HIT : OPAC Furniture

[Dennis Vroegindewey <dennisv@INTAC.COM>]

Well, it feels good to know that we are not the only ones who are debating
the issue of what type of furniture to get for our OPAC stations.  Thanks
for all the responses.  Here is the discussion:

Question:
In one of our high schools we are considering whether to have stand up
stations for our OPACs, or one with chairs.  An argument has been made that
students will make inefficient use of their time if they are allowed to
sit, causing a back-up of waiting patrons.  Others think standing is not
conducive to learning.

Has anyone wrestled with this issue?

Dennis Vroegindewey
Paterson School District
Paterson, New Jersey

Responses:

-If you are only having the catalog on the network then standup would work
fine after all most people don't sit down to use the old card catalog.
<D. Frances Knight>

-At Wartburg College we are using some of each.  That way you're providing for
individual preferences.  The stand-up stations are nice for quick searches,
although I've seen people using them for lengthier searches, too.
<Marianne Beck>

-I would like to hear comments on this.  I had planned to use stand up
stations until we decided to put CD-ROM drives on each computer.  Now
I wonder if the extended use should warrent seating.  I'm leaning
toward stand up.  What about you?
<Carol Adams>

-We tried both and decided to go with the sit down. We couldn't tell much
difference in the time spent at the computer and we like the setup of the
sit down furniture better.
<Sandra Lee>

-Good question!  At the last school I was in, we decided that middle
school kids definitely need stand-up stations.  For some, it seemed that
any excuse to sit in front of a computer screen was good enough.  We had
put old, no longer used, catalog cards out by the terminals for
note-taking.  We discovered a couple of students typing away...copying
the old cat. cards...presumably to practice keyboarding????  We were
never sure, but couldn't afford to tie up PAC terminals for that.  We
switched to stand up stations and never regretted it.
Elem. children may need to sit down just because many of them have to
really concentrate and take their time just to type in their
requests....I don't know.  Most of the elem. schools in my district have
tables and chairs and most of the middle and high schools have stand-ups.
<Cheryl Bybee>

-Dennis:  One thing to consider:  handicap accessibility.  You should
provide at least one workstation that would accommodate a wheelchair.
Inclusion is big in our state, and we're having to make more and more
adaptations to our environment and teaching styles for these students.
<Va. Martin>

-I can second Cheryl's recommendation of stand-up furniture for secondary
students.  Otherwise they "park" at the computers.
<Carol Mann Simpson>

-I plan to have my OPACs elevated so that users must stand.  In
my opinion, this differentiates them from the computers that
are used for more lengthy prds of time--usually searches for
author, title, subj, bibliog do not take as long as using
actual programs for education or entertainment.  I also think
it will help my students and faculty easily distinguish the
OPAC from the other computers.  Yes, I will have signs, but
sometimes you wonder if people read them!
<Julia Files Steger>

-We have wrestled with the same question!  We have both stand-up and sit down.
  I prefer the stand-up so that students don't settle in for the period.  Howev
er, students HATE standing up.  They will pull a chair over and type over their
 heads so that they don't have to stand.  We're getting ready to add five more
stations to the network so I have to decide which way to go.
  By the way, we are an urban high school of about 900 students , if that makes
 any difference.
 <Patricia Hill>

-You might try both if you have more than one OPAC.  You'll have to make
sure you address the needs of students and staff who may be in wheelchairs
or who use walkers, so if you have both an accessible station and a
standup, you're covered I should think.
<Kathy Graves>

-I wanted to have stand-up furniture but was over-ruled (something about
piggy-backing on a previous district order and the company didn't make
taller legs!) -- anyway, you would need at least one sit-down station to
comply with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). I have my six PAC
stations at various places in the library and I don't seem to see much
problem of students wasting time just because they can sit down. More of
a problem getting them to leave the chairs at the PAC stations instead of
moving them to a table and then leaving them there!
<Joyce Conklin>

-I am using standing stations in my mrdia center and they work great and student
don't waste time on the computers. Joan conner
<Joan Conner>

-yup, I wrestled with this when building my new center. Finally I had
a unit built the is hexigon shaped and split with 3 sides stand-up and
3 sides sit-down.  What I have found is that kids pull chairs up to the
stand-up units anyway. I'm considering changing the stand-up's to seated
units....oh well...learn through experience!!
<Larry Weidner>

-I would suggest that they stand. The students in my middle school make
inefficient use of their time standing at the OPAC. If I had chairs, some of
them would never move away. For some students, wasting time at the computer
becomes an excuse for not doing the work that they are in the library to do. It
just looks like they are busy.
<Linda Bertland>

-Dennis, this is a "Catch 22" problem.  We did not purchase stools for our compu
ter pod for the very reason you stated.  But...now everyone complains about hav
ing to stand.  I have even requested stools, but in the long run I think if the
 ratio is uneven, standing will allow more students to use the computers in a s
horter time.
 <Lynda Short>

-When I designed my OPAC furniture, I thought about students standing or sitting
too.  I finally went with stand-up furniture so that kids wouldn't just plop
themselves down and stay.  When the furniture came it wasn't long before I
realized it was a mistake to make kids stand-up.  As fascinating as the
research was :) any sort of indepth search was cut short because the kids got
tired of standing (or they'd drag over the chairs and sort of prop themselves
on them.  I finally asked the science department if I could have six of their
lab stools (kind of like metal barstools) and they agreed.  This is a perfect
compromise because these stools are not comfy enough to plop and stay, but
could to prop yourself on for long searches.
<Darla magana>

 - I haven't exactly wrestled but I think if our worse problems is that
the students are browsing the catalog, we're in good shape.  I am not
automated yet but I do have a cd rom network.  I hope to get everything
connected at some point and I know I would want chairs at all the
workstations then.
<Lynn McCree>

-We removed the top section of our original card catalog and used the tops for
four stations which require our student to stand.  I find that it is very
efficient and no one lingers there.  I love it--It's a place with a purpose.
<Mamadewey>

-In Oswego, NY I saw two libraries that used stand-up OPAC furniture and
they loved it (students & librarians). Perhaps the best solution is a
combination so that both walk-up quick users can be assured of a place to
work and sit-down for those that have lengthier searches to perform.
<Allison S. Wheeler>

-Five years ago, I opened a fully automated library and had to make a
decision about this.  My solution was to have both types of furniture.
The stations where I run the catalog are standup and the stations where I
run Newsbank, SIRS, and other reference software are sit-down stations.
Flexibility is the key.  Some stations need to be sit-down because
students who are searching newspaper and periodical databases will
naturally need more time than those who are searching the catalog.
<Jan Thomas>

-I have a combination of styles - 2 standups where the old card catalog
was and a cluster of sit down stations where students can work to  their
hearts content.  It seems to be a good mix and usually the standup
stations are free for the the quick user.
<Carole Ashbridge>

-I am at a high school and we have our 5 PAC stations in a
circular configuration, stand up.  I highly recommend this.  Students
walk up to the station, search, print or copy info for what they need,
and move on.  My CD-ROM workstations, all single stations, are on low
tables with chairs on rollers.  The kids drive me *bonkers* moving the
chairs around, leaving them in all manner of disarray after every class.
If I could have EVERYTHING standup I would, but that's not practical when
they are doing extended searching.  But for PAC stations, stand up is
definitely preferable, IMHO.  Best wishes.
<Dot Essex>

-We have both types of stations!!  It is true that kids tend to stay
longer at sit-down stations, which probably isn't the goal for OPAC
stations.  We included a sit-down station to comply with handicap
legislation.  If your OPACs will also have research CD-Roms, you may want
to have most of them sit-down.
For what it's worth... my $ .02.
<Kay Peterson>

Dennis Vroegindewey
Paterson School District
Paterson, New Jersey