To PC or NetPC? Hmmm …what the heck, let’s give it a go!
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Date
1998
Authors
Brown, Ian Lewis
Banbury, John
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Publisher
Australian Library and Information Association
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Abstract
Some would argue that the time for NCs or NetPCs has either not yet come or
has long passed. Flinders has been watching and waiting for some time now.
We had planned to try out this “new” approach in a small, controlled way in
1998, perhaps with a small server and up to 10 NetPCs. However, when
university funding became available to provide 100 library workstations for
student Web access to flexible delivery initiatives being developed in 1998, the
Library was faced with a decision. Should we purchase 100 PC workstations
with no additional staff to support this significant increase in public
equipment, or should we test the theory that significant savings in application
and desktop support costs can be realised with a NetPC type solution? Are
they really as fast as normal PCs and are they in fact, easier to manage and
support?
This paper reports the reasons why the Flinders University Library chose the
thin client NC solution in preference to standard fat client PCs, why we
thought it particularly appropriate for student applications, how we
implemented the new system, what problems we encountered and how close to
reality we found the promised benefits, to both end users and system
managers.
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Citation
Brown, I & Banbury, J 1999, 'To PC or NetPC? Hmmm...what the heck, let's give it a go!' Adelaide 98, Pathways to Knowledge : Australian Library and Information Association 5th Biennial Conference and Exhibition, 25-28 October 1998, Adelaide Convention Centre : Conference Proceedings.