New computers

We now have new computers in the library for reader use. They have access to OLIS, the internet and all the usual electronic resources as before, but also have Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access) and EndNote installed. It is not possible to save anything to the hard drive however, so you will need to bring your own USB drive if you need to save things. If you don’t have a USB stick and need to save something temporarily (eg, to email it to yourself or to transfer to your own laptop), we have a couple that we can lend you – please ask at the staff desk.

The only computer that hasn’t been replaced yet is the one attached to the microfilm scanner – this is due to a problem with incompatible hardware which should be fixed shortly.

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New computers – now 6th March

Good news – we’ve just heard that our new reader PCs are coming on Thursday 6th March. As before, if you have anything saved on any of the old ones, please make sure you have retrieved it by then!

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Delay to new computers

We have just been informed that we won’t be getting our new PCs next week after all. ICT explain the reason for this as follows: “The Dell PCs need an upgrade patch to be installed and we have taken the decision to suspend the remainder of the rollouts until we can apply this patch in advance to save a further visit to the PCs post installation. THE PLANNED INSTALLATIONS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE PCs HAVE THEREFORE BEEN SUSPENDED.” There’s no news on when they will be replaced, but as soon as we hear we will let you know.

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Skype + webcam available in the group study room

We have installed Skype and a webcam on the PC in the group study room. If you would like to use these facilities (for academic purposes, not just to call your aunt in Australia!), please email us to book the room. The PC in the group study room has sound enabled, unlike the main library PCs, so can also be used for looking at audio-visual resources (again preferably for academic purposes, tempting as Star Wars Kid or those guys on the treadmills may be…).

New computers

We will be having new PCs installed in the library on Wednesday 20th February, to replace our very old (and excessively large) ones.

If you have anything saved on any of the current machines that you don’t want to lose, please save it elsewhere before then!

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Wireless for external (non-University) readers

We are now finally able to offer access to the wireless network for non-University members. If you are an external reader (ie, your library card is any colour other than blue!) and you would like to be able to connect your laptop to the internet in the VHL, please ask at the desk and we will issue you with an account username and password. This will allow you access via the OWL-VISITOR network.

Things to note:

  • Visitor accounts are short-term and all accounts issued will expire in December. If you want to continue using the wireless network next term you will need to re-register in January.
  • Access to the wireless network will not guarantee you access to all the University’s electronic resources. Most subscribed e-resources are IP-authenticated and therefore will not be available via the wireless network.
  • There is effectively no technical support for this service as OUCS will not support non-University members.