[920] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Recycling M300's
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Kathleen Sales Library)
Tue Aug 4 13:30:08 1992
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 1992 12:08:39 CDT
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
From: "Kathleen Sales Library" <sales@zach.fit.edu>
To: Multiple recipients of list PACS-L <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@ricevm1.rice.edu>
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
I would like to thank everyone for their advice on using
OCLC M300's as CD-ROM workstations. Below is a summary
of the replies I received.
All of the replies I received advised against using M300s
as CD-ROM workstations. This was based on experience in
some cases. The M300's would cost more than they were
worth to upgrade them to handle the necessary space required
for most commercial CD-ROM products. It is true that it is
often more economical to buy a 386sx level machine than invest
in an older M300. Although the M300 could be upgraded to
handle CD-ROM software and drive, everyone agreed that we
should expect a SLOW response time. Lee Jaffe from UC Santa
Cruz recommended against this, and stated that it would
cost around $300-400 each. Also, it was stated that the M300
can be unreliable because of their age and are prone to
hard disk failure. As you can probably see, we definitely
decided that we would not use the M300s for a CD-ROM workstation
based on experience from other libraries.
I did receive several recommendations on what could be done with
the M300's which I will pass on. We decided to use them as dial-up
workstations for patrons to dial into state and local library systems.
Suggestions for the M300's are:
1. Use them for word processing functions or other administrative
functions.
2. Use them for e-mail or dial-in terminals.
3. Use them for working fish tanks (my personal favorite)
Thanks again for all replies!
Kathy Sales
Florida Tech
Internet: sales@zach.fit.edu
