Lister Hill Letter
Newsletter of the Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences at UAB

Load Your Own Software

The Lister Hill Library is continually striving to enhance its services by responding to customer suggestion and being proactive in its anticipation of customer needs.  In responding to a need, the Library's Computer Services department set up a stand-alone computer pod.  When the new and expanded building opened with expanded computer stations attached to the Library's network, the Library did not permit any customer to load software on any computer.  The policy was intended to protect the network from computer viruses and to avoid legal issues surrounding software license terms.

However, many publishers are taking advantage of current technology and providing floppy or CD-ROM disks as enhancements to their printed publications.  For example, Springhouse has a disk that accompanies its Nursing 98 Drug handbook.  The program offers opportunities for the reader to take a CE test, be tested on dosage calculations and investigate drug interactions.  Understanding Medical Insurance published by Delmar Publishers has a disk which the reader can use, in conjunction with the book, to analyze cases, assign diagnostic codes and work with HICFA forms.  The print version of the 25th edition of the AFB Directory of Services for Blind and Visually Impaired Persons in the United States and Canada also comes with a CD-ROM which completely reproduces and enhances the print publication.

Then there are the programs which individuals can purchase or that accompany test preparation materials.  For example Library customers come into the Library asking where they can use the computer programs they just purchased to help them prepare for the MCAT or the USMLE exams.  Each of these publications, and hundreds of others, has an installation program which installs on the computer's hard drive.  The Library's "no install" policy made using these other formats impossible.

So, to make a long story short, the Library has designated one of the computer pods on the first floor specifically for this kind of activity.  These computers are stand-alone computers and are not connected to a network of any kind.  There are five windows machines and one DOS machine.  The only program on the machine is the operating system.  Customers may use a disk or CD-ROM from the Library's collection or use a computer program that they own.  The Computer Services staff checks these computers periodically and removes any programs that are not part of the computer's operating system.  The Library staff will help a customer get started installing a program but, for obvious reasons, cannot instruct in the use of every program that might be used.

We believe that this will answer a need of our customers, especially students.   We want and need feedback, so let us know how we can serve you better.