The Observation Deck

I went to the LAKEWOOD PUBLIC LIBRARY after work tonight. I was in a good mood. I sat down at the main floor computers to type in the name of some books that I was looking for. Surprise! The keyboards were gone. The workstations were replaced with a tablets/ipads, and THERE WERE NO KEYBOARDS. I went to the second floor, then to the CD/DVD room. Same thing.

TO WHOEVER THOUGHT THAT TABLETS WERE ACCEPTABLE, YOU ARE WRONG. Try typing with just your index finger.

A tablet style interface may work with a phone, facebook, and youtube. It doesn't work when you are trying to type in searches for materials.

I voiced my disapproval to every librarian that I encountered. (I am sure that none of them made this decision.)

This was a really stupid decision.

Here is a suggestion. Replace half of the tablets with workstations and see how much use the tablets get.

Apple products are inferior.

ryan costa wrote:Apple products are inferior.

Inferior to what?

Actually, the original post doesn't say which kind of tablets they are anyways.

John, hello.

Yes, the Library recently replaced its online catalogs with tablets. I take responsibility for this decision. These catalogs, which have been well received by most patrons, are available to patrons at both the Main Library and the Madison Branch Library. As you know, not unlike card catalogs from years past, patrons use this resource to discover what materials are available in the Library's collections, typically by completing author, title and subject searches.

I am sorry to learn that you are not satisfied with the new online catalogs. Please know that when you visit the Library next, you are always welcome to use a public computer to access the online catalog. The public computers are all desktop computers, and they all have a keyboard. You are also welcome to ask a staff member for assistance. We are here to serve you.

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Ryan and Matthew, hello.

The new online catalogs are Microsoft Surface Pro 9, not Apple products.

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I thank all of you for your patronage of and interest in the Library.

James Crawford, Director
Lakewood Public Library

James:
You suggested "you are always welcome to use a public computer to access the online catalog". Then return some public computers to a place where they can be easily accessed, not in the distant computer room where I would have to go through a registration process. (I visit the library at least twice a month, but I never go to the distant computer room.) I use the online catalogs for a quick online search, and I type with all of my fingers.
I restate my original challenge. Put a workstation next to a tablet in the main room on the first floor and see which one gets more use.

John Viglianco

James Crawford wrote:John, hello.

Yes, the Library recently replaced its online catalogs with tablets. I take responsibility for this decision. These catalogs, which have been well received by most patrons,......y

I tried to use the new tablets but the screen froze up. Probably operator error.

Thanks for a great library.

It sounds like they fixed something that wasn't broke, and that called for an upgrade

your tax dollars hard at work . . buying things that really aren't needed.