[Publib] RE: PC Management Software / Privacy Issues

[Paul Ericsson]

Colleagues -

I hope that Mike Monk or one of the other technical staff at 
Envisionware answers the questions raised in this discussion thread.

Until then, I will offer that I had previously worked at a library 
that used the Envisionware product, and for my two-cents worth - I 
felt it was a great product. Additionally, the company was very 
responsive to the customer base, and their product development plan 
was well done.

My recollection (but Envisionware would need to confirm this) is that 
the barcode of the patron account info would be masked from view on 
reports for that current day's transactions.  The system of course 
needed to store the patron barcode (or whatever) in order to properly 
do the "time management" and implement time rules.  However, I 
believe that the system did not store the patron info beyond that 
day, since the rules for time managment were on a day-by-day 
basis.  At end of day the patron account info was purged.

Valerie discussed the great features of Deep Freeze. This product is 
addressing the security of the desktop computers themselves, a 
related but separate task from the Envisionware system. We also used 
DF in conjunction with Envisionware, and it was an awesome 
combination of time management and desktop security.

I cannot speak to the recent developments with either of these 
products as they are not used at my current library, and these tech 
decisions are made at a regional level.  My guess is that 
Envisionware has only gotten better in the past year.

Paul

Paul Ericsson
Branch Manager, Bemidjji Public Library
218-751-3963
ericssonp at krls.org


At 12:44 PM 2/1/2008, Val Meyerson wrote:
>We use EnvisionWare for PC and Print management and I'm not sure how
>EnvisionWare handles privacy. We use Deep Freeze on all our public
>stations, so when a patron clicks on "Done" or logs off or shuts down...
>everything from that session is wiped clean and the workstation is back
>to the original settings with no history, no saved files, no installed
>programs, etc...
>
>We have found this to work extremely well because we have eliminated the
>rules of what can and can not be down on the computers. Patrons can
>download, save, etc.... and the computers are cleaned up when they are
>done, ready for the next patron to log in. The only issue we have had
>with this, is patrons who do not realize their files are not permanent
>and come back the next day to work on "their" file. We try to minimize
>that as well by posting that we do have CD's or flash drives if patrons
>need to save their work.
>
>Valerie Meyerson,
>Charlevoix Public Library
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org
>[mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of Tatar, Becky
>Sent: Friday, February 01, 2008 1:25 PM
>To: publib at webjunction.org
>Subject: [Publib] RE: PC Management Software / Privacy Issues
>
>I'm not sure if it is how we have the system set up, but we use
>EvisionWare.  We don't allow people to save to the hard drive or desktop
>- if they do, when they log off, the material is lost.
>
>Becky Tatar
>Periodicals/Audiovisuals
>Aurora Public Library
>1 E. Benton Street
>Aurora, IL   60505
>Phone: 630-264-4100
>FAX: 630-896-3209
>bltata at aurora.lib.il.us
>www.aurora.lib.il.us
>
>
>
>
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