It is becoming challenging and quite distracting to work on computers in Perkins/Bostock – reason being, the keyboards are extremely difficult to use. On numerous occasions, on numerous computers, the keyboards stick making typing useless and my time wasted.
As one of the many who use the library on a daily bases for reserach and writing, I depend on the computers to function properly. I suggest an immediate inventory of keyboards in the library and replacement of keyboards which are functioning improperly. Thanks!
Heath Cosgrove
Graduate Student
ghc4@duke.edu
ps – today I am on computer Ba12,in the basement of Bostock
ANSWER PERSON RESPONDS: Thanks for reporting this. I’ll pass the information on to our systems support people, but I’m guessing the problems relate to the very heavy use the computers get and because of all the food people eat at them.
There’s actually a Computer Problem Report form available from our Information Systems Support web pages: http://www.lib.duke.edu/its/help/forms/compprob.htm but it seems to be designed only for the use of libary staff (e.g., asking for Novell username, etc.)! You can try it in the future, but it’s best to report equipment problems to people at a public service desk in person (the response from this forum can be very, very slow). We’ll certainly look at the keyboard that you’ve identified.
I’m guessing it will be difficult to systematically and quickly “test” all keyboards since these problems become evident only with real-world use. But maybe there is a sort of regular standard test they can undergo. Perhaps we can adjust our routine maintenance to clean keyboards more frequently. Perhaps we can look into the sorts of keyboards used by the military in combat situations, made to withstand debris such as shrapnel, sand, salt water, sugary carbonated water, mayonnaise, etc. Our systems people will look at the alternatives.