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This article describes the public computing center project initiated by the Charles County Public Library (CCPL) in Maryland to address the nation's digital divide. It also discusses public computer and broadband Internet access as a popular service offered by public libraries, the challenges of expanding public computer and broadband access in a library system, and the assumptions and opportunities that have guided the project. The article also details how a public computer center works and outlines the benefits of the effort.

The article offers tips on protecting public access computers and their users from computer hackers. According to the author, the first line of defense is its operating system (OS) and the indispensable security software such as firewalls and software to fight malware. Librarians are advised to always enable the auto-update of patches and anti-malware definitions, probably a couple of times a week. They also have to look for third-party utilities that are specially designed to enhance the security of the workstation.

This article offers ideas on choosing personal computer (PC) management software products that are oriented toward library or education users. One need to find the right balance of security and functionality. Not enough security may put the computer and even the entire associated network at risk. One will also need to update the antivirus signature files at least daily. Spyware is a huge category of malicious software. Patron authentication can be a very useful feature, especially when one have a large number of PC. For example, a patron may need to have a valid library bar code, fines less than $10, and be an adult resident to be able to use the Internet on a public PC. Reservation and session management features have become necessary in many libraries due to the popularity of their public access computers. If a library lends wireless devices such as laptops, one should double-check that a PC management application works with them. One may want to settle on two or three products and then try them out. PC management products will need to adapt to new risks by quickly incorporating necessary modifications and enhancements. On the advanced features side, integration and multifunctionality have been important trends.

The article presents information on various public access computer software management tools for use in libraries. The Web is very popular with library patrons. As a result, they will attempt to use every available computer for general Web access. Sometimes, these can be computers designated for online catalogs or licensed database use only. Public Web Browser (PWB) from TeamSoftware Solutions controls Web browser sessions. PWB replaces the Internet Explorer interface with an interface that is highly configurable. It allows users to specify sites that can or cannot be accessed via the browser. Running anti-spyware software on a system for the first time can be an enlightening experience. Free anti-spyware software can be downloaded from several sites. Microsoft has developed a patch management tool called Software Update Services. It is used to deploy critical Windows updates throughout the library. Meanwhile, EnvisionWare's PC Reservation software controls patron access to public access computers. It can work to authenticate patrons prior to granting access to computer. It can be configured for use in a patron self-service mode or a staff-managed mode. It even supports making reservations via the Web or telephone.

The article describes how Coquitlam Public Library in British Columbia moved its public access computers (PAC) from a Windows-based to a Linux-based operating system in 2003. In the mid-1990s the library started offering PAC to its patrons by using an Industry Canada Community Access Program grant and funds from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Over the years, the library managed to afford a few replacements but could not keep up with the general wear and tear and changes in technology. In 2003, the head of the library's systems department attended a conference in Toronto where she saw a demonstration of DiscoverStation, a Linux-based public access solution developed by Userful. One of DiscoverStation's most interesting features is that it allows up to 10 people to work independently from a single computer. The system is built specifically for public access use in libraries. The library decided to adopt DiscoverStation, and after the evaluation period, it made a 3-year commitment to DiscoverStation and purchased four computers to support 20 stations. In late December 2003, each branch of the library got one six-station box and one four-station box. A Userful representative was present to help in the set up and installation, and to do some initial staff training after the stations were ready.

The residents of King Country, Washington, who turn to the justice system for help face many challenges. They must overcome barriers linked to information and legal literacy, economic limits, and access to computers and the Internet. There's been an explosion of available resources on the Web, but many come to the King County Law Library for help because they do not have Internet access at home. In Washington, county law libraries derive their authority from the state Legislature and operate as special districts. As a public law library, we provide access to legal information to judges, government officials, attorneys, and members of the general public.We believed that opening a training center would accomplish a number of goals and objectives, including fulfilling goals in the library's strategic and technological plans to enhance the role of the library's staff as teachers and trainers, to provide a setting for formal and informal learning opportunities geared to the needs of self-represented litigants, and to make the resources of the library's Web site available for patrons to use in-house as well as from remote locations.

The Shuter Library in Angel Fire, N.M., has always taken pride in its volunteers and in getting the job done on its own terms. While working for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's U.S. Library Program as a traveling trainer, I initially visited the Shuter Library to install its first computer, get it on the Internet, and help train the eager volunteers. As longtime board member Martha Lassetter tells it, the library was begun in June 1978 by a group of friends at the Angel Fire Resort Country Club, waiting for the State Library bookmobile to arrive. Ask library board director Debby Clanton, and she'll tell you that the impetus for this small library to make major plans for a new building, computers, an automation system, and to seek grant funding and other methods of fundraising all resulted from its first compute from the Gates Foundation in 1999. In 1999, Shuter Library's volunteers established a fundraising campaign, the Love Your Library Fund, with the goal to raise $200,000 and build a new library extension.

Discusses computers and Internet access in libraries and the experiences of the author in drafting an Internet use policy for a library. Comparison of the policies of various libraries; Rights of library patrons; Issue of children and the Internet; Access control; Success of the policy.

Presents the experiences of the author in drafting policies for computer use in a library. Efforts of the author and library staff to find a balance between freedom and the protection of library patrons; Training of the staff in the procedures; Rights of library patrons; Effect of the policy on the number of complaints received by the library.

The article presents options for libraries on the type of software to use to gain access on the web. For libraries without money or technical staff, the author recommends free and inexpensive Web 2.0 options. The programs are usually free or demand a small fee and require a few technical knowledge. For libraries with technical staff but less money, the open source option is suggested. No cash is needed but the program requires more technical skills and staff time. Buying software is a choice if the library has the cash.

The article explores some issues related to attracting a growing and engaged community of patrons surrounding the library's web presence. With so many commercial interests providing information products, libraries have to devote considerable effort to draw in their patrons from the many alternatives. Convenient and efficient access to exceptional content should make libraries top web destinations. Anything that impedes access to content or that fails to deliver content in ways that visitors can easily navigate will decrease activity relative to the site's potential. Some of the new-generation library catalog interfaces have some Web 2.0-style features such as the ability to rate and review collection items

This article presents the author's claim that although some people feel that there should be no expectation of privacy in a library because it is a public place, the debate on the library's obligation to protect patron privacy will continue, as of June 2005. Whether by happy circumstance or as proof of the timeliness and importance of this issue's theme, discussions of the issue of privacy were prominent in the news as I was working on this column. I am sure that everyone has heard that model Paris Hilton's electronic address book was hacked and that the chief executive officer of the Boeing Co. was forced to resign when private electronic mail about an affair became very public. Despite the media attention given to these two events, patrons who use the public computers in libraries seem totally unconcerned about protecting their personal information. I have seen patrons walk away from computer screens that displayed their banking records or credit card information. Printouts of electronic mail of a very personal nature are routinely found in the public printers at closing time. Perhaps part of the reason that patrons seem so unconcerned about protecting their privacy is that we have become used to having information collected about us and our habits.

This article discusses the security of library computers. In 2004, one of the big issues affecting all computer users was security. The frequent reports of new vulnerabilities in operating systems often felt like a never-ending bombardment of bad news. While staying up-to-date on the latest security issues has become essential for all computer users, it is more critical for network managers who are responsible for securing computer workstations and network servers. Yet many systems librarians assumed the job of managing library networks by default and never expected that they would have to become security experts in order to do this successfully. While systems librarians may bear the heaviest responsibility for computer security, all librarians need to be well-in-formed on the subject in order to follow good practices as they use computers and also to be able to assist patrons who are searching for information on this timely topic. The most obvious online source of information on computer security is the Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) Coordination Center, which was established in 1988 at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) of Carnegie Mellon University. CERT is part of the Network Systems Survivability Program of SEI, which seeks to ensure that appropriate technology and systems management practices are used to resist attacks on networked systems and to limit damage and ensure continuity of critical services in spite of successful attacks, accidents, or failures. Internet security alerts are released in conjunction with US-CERT. Another place to learn about network security issues is the Gartner Inc. Web site, which has a section devoted to its research and analysis of security and privacy issues.

This article discusses the use of computers in small libraries. College student patrons make less of a distinction between the physical and the virtual world. These students are online all the time, constantly connected to their cellular telephones, personal digital assistants, e-mail accounts, and chat groups. For these patrons, 24-hours-7-days-a-week communication is now a reality. With these expectations, even small libraries must develop more than just a Web-based presence. The good news is that an ever-growing set of inexpensive tools and techniques can be found that can aid users in interactive Web site development. Weblogs, online newspapers, e-journals, and news portals all seem to be publishing their sites as XML/RSS. E-commerce giants such as Amazon.com and Google are also republishing their information as XML. In a phrase, all this events mean free information to libraries. With all this content floating around in cyberspace, librarians will find ways to harness it for the benefit of their patrons. Many of library patrons see the Web as a viable alternative to the bricks-and-mortar library. If librarians feel threatened by the Web or alternative information providers, their fear is well-founded. It is no secret that the library is no longer the only information provider out there. In the competitive environment, small libraries, above all others, are the most likely to be marginalized. That is because they have captured the imagination and attention of library patrons with some useful technologies. If small libraries are going to survive and thrive in the competitive technological environment, it will not be as a thousand small units but as a unified collaborative.

The article discusses the management of public access computers in libraries. Many of the problems that have risen with the use of technology in the library are actually not new problems. The twist in public access computer management is that computers are capable of doing so much that it is difficult to restrict their use to only library-related functions. A computer that can access the library's online catalog on the Web can also be used to access personal e-mail, download music for a user's private collection, or play games. The struggle of library employees in the U.S. to allocate their computer resources fairly has not gone unnoticed by the general public. Librarians who were early pioneers in bringing information technology to the end user shared their experiences and frustrations through the Public Access Computer System mailing list. While there are some technological solutions to help libraries manage public access computers, the larger problem will remain. There will always be irate patrons unhappy with library computer access policies and procedures. At the end of the day, the best solution may be some library humor. A comprehensive source of library-related humor is the Laugh'n'Links section of the Laughing Librarian Web site.

Comments on planning in libraries, and the use of computers in libraries by patrons. Improvements in computer network security at a library; Use of wireless computer networks in a library; Way that a library network was probed by outsiders.

The article discusses steps to make a library staff obtain, deploy and troubleshoot any incoming new technology. The author suggests letting the staff know as early as possible the introduction of the new technology in order to give them time to adjust. Explaining to the staff that the incoming technology will aid the library in its goals is also suggested. Getting the staff involved by making them find ways to advertise the new technology to the reading public is another suggestion.

The article offers a list of things that are useful knowledge for library staff members to handle common computing issues. The strategy may be both entertaining and self-directed. It is important to ensure everyone on staff knows that the staff is expected they reboot a malfunctioning machine to try to resolve an issue. Both library users and staff are prone to leaving floppy disks in drives and flash drives in Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports, leading to the dreaded non-system disk error on boot. It is also significant to know how to save, move and copy files.

The article presents questions and answers related to libraries, including one on helping patrons get comfortable with the technology in the library, another on skills that patrons can acquire from the technology and one on learning from library computer games.

This section offers information on several online articles on the need for computer laboratories in libraries. One discussed on the need for computer labs in educational institutions despite the heavy use of technology by students. Another focused on the MaintainIT Project, a 3-year project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which gathers technology success stories from public libraries. One introduced WebJunction, a website which provide assistance to librarians in libraries that provide public computer access.

The article highlights some of the issues covered at the Computers in Libraries Conference, held in April 2007 in Arlington, Virginia. Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project, points out that Internet links are important for Web site referral. Andy Carvin of National Public Radio made a statement in reference to the surge of social networking software and user-generated content online.

The author comments on the redesigning of libraries by librarians to better accommodate the way groups of people are working with electronic information. Several pieces of advice are presented for librarians who are planning to redesign their physical areas. The author argues that the digital evolution has changed libraries so much that even the U.S. Congress wants to know about it as evidenced by a testimony made by librarian of congress James H. Billington on the topic.

The article reflects on the challenges that the librarians faced with regard to public access computing. It addresses the problems posed by troubleshooting and the lack of workstations. It presents suggestions to enable patrons to use their own wireless computers in libraries. It offers tips on providing more workstations without breaking the library's budget.

Comments on the legal advice included in this issue of the magazine. Mention of articles which provide information, tips and personal experiences with legal issues related to computers in libraries; Opinion that there remain many unanswered questions in the areas of digital copyright and privacy of electronic information.