UTPB to offer 24-hour laptop access

As a way to provide 24-hour laptop computer access to students, the University of Texas of the Permian Basin will unveil a laptop kiosk at the Mesa Building on campus in March.

Director of Library Services Howard Marks said the kiosk will have 12 HP laptops with 14-inch monitors. The unveiling is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. March 20 on the first floor of the Mesa Building next to the registrar’s office.

“I think there’s a great convenience factor (for students). They don’t even have to keep it on campus,” said Teresa Sewell, senior associate vice president for student services.

Sewell said having the kiosk will be a great convenience for students. Many students may not have a laptop, but need one for a study group, or if they want to take it to their favorite study spot, they can.

The laptops will be loaned out for 24 hours and cannot be renewed. Before the loan period expires, students must return the laptop to the kiosk. If the student needs more time, a different laptop may be checked out if there is another one available, information from the J. Conrad Dunagan Library said.

Students must use a current UTPB ID card and be set up in the library system at the time of checkout. Those using the laptop kiosk must agree to have their picture taken by the kiosk and before the expiration of the loan period, students must return the laptop to the kiosk, information from the library said.

The batteries last for eight hours and no charger is provided, Marks said. The security program on the laptop restores it back to the state it was in when it was checked out.

Overdue fines will be billed at $10 a day for the laptop with a maximum fine of $100 and a $50 processing fee. When the laptop becomes 15 days overdue, it will be assumed lost and the university police will be notified. The borrower’s university account will be billed the full replacement cost, which is $1,095.

The devices also have a decal on them that says “UTPB Library, so there is much less of an incentive with all those factors to run off with the device,” Marks said.

No fees will be charged to the students for the laptops unless they are lost or damaged.

Marks said the only password he knows of that the devices would need is the university password authentication system that logs students into Canvass, which is the learning management system for UTPB.

The library has 30 laptops that it lends out for three days at a time, he added.

Marks said the library faced the choice of buying more laptops or going with the kiosk, which cost about $50,000.

“We thought was a good investment,” Marks said. “…This is very next generation and very techy. You’re going to be seeing this sort of configuration in libraries in the next 10, 15, 20 years. In fact, you’ll be seeing it with checkout services for books.”

A study space was set up in the area of the Mesa Building near the kiosk that offers 24-hour access and study tables, chairs and couches set up.