advice, please!

[Suby Wallace <swallace@NETTLETON.CRSC.K12.AR.US>]

Here is another post for advice!  I have the enviable role of having to
spend some money I didn't know I was going to get!!

I am LMS in a 5-6 grade center.  We bought, last spring and summer, 6 IBM
compatible computers (3 Pentium 75s and 3 Pentium 150s) to do Internet
research in our library.  We are also on Winnebago Circ/Cat.  Most of our
kids have little or no internet experience, and with 350 kids to schedule,
we were going to start with bookmarks that the teachers had already set up,
and learn, first, to use the net as a research tool.  We may get into net
subject searches later, but that is so time consuming, we're going to wait
and see.  We've decided to start with specific assignments first, rather
than bite off more than we can chew all at once.

We also have a 25 station File Server with 32 meg of ram, with the capacity
to load 4 CD's on it.  Our computers are linked with Novell 3.12, which is
the choice for our whole district, altho our buildings are not yet
connected, and I'm not sure when or if we will be.

Now, my district has decided they really want to build the program in our
school, so they have found - are you ready? - $10,000 for me to buy more
equipment!  First thing I thought was, wow!  I'll spend it all on computers!
Then, I began to wonder if that was the way to go.  Should I buy a Linex
(sp?) machine?  I don't really want to have student access from home, and
only have about 6 teachers (maybe more in the future) who would have
computers at home with modems, anyway.  But someone told me that it might be
a good idea to have one so that we could download sites onto it, and then
when the classes come in, the site wouldn't be as slow as if we had 10-12
computers all working on the same thing at the same time.

Is there anyone out there with the same ages that I have who's ahead of me
in equipment?  What do you have?  How do your students access it?  What
would you suggest I buy next, if you were in my position?  I am excited
about this, but cautious as well.  I don't want to spend it and then find
out about something I wish I'd heard about earlier!  At this point, the
computers are housed in the library, in an L-corner of the room.  I am the
only librarian, no aide, and when classes come, the teacher will have to
bring the whole class and occupy some with book reference while I take
others to do net reference.  More computers would make this much easier to
accomplish.

I even asked if we could work with what we've got for a while, since we're
just starting school and have worked out a trial schedule for a few weeks to
see how we are going to co-ordinate this with my schedule and with the
teachers' schedule.  But I was told to spend it *now* because we're going to
be having to add another elementary building next year, and there won't be
any extra money for me later!

I also was told that I should spend it on equipment, not software.  So far,
i don't have any CDs to load on my server.  If you had a little money to
spend on reference materials for your CD/computer, what would you buy for
5/6 grades?

If you have a few minutes to sit down and send me a reply, I would SO
greatly appreciate it!  I am quite a novice at this, and love to do internet
research, but I don't really have a computer brain, so am not familiar with
all the options at this point.

Help!  And Thanks In Advance!!
           Suby Wallace
           Library/Media Center
           Nettleton Intermediate Center
                 (5-6 grades)
           3801 Vera
           Jonesboro, AR 72401

           501-932-5650
           e-mail:
           swallace@nic.crsc.k12.ar.us
              or
           swallace @nettleton.crsc.k12.ar.us