(no subject)
ahern@russell.connix.com
Mon, 11 Aug 1997 15:37:06 -0400
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 1997 15:37:06 -0400
Message-Id: <199708111940.PAA29139@comet.connix.com>
From: ahern@russell.connix.com
To: Multiple recipients of list <conntech>
Hi, I am Cathy Ahern, writing to you from the Russell Library in
Middletown. After years of dealing with a variety of standalone computers
with a wide array of CD towers, jukeboxes, and such, not to mention flip
flopping of disks in and out of machines we are beginning to explore
developing a LAN. What we think we want to do is to upgrade our exisiting
computers to all run Windows 95,maybe eventually moving to Windows NT, add
appropriate network cards and such, and provide to users a mix of CD-ROM
and hopefully Internet resources. We may begin small, money as always being
an issue, by linking no more than 7 or 8 computers.
We have formed a Technology Task Force which is doing lots of reading and
studying on LAN technology, and we do have some money in place for the
wiring portion of this project. I am hoping that some of you could share
your experiences in setting up a LAN from the ground up. I will list some
specific questions, please respond to my email address, or I also welcome
phone calls or in person meetings on this subject (anything to get this all
to sink in!!).
Here goes:
-Did your library hire someone to come in to help and/or consult on the LAN
design, and if so was this a person or firm that specialized in working
with libraries? Are they still working with you? Does your library have a
person or persons who work on the LAN and other technology issues
exclusively?
-How did you go about selecting products/sources to include on the LAN?
Could you provide names of both adult and children's products that work
well in this environment, and maybe even items that do not seem to do so
well-crash time!
-We would like to hear about LANs that include both CD-ROM and Internet
based resouces, how this type of set up is put together, and how well it
works. Any problems switching between products with this set up.
-Of course security is an issue. Any insight on how you secure the LAN
would be helpful.
I know that this is a great deal to ask, please feel free to respond to any
part of this that you can. An help would be greatly appreciated.
Cathy Ahern
Russell Library
123 Broad St.
Middletown, CT 06457
860-347-2520
Fax: 860-347-4048
ahern@russell.connix.com