Case
Study: Windsor
Public Library
By Userful
Creating Solutions for 21st-Century Challenges
 The Library
Windsor Public Library
serves a bustling community of 300,000 south of Detroit, Michigan.
Like many North American libraries, Windsor
has found its public access computer stations a very popular asset. Indeed,
use of their public computers grew so quickly the library had to work hard to
keep up with demand. And a lot of public access stations meant a lot of staff
time invested in maintaining and managing them. Early on, Windsor realized that, though an important
asset, their public access computers were proving extremely labor-intensive
for the library.
Thin Clients Didn't Deliver
In 1999, Windsor deployed a thin
client solution for public use. It was a technology intended to solve their
public access woes. After all, centralized administration should result in
less IT work. Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. The Microsoft server, the
Citrix application and the 65 thin client devices were hard to setup and hard
to secure. Windsor's
IT staff found them difficult to make safe for public access and they failed
to provide the features patrons were requesting. Users were limited to a web
browser with catalogue and Internet access. When the Library Electronic
Services team looked at expanding the library's offerings by adding new
applications, it turned out to be difficult and very expensive. According to
Marc Pillon, Supervisor of Library Electronic
Services, the thin clients simply "never did what we wanted them to. And
so we began looking for a better option."
The Solution
"We wanted a secure
system that was scalable, one that was not difficult to configure and
support. It also had to provide users with a rich environment,"
explained Mr. Pillon. Like so many libraries, Windsor also wanted a
cost-effective solution; one that not only provided up-front savings, but
ongoing labor savings. The library administration valued staff time and knew
that public access computers could be an enormous drain on staff hours.
"Userful Desktop™'s* comprehensive support guarantee immediately caught
Mr. Pillon's eye. Userful
fully supports the hardware and software for Userful
Desktop*." Should a component fail, Userful
will send replacement hardware by courier. Userful
also guarantees the software and takes care of all problems nomatter what the cause. Updates, upgrades, patches and
support costs are all included; there are no hidden costs. Equally important,
Userful Desktop* provides the rich user
environment Mr. Pillon sought. The stations have a
graphically rich, intuitive and simple interface. They provide all the
applications a user could want: a full office suite, HTML editor, photo
editor, 30+ languages, games, chat and much more. Also included are the
public access management features that thin client lacked: session timer,
automated desktop cleanup, print cost control, auto log out and the crown
jewel of time management - a PC booking and reservation module.
PC reservation was
important to Windsor.
Librarians had found themselves spending too much time playing traffic cop in
front of public access stations. They needed a better way to manage the
computers. Along with the 65-seat Userful Desktop* purchase, Windsor also invested in Pre-Book™, Userful's
comprehensive PC reservation product. Loaded with features including e-mail
reminders, grace periods, walk up bookings and "next best choice,"
Pre-book allows library staff to throw away paper signup sheets.
The Future
Userful Desktop* did everything as promised. The
stations stayed up and running without work from the IT staff. Patrons were
happy and library-staff were free to return to their duties. With the staff
hours saved by Userful Desktop*, Windsor has had time to focus on more
important things: supporting their core technologies and implementing new
systems. Their days of worrying about their public access stations are over.
*formerly DiscoverStation
Copyright © 2008 Userful Corporation. All
Rights Reserved.
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