The Observation Deck

Paint the exterior of the library some darker color. blue or green. at least on the edges.
put awnings over the second story windows.

see what happens when you open this can of worms?

ryan costa wrote:put awnings over the second story windows.

I hope you mean the retro aluminum kind.

Bryan Schwegler wrote:[*]The WiFi is painfully slow...like almost dial-up slow. And why is email blocked?
[*]THe LPL should really come out with an iPhone app. How awesome would it be to have the library catalog right in the palm of your hand while you look for great finds in the stacks? Would also be Eco friendly since it would avoid the need to write down all that on little slips of paper. [/list]

I may be able to answer your questions about the library, just don't consider this "official" because I'm not as well versed in some of the setup intricacies.

1. Email is probably blocked as the result of blocking bittorrent. Sorry, but if you thought it is slow now, wait until someone tries to download that illegal copy of Finding Nemo.

2. There were some issues with the wifi recently, I believe, so depending on when you were using it, it may be better now.
However, you should keep in mind that the wifi is free and you get what you pay for.

3. If you can hire us a programmer, go for it, an iPod/Android app would probably be pretty cool. The state budget slashing last summer didn't help us any.
In the mean time, the Safari browser opens the online card catalog just fine. I'm looking at it right here on my iPod Touch. There's no copies of 'Some Like it Hot' on DVD available.

Roy Pitchford wrote:1. Email is probably blocked as the result of blocking bittorrent. Sorry, but if you thought it is slow now, wait until someone tries to download that illegal copy of Finding Nemo.

There are better ways to deal with that. Every coffee shop, hotel, airport, and other random place that offers free WiFi seems to have figured it out.

2. There were some issues with the wifi recently, I believe, so depending on when you were using it, it may be better now.
However, you should keep in mind that the wifi is free and you get what you pay for.

As a tax-paying home owner in Lakewood, don't even get me started on how much I pay for the library vs. a latté a Root and the difference in their WiFi speed is huge.

I mean there's no reason in the modern age why any place should have a WiFi connection slower than my phone's 3G connection. And I'm on AT&T so that's saying something!

3. If you can hire us a programmer, go for it, an iPod/Android app would probably be pretty cool. The state budget slashing last summer didn't help us any.
In the mean time, the Safari browser opens the online card catalog just fine. I'm looking at it right here on my iPod Touch. There's no copies of 'Some Like it Hot' on DVD available.

I shouldn't have to hire a programmer to make a suggestion. Sometimes people need suggestions.

You're right Bryan.
To make suggestions, you don't need to hire a programmer. I'm just trying to point out that the library is really tightening its belt and something like an iPod app would very likely be a low priority. Again, I'm just going on what I know. I could be wrong.
In the meantime, as I said before, the Safari browser runs the catalog perfectly well.

As for the wifi, I'll talk to people and see what I can find out...but if so many other places are faster, why not go to those places? That's what capitalism and the free market is all about. Go where the services/products are better.

Capitalism and the free market, here we go again.

Roy Pitchford wrote:As for the wifi, I'll talk to people and see what I can find out...but if so many other places are faster, why not go to those places? That's what capitalism and the free market is all about. Go where the services/products are better.

I do go to other places 99.9% of the time; I rarely ever spend enough time in the library to need the WiFi.

But...

That doesn't mean the complaint isn't valid or that their WiFi doesn't need to come out of 1995 Internet speed land.

Settling for mediocrity just because there are other options in the free world is always a quick way to end up irrelevant. You should know that better than anyone given your rhetoric in other threads. And as a tax payer who supports the library, it's my right to be concerned about the services it provides and the quality of those services.

Personally I would prefer the library spend a little more on WiFi speed and a little less on buying new release DVDs to compete with Blockbuser since I don't think that should be the purpose of the library. But that's just me.

I guess to muddy up the waters, I would MUCH rather the library spend money on books/DVDs than the internet. I can access the internet from home, and have no need to do so from the library. Books and DVDs, however, are much more important to me.

Personally, I think the library is doing the best they can with the funds they have to work with from our taxpayers. I don't always agree with everything (I despise the draconian tactics to get to the graphic novel / media room) but understand why that is needed.

Bottom line is that my family and I use the library for books and not the internet. I understand others may do it differently, but this is how we use it.

Bryan Schwegler wrote:

1. There seems to be a ton of cement out front. Definitely needs more green space or maybe even just some plants. Would make the whole building look a little friendlier and a lot less imposing from the street.
2. The WiFi is painfully slow...like almost dial-up slow. And why is email blocked?
3. THe LPL should really come out with an iPhone app. How awesome would it be to have the library catalog right in the palm of your hand while you look for great finds in the stacks? Would also be Eco friendly since it would avoid the need to write down all that on little slips of paper.

I hesitate to seemingly compliment the library given its onerous AV room policy (I'll never go in there again as long as I have to turn over my card to enter), but here I go.

The wireless has worked fine for me whenever I go to pick up my holds, including today. The speed was 600kb which is good enough for streaming video. I tested using my iPhone which, as noted earlier by someone, works fine on the iPhone. With the library laying people off to make budget, it seems opulent to develop an iPhone app when iPhones display their catalog fine. I discovered last year that the Cuyahoga County libraries (CPL too?) have a similar restriction on ports to restrict file sharing and email spam sending. Use a web-based email service and you're golden.

I say fix the stinking logout problem with the catalog before developing an app.

Sean

S. Galwey wrote:I hesitate to seemingly compliment the library given its onerous AV room policy (I'll never go in there again as long as I have to turn over my card to enter)

I can't agree more. It is highly disturbing to me to be treated as a criminal in my own library just because I want to look at a CD or DVD. But this is a discussion for another thread I suppose.

I discovered last year that the Cuyahoga County libraries (CPL too?) have a similar restriction on ports to restrict file sharing and email spam sending.

Any competent network admin can configure a network to prohibit using it for SPAM and still allow access to the ports needed to POP3 and IMAP. You can even allow authenticated SMTP.

And you also don't need to block e-mail in order to block P2P just in case anyone is confused about that.

With the library laying people off to make budget, it seems opulent to develop an iPhone app when iPhones display their catalog fine.

I agree that budget needs priorities and I'd never suggest firing someone to pay for an iPhone app. But I won't agree that the current web-based catalog displays fine on the iPhone. It's not convenient for any mobile platform because it's not optimized for mobile-size screens.

Again it was just a suggestion, not an ultimatum that they have to make one.

I discovered last year that the Cuyahoga County libraries (CPL too?) have a similar restriction on ports to restrict file sharing and email spam sending.

Any competent network admin can configure a network to prohibit using it for SPAM and still allow access to the ports needed to POP3 and IMAP. You can even allow authenticated SMTP.

And you also don't need to block e-mail in order to block P2P just in case anyone is confused about that.

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My guess is that they use a package and simply have not tinkered with it, but I will ask someone tomorrow. Poking around it seems as if many libraries have this policy though this fact does not mean it is right. Since I have an iPhone and use IMAP, not using a mail client is not an issue for me. I would guess most users are not affected since web mail is now king.

Start an AV room topic and I'll join in...

public libraries should get rid of their public access WWW computers. Or limit their internet capablities to the catalog, civic/government websites, and whatever academic/professional/vocational periodicals and databases the library subscribes to.

or put cash collection devices on the public internet stations. a dollar an hour or something.