and is helping to create a more comfortable working atmosphere for students completing written academic assignments in the library.
Interestingly enough, these technological devices are not regular laptops. In fact, according to Andrew Speyer, Director of Information Technology Services, they are not laptops at all. Mr. Speyer says, “They look and feel like regular laptops, but they are properly called thin client terminals.” He explains, “These devices are made by a company called Neoware, and they differ from regular laptops in that these terminals do not have a hard drive, and no software can actually be directly loaded onto them.” In layman’s terms, the new laptops are essentially the same as the other computers in the library, connecting to the Citrix network which in turn links users to a variety of portals and information areas.
The new portable Citrix terminals were introduced with a number of specific uses in mind, all broadly geared toward helping students complete academic assignments. As librarian Diane Langlois points out, “There have been laptops in the Andrew Mellon Library for over seven years.” But the recent innovations were implemented after much detail-oriented thought about how they could be used.
Ms. Langlois explains that the “laptops” are intended to help students with three basic facets of academic work. One of these is the sort of group project that requires collaboration in group study rooms. With one of these portable computers, small groups can get right to work in any study room or gathering spot without needing to crowd around the one desktop computer in a study room or any of the computers in the regular computer station area. Second, the new terminals can help individual students find comfortable places to work on assignments that require computers. Ms. Langlois explains, “Some students find it difficult to work on a paper, etc, in the middle of the normal computer station area. The surrounding noise can be distracting, and students may find it hard to focus on their work while sitting in the large open space. With these laptops, students can do their work anywhere, in a cozy, comfortable spot that they choose in the library.” Finally, the “laptops” supplement the library’s public desktop computers. Certain moments each day see a rush for computer terminals, and some students inevitably arrive at the library to find that every desktop has already been taken. Those students who find themselves looking doubtfully around the library during conference periods now have the novel option of signing out one of the new thin client terminals.
These “laptops” are advantageous from the point of view of Choate’s ITS department as well, because they are cheaper than regular computers, and , as Mr. Speyer notes, “They have no need for updates [in programs such as Windows] because nothing is stored locally. They carry no moving parts, and in fact boast twice the power of a [regular] six to eight hour battery.” Though they are probably outweighed by the advantages, a few disadvantages do stem from this efficiency, says Mr. Speyer: “Power is drained from the brightness of the screen and wireless mobility.”
The laptops were initially installed during the summer, after Mr. Speyer saw one of the terminals elsewhere. His earlier successes with the Citrix system and the many good qualities of the Neoware items led Mr. Speyer to consider implementing the technology at Choate.
Users encountered some difficulties at the beginning of the school year, complaining that the “laptops” were much slower than the already-installed desktops. After a great deal of work by Mr. Speyer and the team at ITS over the last two weeks, the laptops are now fully functional. Mr. Speyer has received many email messages voicing user satisfaction and gratification with the new and newly-improved system.
Such feedback can be sent to Andrew Speyer, the real power behind the initial idea and behind the actual installation process. His hard work and continued devotion to improving Choate’s technology is made very evident by helpful and successful innovations like this one.
If the program continues to garner praise, ITS might consider adding additional terminals to the math, science, and humanities buildings, to supplement the five in the library and the cart of fifteen in the humanities building.
