New Computer Lab

A new Computer Lab on the second floor of the Appleton Public Library will be open for public use by the time you receive this newsletter! Staff will use the lab for classes designed to teach the public how to use the Internet to do research and how to use the Library’s online catalog and other databases. The Outagamie Waupaca Library System and Appleton Public Library will also use the facility for staff training and development.

The computers will be available for use by the public during the times when the lab is not being used for instruction. Users will have access to the Internet for research and also to a large number of software products installed on each computer. Ten additional machines just outside of the lab will be available for the public also and will also have the new software installed. Some machines will allow users to send and receive email.

The computers and other equipment were granted to the library by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a part of their US Library Program, which was designed to bridge the “digital divide”. The Appleton Library Foundation provided additional funding that allowed the library to construct and furnish a glass-walled room to house the lab while allowing staff to supervise its use. The Outagamie Waupaca Library System donated six tables for the public access computers located just outside of the lab.

The library received a total of 15 computer workstations, and an additional computer to use as a server, a projector, and several other pieces of equipment that facilitate the networking of the system. In addition, each machine comes with a complete set of Microsoft Office Professional Multi-Language applications including Word, Excel, Access, Publisher, FrontPage, MapPoint, PhotoDraw, PowerPoint and Outlook; the 2003 Encarta Reference Library including the Encyclopedia, Dictionary & Thesaurus, Interactive World Atlas, Researcher, FactFinder and Africana; and a set of Microsoft Scholastic’s Magic School Bus programs for children. Four of the computers will be placed in the Children’s area of the library.

An exciting part of the package is the ability for the computers to be brought up in a variety of “profiles”, each one having different characteristics. There is a profile for persons needing enhanced accessibility that allows magnification of text and manipulation of desktop contrast settings, etc. Another profile allows users to set the language of the system to any of about 25 different languages.

A Spanish language profile is pre-set on each system. Spanish language keyboards are also available. In this configuration, all of the instructions, menus and help files built into MS Windows and Office will be displayed in Spanish. When using this profile, major portal websites, such as MSN and Google, that have the ability to recognize the language settings of the client computer, will also be displayed in Spanish.

Staff is looking forward to the enhanced services they will be able to offer using this new equipment. Come down to the library soon and see what the fuss is all about!