Have you ever visited one of our Open-Access Computer Labs only to discover that every computer was already in use? If you’re on campus (or using the VPN client) and want to avoid this, you can easily check online what computers are in use and how many are available. This is only available from on-campus, but you can use the VPN Client to create a secure connection if you’re off-campus.

On the Open-Access Labs page, there is a list of our labs, labeled and with a thumbnail view of each lab map. Click on one of these thumbnails to bring up a real-time indication of which computers are in use, which are out of commission, and which are available.

This functionality is provided by software we have installed on the lab computers called LabStats. With LabStats we can see what time a computer was being used, how long it was logged on, and what programs were used. We don’t record things like what was typed or what sites were visited; instead, we need a general overview of computer usage to help us know where to target money for software purchases, staffing for lab support (if a lab is used more at one time than another, maybe we need more staff at one time and less at another), and what hours the lab needs to be open or closed (based on usage).

So check out our LabMaps, and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Tagged with: lab, labstats, map, open-access

Matthew Stublefield — Meyer Library 207

Matthew is a Lab Support Administrator with Missouri State University Computer Services. To read more of Matthew's articles, check out Matthew's profile and archive.

This entry was posted by Matthew Stublefield on Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 at 8:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.