1. In-house Developed Library Solutions
Presented by
Anthony Martocello
Network & Systems Specialist II
Northport – East Northport Public Library

2. In-House Solutions vs. Off-the-Shelf Solutions
In-House Off-the-Shelf
Solution can be customized to meet the library’s requirements.
Must be written and tested before deployment
Support limited to in-house creator
Can evolve to meet the library’s changing need
Cost – staff time
Make do with what solutions are available (If any)
Solution can be deployed right after it is purchased
Vendor support
Future enhancements are decided by the company
Cost – purchase price

3. Two Solutions Developed at the Northport – East Northport Public Library
Patron Access Control System
Provides an interface patrons can use to start programs on the library’s public computers.
Wireless Public Internet Access
Provides access to the wireless Internet offered by the library to patrons that meet a set of criteria.

4. Patron Access Control System

5. Patron Access Control System Problem
The current solution is unstable and is incompatible with some programs
CD-ROMs for public computers are getting damaged
Some programs required different screen resolutions then others on the same station

6. Patron Access Control System Requirements
Provide patrons with an easy to use interface for launching programs on public computers
Mounts and unmounts CD image files for programs as required
Keeps track of programs that are in-use and prevents usage from exceeding licenses limits
Changes screen resolution as required
Does not interfere with Group Policy security

7. Project History
The project began 3 years ago and is periodically refined and developed.
Originally written in the Perl programming language and later rewritten in PHP using a MySQL database.
Since its inception there have been 5 major revisions, each refining the program and adding new features.

8. Sample Workstation Main Menu
Categories
Descriptions

9. Sample Category Menu
Category
Programs
Other Menus
Descriptions

10. When the patron chooses a program:
Checks to see if a license is available (the number of licenses must be greater than the number of computers currently using the program)
Changes the screen resolution to accommodate the program, if needed
Mounts an image of the program’s CD into a virtual drive on the computer, if needed
Runs the program

11. System Administration
Centralized administration of all aspects of the interface
Create, edit, and delete menus, programs, and URLs from a GUI interface

12. Display Schemes
The examples above is the same menu with different schemes applied to it.
All fonts and colors are specified in the schemes

13. Other Added Features:
In addition to programs, the system can now also handle URLs, with or without proxy hosts.
Access to menus can be limited with either a password or by patron barcode and pin.
Staff can generate program and URL usage statistics, broken down by date ranges, buildings, and stations.

14. Programs and Technology Used:
PHP – programming language
MySQL – Open source database product
IIS – Microsoft Internet Information Services
Daemon-tools – virtual CD drive
MultiRes – used to change screen resolutions
Alcohol 120% – used to create images file of the original program CDs
Public Web Browser – developed by TeamSoftware Solutions, it is used to open the URLs with the necessary proxy host settings

15. Wireless Patron Internet Access

16. Wireless Patron Internet Access Problem:
Provide wireless Internet access to our patrons
Only adults and minors who’s parents have granted them full Internet access should have access to this service
Patrons should be able to use this service without assistance from the library staff
Patrons must agree to our Internet Access Policy before using this service

17. Preventing minors without permission from using this service
All age and permission distinctions must be automated
The p-type field in our patron records are broken into 3 levels for each building.
Level 1 – Juvenile collection
Level 2 – Juvenile with permission to borrow items from the adult collection
Level 3 – Adults and Juveniles with full Internet permissions
Using the patron’s record, the computer can distinguish patrons who meet this criteria and those who do not.

18. Wireless Patron Internet Access Requirements:
Provide wireless Internet access to our patrons
Limit access to this service to those patrons who meet a set criteria based on their patron record
Requires no staff involvement for patrons to setup their laptops to use this service
Patrons must agree to our Internet Access Policy in order to use this service

19. Project History
After an exhaustive search for an off-the-shelf solution, we found an open-source solution, NetReg, which could be modified to access Innovative.
To make NetReg compatible with Innovative, much of the original program had to be adjusted or completely rewritten
The library hired a Linux consultant to help us setup the modified version of NetReg on a computer running Fedora Core 2 Linux and secure the system

20. How the System Works
A patron brings their laptop to the library and connects to our wireless network
If they have not registered their laptop or their registration has expired, any web page they try to visit will automatically be redirected to our registration page.

21. Wireless Internet Access Registration

22. Patron Record Criteria
The barcode and pin must match
The patron’s p-type must be either Level 3 or staff p-type
Patron’s account must be current
There must be less then $5.00 in fines on their card
There can be no other blocks on the patron’s card

23. The Patron Fails to Meet All the Criteria

24. The Patron Meets All the Criteria

25. Restart After Registration
After the patron successfully completed the registration process, the patron is asked to restart their laptop
One their laptop has restarted they can begin using the Internet
The MAC address of their laptop will remain registered for a period of 3 months, after which they must re-register their laptop

26. Programs and Technology Used:
NetReg – developed at Southwestern University, NetReg is an automated system that requires an unknown clients to register their hardware before gaining full network access.
Perl – programming language NetReg is written in
Apache –HTTP Server is an effort to develop and maintain an open-source HTTP server for modern operating systems
Fedora Core 2 – The goal of The Fedora Project is to work with the Linux community to build a complete, general purpose operating system exclusively from free software.

27. Future Development Patron Access Control System
Move away from a web-based interface to a programming language such as C#
Implementation on staff computers
Wireless Patron Internet Access
Integrate the registration process with the firewall to make the system more secure
Add the ability for library staff to provide passes to guests of the library which would allow them to use this service