Thin Solution for Wide Access

“We will go back to computers [alone] over my dead body,” Andrea Keifer, technical services librarian of the Tualatin (Oreg.) Public Library, asserted. The small library used to have eight computers for Internet access in addition to dumb terminals for its library catalog. Only six computers were actually functioning by the time the library switched to the Veicon Technology V-Link thin-client service. Since then the library’s security and file-corruption problems have vanished, and maintenance time spent on troubleshooting has dropped dramatically. In addition, the library was able to pay for the service from its capital reserves for public-access computers, a fund it no longer needs.

An increasing number of libraries seem to be moving toward replacing their public-access PCs with thin clients, which requires a significant investment in server hardware and software, as well as networking expertise.

Veicon, whose name represents “virtual e-mail and Internet communication network,” is a technology company headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon. Its V-Link thin-client service combines elements of an application service provider and Windows-based terminals, for a relatively maintenance-free way to provide public Internet access.

Each terminal, or thin client, connects to a base unit bought or leased from Veicon, which is in turn connected to the library”s local area network. The base units are configured to connect the terminals to a remote Veicon server that controls the terminal’s display, serving up browser functionality and other applications. Veicon’s thin-client server supports Microsoft Explorer, Netscape Navigator, and several other popular browser programs, as well as Telnet if requested. Use of Microsoft Office software is an added-cost option.

One thing that caught my attention about this service is its ability to solve a privacy problem inherent in using a commercial browser—Web site visits by previous users are recorded in a PC’s cache that can be accessed by subsequent users. Veicon maintains that “all personal information is completely wiped off each machine after each use.” Upon signing off, the history of the transactions, which resides on the remote server, is erased.

Patrons can also access their own e-mail accounts choosing a mail client from a library terminal without complex configuration or endangering their e-mail privacy. When users close out of a session, all their in-box messages are wiped out, whether or not they purposefully delete them. Since the Veicon virtual e-mail client does not mark the messages on a user’s e-mail server as read, importing one’s e-mail into the Veicon e-mail client does not alter the user’s e-mail account in any way. This feature prevents unintentional deletions. While the service has been designed to serve travelers in such places as hotels and airports, who’s to say a library should not offer it?

The V-Link service has two cost factors: a service element and a hardware/software element. The cost of each connection, or seat—up to 19 total—is $59 per month. Once a library purchases 20 seats, the monthly cost per seat is reduced to $49. This pays for the service itself and also covers all maintenance and upgrades.

The hardware, which consists of a base unit and a monitor, can be bought or leased. Veicon sells base units, including the setup costs, for a onetime charge of $664. A library also has the option of using its own monitors. The Tualatin library connected its old Wyse and Hewlett-Packard monitors to the Veicon-supplied base units when it implemented the V-Link service.

For more information about Veicon Technology’s V-Link service for libraries, visit their Web site.